Maxus ropes in Anand Chakravarthy to head West

Chakravarthy has an experience of more than 17 years.

Maxus, the media agency of GroupM, has roped in Anand Chakravarthy as head, West. He will report to Kartik Sharma, MD, Maxus South Asia and will operate from the Mumbai office. He will handle the accounts of Vodafone, L'Oreal, Tata Sky, Colors and Fiat Motors, among others.

Chakravarthy has more than 17 years of experience and has worked with Reliance Broadcast Network, Lowe and Research International, a part of WPP's KANTAR Group, specializing in quantitative and qualitative research.

Speaking on his appointment, Chakravarthy says, "As a marketing and broadcast media professional, I have watched Maxus emerge as a thought leader in a dramatically changing media environment. The opportunity to be part of this winning team and help create value for an enviable portfolio of clients is an exceptionally exciting opportunity I look forward to."

Sharma says, "We are excited to have a senior leader from the industry in the Maxus team. He comes with a rich and varied experience across categories and brands, not to mention his immense knowledge of working with one of the country's largest media and entertainment brands."

Before joining Maxus, Chakravarthy was EVP, marketing at Reliance Broadcast Network and business head for the Big CBS TV Network. He had been part of the executive committee at Reliance Broadcast Network since its inception in 2006 and was instrumental in building the organisation, from a start up to a multi-media entity today with play across radio, live entertainment and television.

Before RBNL, Chakravarthy was AVP, strategic planning at Lowe, where he crafted communication and brand strategies for several Unilever brands like Surf Excel, Wheel, Vim, Domex, as well as financial brands like HSBC, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, IL&FS and Tata Mutual Fund.

He started his career with Research International, where he worked on multiple categories like food, household and personal care products, consumer durables and automobiles.