Havas India ropes in John Thangaraj as chief strategy officer of Havas Creative Network India

John will be responsible for driving the strategic mandate of the creative network.

Havas India has appointed John Thangaraj as the chief strategy officer of Havas Creative Network India and his remit will include Havas Worldwide India (creative), Havas CX India (customer experience), Conran Design Mumbai (brand design), Ekino (technology), and Havas People India (employer branding). John will be responsible for driving the strategic mandate of the creative network and will also work closely with Havas Village India leaders to drive integration.

He will be based out of Gurugram and report to Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas India, South East Asia and North Asia (Japan & South Korea).

Speaking about the appointment, Rana Barua said, “Havas Creative Network India has gained tremendous scale and size over the last six years. One of the agencies which has seen unprecedented growth, new leaders, tremendous business traction is Havas Worldwide India and therefore John will work closely with Anupama Ramaswamy and Kundan Joshee to further drive the growth of the agency."

He adds, "In addition, he will also work closely with Geet Nazir (Conran Design Mumbai), Prashant Tekwani (Havas CX India) and Arindam Sengupta (Havas People India) to further strengthen the strategic vision. He will further consolidate our client relationships and drive thought-leadership to ensure meaningful business growth and establish Havas Creative Network India as the most future-forward and progressive creative network conglomerate. I wish him all the best.”

John Thangaraj said, “I couldn't be more excited to be embarking on this journey with Rana and the rest of the Havas India team. As the saying goes, it takes a village. And the Havas Village remains one of the most deeply and seamlessly integrated creative networks in the world. The opportunities to create meaningful client value across the entire chain are quite literally, limitless, and I can't wait to get started.”

John comes armed with twenty-two years of experience as a multi-functional marketing communications strategist across consumer research, marketing, advertising and media. With a postgraduate degree in Marketing, Advertising, and Communication, he began his career in PR in 2002. In 2007, he joined adidas, managing the launch and promotion of the adidas Originals brand in India.

In 2008, he transitioned to advertising with Rediffusion Y&R as head of strategic planning, handling brands like Bacardi, Danone, and Tata Steel. At MullenLowe Lintas Group from 2010, he worked with brands including Hindustan Times, Nestle, and HCL Technologies. In 2013, he led strategic initiatives at Mindshare for clients such as Pepsico, Lufthansa, and GlaxoSmithKline. Most recently, at FCB Group India, he worked with major brands like Google, Uber, Bata, Pernod Ricard and Vistara.