Manhattan Communications appoints Rakesh Misra as COO, BTL

Misra has more than 12 years of experience and has been associated with clients such as PepsiCo, Aircel, Nokia, Cadbury, Dabur and Samsung

Rakesh Misra has joined Manhattan Communications as chief operating officer of the BTL (below-the-line) business of the company. Earlier, he was general manager and business head, Tequila, the direct marketing arm of TBWA. Misra has more than 12 years of experience and will leverage it to expand the business.

Misra will be based in Delhi and will report to Shantonu Aditya, co-promoter and director, Manhattan Communications, who was, until now, looking after the BTL business.

Misra, who came on board on October 1, says, "Manhattan Communications has aggressive plans to grow in this space and the company's business has been growing exponentially in the last few months. The company has been doing the activities sporadically, but now, we are looking at doing something good."

Misra started his career in 1995 as sales manager, Bharti Airtel, where he stayed for five years. Later, he moved to MetLife, which was followed by more than three years at Solutions Digitas as business director and finally, moving on to Tequila. He has been associated with brands such as Pepsi, Aircel, Nokia, Cadbury, Dabur, Samsung and many other companies.

Manhattan Communications has split its India operations into two business verticals - below-the-line and digital.

The company will initially use its existing clientele and will focus on activities in the urban areas, which is also the target audience of its current clients. The company will look at sectors such as FMCG, telecom, real estate and media.

Currently, the BTL division of the company has 23 employees.

Speaking on the expansion plans, Adrish Chakraborty, chairperson and founder, Manhattan Communications, says in an official statement, "We are growing rapidly in India and while consolidating our existing businesses, we are also looking at newer ventures in the advertising and media space. The Internet is looking truly exciting and we are strengthening our team there as well." The company is on the look out for someone to head its digital business.