Madhuri Sapru joins Encyclomedia Networks as co-owner and woman-in-charge

Sapru, who had quit Kinetic in September 2010, has decided to invest in and join hands with creative agency, Encyclomedia Networks, where she will be W-I-C or woman-in-charge.

Madhuri Sapru, who quit from the position of managing partner, Kinetic & Dialect South Asia in September 2010 and was on a break for a few months, has decided to invest in creative hot shop Encyclomedia Networks. She has joined the agency as a co-owner.

Without revealing her percentage of stakes in the company, Mukesh Manik, man-in-charge, Encyclomedia Networks tells afaqs!, "It is a very substantial stake and she joins us as co-owner and 'woman-in-charge'."

Discussing the development, Sapru shares, "This has truly been a meeting of minds. I met Mukesh about four years back and we've had ample discussions on how to grow the Encyclomedia business. After I quit Kinetic, Mukesh suggested that we do something together. And here we are."

She adds, "Encyclomedia is a growing setup, but there is openness in thinking. In a short span of time, it has expanded its footprint to seven different countries." The agency currently has presence in Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Ukraine, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Guatemala. With Sapru's expertise on-board, the agency will now look at developing newer revenue streams and business models.

Manik adds that in other countries, Encyclomedia Networks is known for its varied offerings. For example, it specializes in retail advertising in Australia, fleet graphics in Argentina and TV and print advertising in South Africa. In India, however, the agency is known mostly for its out-of-home work. With Sapru as an integral part of the team, the agency will look forward to offering integrated communication services to its clients in India as well.

For the record, Sapru was with Kinetic since mid 2006. Before that, she held various positions at Tata Teleservices, including head, marketing communications and head, customer service operations. Earlier, she worked with the Tata Group, where she managed the Tata brand and also led the Tata Group AoR, at that time the second largest AoR operation in the country.

She has over two decades of work experience, most of it at the client's end with companies such as Nestlé, Blow Plast, BPL Mobile (now Loop Mobile) and the Tata Group.