Cheil India appoints Sonal Narain as Chief Strategy Officer

Narain was earlier Head of Planning, Ogilvy Singapore.

In a significant development, integrated marketing solutions company Cheil India has appointed Sonal Narain as Chief Strategy Officer. She will be based in the firm's Gurgaon office, the regional headquarters for South-West Asia.

Narain, who currently serves as Head of Planning at Ogilvy Singapore, is also Head of Ogilvy Change (the firm's Behavioural Sciences practice). At Ogilvy, she has been driving an agenda for effectiveness that has resulted in over 20 wins at all major awards. She was also awarded Planner of the Year 2014 in Singapore. She has worked on brands such as The Economist, Milo, Kimberly Clarke, SoyJoy, Kotex, Huggies, Economic Development Board of Singapore and the Singapore Sports Council.

Says Shiv Sethuraman, Group President, Cheil, South-West Asia, "Sonal understands the intersection between media, technology and popular culture and has done impressive work in areas far beyond the limits of conventional advertising. That is what makes her the perfect choice to lead Cheil India's Planning and Strategy function. She understands technology but at the core, it's her understanding of human behaviour and her focus on effectiveness that set her apart."

Adds Narain, "The opportunity to marry human insight with technology and create fundamental change comes along once in a while and few agencies are as well placed to take advantage of this as Cheil India is. As a dynamic and young organisation that has shown steady growth in both size and reputation, Cheil seeks to up the ante and I'm hugely excited to be part of that."