Zenith India appoints Jai Lala and Ajit Gurnani

While Lala has been appointed as chief operating officer, Gurnani has been elevated to chief client officer.

In a recent development, Zenith India has announced new appointments at senior levels. Jai Lala has been appointed as chief operating officer (COO) and Ajit Gurnani has been elevated to chief client officer.

In his new role, Lala will oversee operations, structure and expansion in addition to the scaling up of specialised, future-facing offerings for the agency. Focus will be on areas where Zenith is already market-leading such as Data, Dynamic Content, Tech, Analytics, Performance and Programmatic.

Lala has over two decades of experience across across media planning, buying, research and sales. He has worked in organisations such as UTV, ESPN Star Sports and leading media agency groups. His last stint was with MediaCom as chief strategy and growth officer. He has serviced clients across the country such as Unilever, PepsiCo, GSK, ICICI, Castrol, Lenovo, USL, Coke, Marico and many more in various capacities. He has created multiple and unique trading practices in the industry. Lala is also a visiting faculty at ISB & MICA.

Gurnani who has been elevated to chief client officer, was previously working with Zenith India as managing partner and head, West and South. He has already had a great role in firming up client relationships for Zenith and will continue to interface with key clients, bringing in new and critical perspective on businesses and enhancing Zenith’s overall strategic product and delivery.

Gurnani has 20 plus years of work experience across Client leadership, Brand Management and Media investment management. He has worked as a brand and media custodian at Marico and IIFCO, and has driven media investment management for The Aditya Birla Group and its companies, Mercedes-Benz, NIVEA, Zee TV, Unilever and Colgate Palmolive in previous stints with agencies. At Zenith, he has led the media investment mandate for businesses such as Parle, Toyota, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Tourism Board, HDFC Life among others.

Elaborating on the appointments, Tanmay Mohanty, group chief executive officer, Zenith India, says in a press release, “Zenith stands at an important growth juncture; we have witnessed an absolutely spectacular year so far in terms of new business wins and performance on key client businesses. In our endeavour to build further on our ROI+ offering, delivering transformational growth to our clients, we are announcing two big appointments at senior levels.”

He adds, “Jai Lala needs no introduction and has over 20 years’ experience in media planning and buying. He will aid me in client deliveries, keeping up the scale and momentum of operations, integration of existing talent and new hires and the expansion in overall footprint for Zenith. Ajit on the other hand has been with us for over three years and brings in huge expertise and value to every client conversation. He has transformed the way we deliver to clients and will shape our client relationships further. Both these appointments will help Zenith put out passionate, exciting and compelling work.”

Commenting on his appointment, Lala says in a press release, “I am delighted at this opportunity. Zenith has market-leading expertise in data, technology and innovation. Offering a strong, long-term consultative approach to clients, Zenith is already working on what lies at the corner tomorrow; whether it is automation, machine learning or artificial intelligence. Its pedigreed A-list clients, outstanding work and motivated teams make me excited about the possibilities.”

Commenting on his appointment, Gurnani says in a press release, “Zenith with its ROI push and accent on business deliverables, truly leverages the power of integrated communications and media-neutral solutions. As part of my role, I will look to cement and enhance Zenith’s existing client relationships in addition to forming new connections. I look forward to driving results, and creating award-winning, business -building work.”