JWT Mindset shuffles leadership team

Santha John, MD, will assume an advisory role as chairman, while Ram Gedela will take over as the head of the agency starting January, 2014.

JWT South Asia has made two major leadership changes at JWT Mindset, Hyderabad. This includes Santha John, MD, Mindset Hyderabad taking up an advisory role as chairman and Ram Gedela taking over as the head of the agency from January, 2014.

John is an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience and began JWT Mindset with Gedela in 1998. The agency was acquired by JWT in 2011 and was renamed JWT Mindset.

Before founding Mindset, she was senior vice-president at Saatchi & Saatchi, Hyderabad. Under her leadership, Mindset won the 'Agency of the Year' award in 2004. She has also been conferred several other awards such as 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award in 2009 from the Hyderabad Management Association. During her tenure, John helped launch not just Andhra Pradesh's first cellular company, but also the first international school in India.

Ram Gedela co-founded Mindset when he was 31. He has a senior management degree from IIM Calcutta and apart from being the CEO at JWT Mindset was taking care of client servicing and finance functions. He was formerly group account manager, Saatchi & Saatchi, Delhi; and headed the account management team on prestigious clients such as Panasonic and the DuPont brands.

Gedela launched the Panasonic Digital product range in India. At Saatchi & Saatchi, he was also part of the team that launched Tata Cellular, India's first cellular services brand. At Mindset, he handled clients like Coke, HSBC, Satyam, ILO and ADP, among many international and Fortune 500 clients.

He was also instrumental in the launch of Shades, a chain of retail stores for sunglasses and frames, in partnership with Hindi film stars Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty.

Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT South Asia, says, "In recognition of her contribution in bringing JWT Mindset to the forefront and making it a leading advertising agency in the south of India, Santha will continue her association with JWT in an advisory role. It's been a pleasure working with Santha over the years, as she has partnered us comprehensively in the growth of JWT. I would like to thank her for helping us spread our footprint in this region and her contribution to our success."

He further adds that Gedela with his youthful vision and sharp business acumen is well poised to take on the baton from John and take JWT Mindset to greater heights of success.

On her move, John says, "Setting up and running this company has been a wonderful journey; and it is a journey that will continue for me. I've always said that I have two children, one being my son and the other being this company and that is something that will not change."

JWT Mindset consists of a team of 47 people and offers a full-service range of creative services, strategic planning and execution in digital, print and television. Its major clients include Airtel (AP& Kerala), ADP, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Coromandel International, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Food Fats & Fertilizers, Gati, HIL, HSBC, Oakridge Group, PHI Seeds, Videocon and LOT Mobiles, amongst others. The agency has won more than 120 awards on international, national and local levels.