Anil Nair, VMLY&R moves on; Pooja Jauhari to be the Group CEO

Pooja Jauhari takes over from Anil Nair, who is moving on to pursue new opportunities.

Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R today announced the appointment of Pooja Jauhari as Chief Executive Officer, VMLY&R India across its group of companies. Based out of VMLY&R’s Mumbai office, she reports to VMLY&R Asia Co-CEO Tripti Lochan, who is based in Singapore.

As CEO VMLY&R India’s group of companies, Pooja Jauhari will oversee the agency’s combined operations, including VMLY&R, The Glitch, VMLY&R Commerce and GTB, across its three offices in India - Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai – plus its service of clients across the Indian subcontinent. She is also tasked with further integration of the network’s creative excellence in India, with its very strong customer experience, commerce and data capabilities, into an integrated powerhouse focused on human centricity, diversity, inclusion & high performance.

Pooja Jauhari takes over from Anil Nair, who is moving on to pursue new opportunities. Anil Nair joined VMLY&R in 2019 from Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India, where he was CEO (Digital) and Managing Partner. VMLY&R first welcomed Pooja Jauhari in 2020, as the CEO of The Glitch. One of India’s leading independent creative agencies, The Glitch was acquired by WPP in 2017 and integrated into the VMLY&R network in November 2020.

Having started her marketing career at JWT two decades ago, Pooja Jauhari moved to Unilever and then Worldwide Media before joining creative powerhouse The Glitch in 2013. There, she was instrumental to the agency’s success, leading its strategic planning, plus setting its goals and approach to both business and culture.

Now an established part of VMLY&R, The Glitch’s digitally-led creative expertise comprises over 350 talented strategists, technologists, content creators and planners, delivering award-winning work for clients including LinkedIn, Hotstar, Unilever, Diageo, BigBasket, Microsoft, OnePlus, PubG and Coca Cola.

VMLY&R India’s business-first team of over 160 digital experts is known for delivering excellence for blue chip brands like ICICI Bank, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, IDFC, Ford, Swaraj Tractors, IDBI Federal and Marico, delivering transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience, data, platforms and commerce and leading to a #1 spot in R3’s New Business Rankings for India in 2021, as well as a Silver and a Bronze at South Asia’s Agency of the Year Awards 2021, in the Integrated Marketing Agency of the Year and Brand Experience Agency of the Year categories respectively.

Commenting on the appointment, Tripti Lochan, Co-CEO, VMLY&R Asia said, “Since welcoming The Glitch into the VMLY&R network in 2020, we are seeing that together with VMLY&R India, the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. Pooja’s proven track record of having driven a gender-blind and positive influence approach, aligns perfectly with our ongoing vision towards ever-improving our own inclusivity and progressiveness. Combined with her track record in growing The Glitch to be one of India’s best-known agencies, producing work for clients both nationally and globally, we believe her elevation makes us even better at creating connected brands, driving business for our clients, and positively impacting the communities they live in. We thank Anil for being a part of our continued growth in India, and wish him the very best in the next stage of his journey.”