The Indian Advertising & Marketing sector saw some noteworthy shifts in 2023. The year was filled with top-level industry leaders resigning, shifting and starting afresh. Some veteran names said their goodbyes to the industry while many new leadership roles got filled.
In September, Ogilvy announced that agency veteran, Piyush Pandey would move into an advisory role from his current role of Global Creative and Executive Chairman of Ogilvy, starting January 1, 2024. With this big development, followed a few more internal leadership shuffles.
Another big announcement roared the A&M industry in September. Ex-CEO of Leo Burnett South Asia and Chairman of BBH India, Dheeraj Sinha moved to FCB India, where he joined as the Group CEO of India & South Asia.
The year had multiple elevations and resignations at dentsu as well. Dentsu Creative India's Group CCO Ajay Gahlaut quit while Anita Kotwani got promoted to CEO Media, South Asia, dentsu.
Wunderman Thompson’s Tarun Rai retired after 30 years in the industry.
Similar to the agency side, the brand-verse saw some big movements as well. Zee Media’s Shridhar Mishra and BYJU’s Vineet Singh bid adieu to their respective roles while P&G India appointed Mukta Mukherjee as the CMO.
Here are some other major advertising movements that 2023 saw:
January
OYO's Mayur Hola joins Culinary Brands as CMO
February
Wavemaker India appoints George Kovoor as Chief Creative Officer
Pizza Hut India appoints Aanandita Datta as CMO
Aparna Bhawal joins KFC as CMO for India & Partner Countries
Havas Group's Neeraj Bassi joins Cheil India as Chief Growth Officer
FCB Group India appoints Amita Karia as CFO
Dentsu Creative India's Group CCO Ajay Gahlaut calls it quits
March
BBH India appoints Parixit Bhattacharya as CCO
Havas Group India appoints Tarun Jha as CEO - Havas Creative India
Harsha Razdan appointed as CEO, South Asia, dentsu
Dentsu elevates Sanjay Bhasin & Prakash Kamdar to promote growth in Southeast Asia
Anita Kotwani gets promoted to CEO Media, South Asia, dentsu
Nikhil Gandhi steps down as MX Player’s Chief Operating Officer
April
Wavemaker India appoints Deepa Jatkar as Chief Growth Officer
Havas India elevates Sangeeta Barde as CEO of Havas Life Sorento
May
Lowe Lintas appoints Prateek Bhardwaj as CCO and Head of Creative
Shemaroo onboards Anuja Trivedi as CMO
Rediffusion appoints Divyanshu Bhadoria as CSO
Dentsu appoints Prerna Mehrotra as Chief Client Officer
Wunderman Thompson’s Tarun Rai retires after 30 years in the industry
Future Generali India Life Insurance appoints Geetanjali Chugh Kothari as CMO
June
Ruchira Jaitly to be CMO at Diageo India as Deepika Warrier moves on
Bombay Shaving Company appoints Gauri Malhotra as CMO
July
L’oréal India elevates Saloni Shah to Chief Digital & Marketing Officer
Carat appoints Sanchayeeta Verma as CEO India
Scarecrow M&C Saatchi onboards Samera Khan as CTO
Dentsu Creative India onboards Surjo Dutt as CCO - West & South
Ogilvy's Creative Director Karthik Krishnan moves on
dentsu X India appoints Jose Leon as CEO
August
Sajeev Chemmany to be Kalyan Jewellers India's new CMO
Bobby Pawar steps down as Chairman & CCO of Havas India
Pidilite Industries appoints Manish Dubey as Chief Marketing Officer
APL Apollo appoints Charu Malhotra as Chief Brand Officer
Mukta Maheshwari joins P&G India as CMO
Reckitt’s Dilen Gandhi moves on
September
Dheeraj Sinha to step down from the roles of Co-Chief Executive at Leo Burnett South Asia & Chairman of BBH India
FCB hires Dheeraj Sinha; Rohit Ohri to become FCB Global Partner
Ogilvy India announces leadership transition; Piyush Pandey to take on the role of Chief Advisor
October
Mankind Pharma appoints Sanjay Koul as CMO
Wavemaker India elevates Sairam Ranganathan to Chief Digital Officer
DDB’s Aditya Kanthy appointed as CEO of newly formed Omnicom Advertising Services in India
November
Rajdeepak Das appointed as CCO, Publicis Groupe South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett South Asia
Upasana Naithani joins Wunderman Thompson as VP & CSD
December
Vibhor Mehrotra moves on from Publicis Groupe's Zenith
Ogilvy Mumbai appoints Anurag Agnihotri as CCO – West
Meta’s Avinash Pant rejoins Red Bull
Joy Chauhan moves on from Wunderman Thompson
Ex-Google Kiran Mani joins Viacom18
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi elevates Rohit Malkani and Kartik Smetacek to CCOs