Mallikarjunadas CR appointed CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group India

Mallikarjunadas joins SMG from Madison Media where he was the chief operating officer, Madison Media Infinity.

Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) has appointed Mallikarjunadas CR as the new chief executive officer, Starcom MediaVest Group India. Mallikarjunadas will report to CVL Srinivas, chairman, Starcom MediaVest Group India and managing director, LiquidThread APAC.

Mallikarjunadas, who will take charge on May 25 and will be based in Mumbai, will be a part of the Global Product Committee of SMG. The branch heads of Starcom Worldwide and MediaVest Worldwide, and functional heads of SMG's Insights & Research, Digital and Business Impact functions, will report to Mallikarjunadas.

He joins SMG from Madison Media, where he had a four-year stint. His last role at Madison was that of chief operating officer, Madison Media Infinity, and director, Madison Media Research Center.

Mallikarjunadas says in an official statement on his new role, "I have had the privilege of working at SMG in the past. As SMG India charts out a new growth path with insights and research, digital and content being at the core, I am looking forward to an interesting and challenging assignment."

Mallikarjunadas began his career with SMG, spending five years primarily working on the media planning account of P&G. He has also worked as the media and research manager at Asian Paints, as the custodian of the advertising and research budget of the company, and has been a member of the simulations practice at Tata Interactive Systems.

Welcoming him, Srinivas says, "In Mallikarjunadas, we have a young leader with a strong product orientation and rich client management experience. He has seen the media business from different perspectives and has a very refreshing point of view about the business."