ZenithOptimedia brings in Roopam Garg as COO from London office

The media agency will expand its resources in terms of acquiring talent for its Indian operation, apart from launching its digital agency Performix, and expanding the business of Newcast.

The Publicis Groupe-promoted media agency ZenithOptimedia is on an expansion mode. As part of the process, the company plans to beef up its talent bank and has brought on Roopam Garg as chief operating officer for its Indian operations.

Garg's responsibilty will include strengthening the overall group structure in India. He will report to Satyajit Sen, CEO, ZenithOptimedia India.

Sen says, "This is a young agency that has grown fast and is currently dealing with clients across various categories. Therefore, the next phase of growth will come now. This industry has a scarcity of good talent and we plan to invest in talent by nurturing and honing skills."

Garg moves in from ZenithOptimedia London, where he was managing director, PGM across ZenithOptimedia, Starcommediavest and central buying team at Zenithoptimedia and Equinox. Prior to that, Garg, as managing director, was heading the combined operations of ZenithOptimedia and Starcom in Vietnam.

Garg, on his new role, says, "My experience across regions has given me significant understanding on increased market share and I intend to work in tandem with Sen towards growing our visibility in this market place."

Meanwhile, the media agency has a VivaKi talent team in town, which will work on skill development of its people.

In addition to this, the media agency will launch its digital agency Performix, by the second quarter of this year. Reiterating that digital is the next important medium, Sen says that the focus will be to achieve operational efficiency in terms of transaction and execution.

Furthermore, the company plans to unify the gap between traditional (which includes television, print and radio) planners and specialised digital planners by merging both the divisions and turning it into a division for all mainstream media.

Interestingly, in 2009, ZenithOptimedia had launched a specialist division Newcast, in India. The specialist arm was launched to develop and execute non-traditional media solutions through services such as branded content, sponsorships, events, retail solutions and experiential marketing. ZenithOptimedia now plans to expand the operations and take the specialist arm to Tier I and small towns.

Sen elaborates, "The entire focus of Newcast will be to offer specialised services which will mainly focus on non-traditional media solutions in Tier I and small towns as we feel that this space offers a high level of growth opportunity."