Mallikarjunadas CR to be a part of SMG's Global Management Group

Starcom MediaVest India has announced that the leadership transition it put in place eighteen months ago is now complete and that Mallikarjunadas CR (known as Malli) will assume full responsibility for running the agency in India as chief executive officer.

"Since being named as CEO, Malli has worked very closely with CVL Srinivas (Srini), chairman of SMG India, to grow its position in India, serve its clients and motivate its employees,” said Matt Blackborn, president, SMG emerging markets. “During this time, Srini helped us build a new management structure and transitioned leadership responsibilities to Malli.  With the structure set and a strong management team in place, the transition has been completed, and Srini is leaving the company.”

As chief executive officer, Mallikarjunadas has been responsible for the day-to-day management of SMG’s clients in India, and will now also join the Global Management Group, the SMG leadership team of market and client leaders around the world.

Commenting on the developments, Mallikarjunadas said, “Over the past 12 years, Starcom MediaVest Group has moved aggressively to bring its global expertise in creating human experiences to India, partnering with brands to make deeper connections with consumers. SMG India has an outstanding management team and a broad range of talent throughout the agency, and I am confident we will continue to deliver unmatched results to our clients.”

Mallikarjunadas started his career at Leo Burnett Media (now Starcom) working on P&G and has also worked on the client side at Asian Paints and Tata Group, before joining Madison where he was chief operating officer of one of the Group companies. He rejoined SMG as chief executive officer in May 2011.