Facebook appoints Avinash Pant as marketing head for India

Pant will take on the role of marketing director at Facebook India.

Facebook today announced a new addition to its leadership team in India, which is driving the charter for the company’s deepening focus in the country. The latest addition to the India leadership team is Avinash Pant, who will take on the role of Marketing Director at Facebook India.

The role of Marketing Director will be a new one at Facebook India, with the mandate to drive the company’s consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Pant comes with twenty-two years of experience working with leading consumer brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, The Walt Disney Company, and most recently, Red Bull. In his last assignment as the India Marketing Director at Red Bull, he was responsible for building the brand in India, especially amongst the youth, through unique partnerships and content related to sports, music, and dance. Pant is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He will report to Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, India.

The announcement comes a year after Facebook announced a new leadership structure in India bringing the company’s functions under Ajit Mohan, reporting directly to its headquarters in Menlo Park.

Over the last year, the company has spearheaded several India-focused initiatives with a particular focus on fuelling entrepreneurship and breaking the gender imbalance on the Internet. ‘Boost with Facebook’ and the ‘VC Brand Incubator Program’ were aimed at accelerating the growth of SMBs. In 2019, Facebook also made its first minority investment in a company, Meesho, a social-commerce venture empowering first-time entrepreneurs, especially women in small towns. The company also announced a tie-up with the Government of India’s Common Services Centre (CSC) to provide tools and training to more than 25,000 women in 3000 villages around the country. It was also a year when Facebook announced a ground-breaking partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC) that made it the exclusive digital content rights partner in the Indian subcontinent for ICC global events.

Said Ajit Mohan, VP and MD of Facebook India, “We’ve been working towards deepening our mission to build empowered communities, form stronger local partnerships, create economic opportunities for SMBs and entrepreneurs to grow in India, and, to do our part to break the gender imbalance on the Internet. Consumer marketing is a new strategic area of focus for Facebook and one where we will dramatically increase our investment in communicating directly to consumers. Avinash is one of the best marketers in the country, and am delighted that he is joining us on this exciting charter to shape the voice of Facebook’s family of apps in India.”

In the last few months, Facebook has recruited for key roles across multiple functions such as Marketing, Sales, Partnerships, and Policy. Consistent with the new organization structure, these roles have been spread across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

“We are dedicated to creating an environment where our people can be their authentic selves and unleash the power of their diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Teams at Facebook are focused on channeling that energy to be an ally to India in its exciting journey of transformation and growth,” added Mohan.