The Social Street ropes in Shonali Sharmaa and Shilov Mani

While Sharmaa has been appointed as managing partner for the experiential business vertical, Mani is senior VP, planning.

The Social Street, a marketing communications agency, is making significant investments in its senior leadership team. The agency has roped in Shonali Sharmaa as managing partner for the experiential business vertical and Shilov Mani as senior vice-president, planning. Sharmaa and Mani will be based in Mumbai and will report to Mandeep Malhotra, founding partner and CEO, The Social Street.

Commenting on the appointments, Malhotra says, "(Shonali) Sharmaa and (Shilov) Mani are bright additions to our team. Both come with exceptional capabilities and inherent understanding of brands, markets, and consumers. I am confident that our clients will benefit greatly from the knowledge and experience which both bring on board."

Sharmaa says, "We have heard it for years -- collaborate, work together, integrate. Yet, we still seem to push our clients' agenda be it in digital, activation, retail, OOH, et al, in silos. My aim is to have 'one seamless thought process across media' to make The Social Street the most effective marketing communications agency."

Mani adds, "What drew me to The Social Street was Pratap and Malhotra's vision to build a future ready agency. We have an extremely robust and powerfully diverse set of talents, and great clients. I look forward to join forces and make things happen."

Sharmaa has 15 years of experience in experiential marketing across events, promotions and sports marketing, making it an ideal blend in today's market scenario. She has worked with agencies such as Ogilvy and Bates as an integrated marketing specialist, and has built the requisite skill set and experience to lead from strength to strength. Sharmaa has serviced clients in telecom (Idea, Vodafone, Motorola, Samsung), FMCG (Pepsi, Cadbury's) and Media (National Geographic, Discovery Networks).

In his 16 years of work-experience, Mani has spent five years in supply chain management, working with Mahindra and TotalFinaElf, before joining Ogilvy & Mather, handling media buying, planning, and client servicing. He moved to DDB Mudra Group to handle its OOH, activation, events, and retail executions. While there, he has won numerous awards at MAA, PMAA, Abbies, Effies, Emvies, OAC, and WoW. He has worked with clients such as HUL, HSBC, HT, Ashok Leyland, ITC, Uninor, HCC, and Idea.