People on the move: Key shifts and moves in advertising, media, and marketing in 2023

From industry titans reshuffling roles to brand overhauls, we list impactful shifts that made the news in 2023.

People made the news for their planned, sometimes sudden, and in other cases unexpected job changes in 2023. From marketers and agency folk to media executives we saw some notable power players navigating transitions across sectors.

This year Rohit Jawa replaced HUL MD and CEO Sanjiv Mehta, Amul’s RS Sodhi left the milk cooperative and moved to Reliance Retail, Bobby Pawar left advertising, and Mona Jain joined Zee Media as its Chief Revenue Officer.

Here are the movers and shakers of the world of advertising, media and marketing in 2023:

Bobby Pawar stepped down as chairman, CCO of Havas India

Advertising veteran and legend, Bobby Pawar stepped down as the chairman and CCO of Havas India. As of now, he has not taken up any role and has supposedly moved away from advertising.

Pawar now calls himself ‘self-employed’. 

“It is hard to walk away from what I have loved for thirty-one years. But I have always chosen to do the hard thing. Like taking on the challenges of changing the course of the agencies I have helmed. Now it’s time to do that with my own life. What is certain though, is that writing will be a huge part of whatever I dive into next. I am nothing if not a storyteller, a craftsman who chisels prose with a pen,” were Pawar’s words on his exit from the industry.

Deepa Krishnan, Hyatt Hotels Corporations

In November, Deepa Krishnan took on the role of marketing head at Hyatt Hotels Corporations, after her four-year tenure at Starbucks. 

Previously, she served as the executive director of strategy at Kantar and held the position of head of branding and marketing communication at Idea Cellular for a three-year period.

Deepika Warrier, Bajaj Auto Limited

Diageo India’s CMO Deepika Warrier moved on from the company in June, after spending 3 years with the spirits major. Warrier later joined Bajaj Auto Limited as its head of marketing in July.

Dhruv Dhawan, Disney + Hotstar

Disney + Hotstar onboarded Dhruv Dhawan as head of ads. He replaced Shalini Poddar, who was working as the company's EVP and head of ad sales and now joined Apple Services as country director.

HDFC elevates Ravi Santhanam 

In August, Ravi Santhanam was elevated at HDFC as group head and CMO. Before this, he was CMO and head of corporate communications. 

Hindustan Unilever

In June, Hindustan Unilever announced the resignations of two of its board members - CEO & MD Sanjiv Mehta and independent director of the company, Dr Ashish Gupta. 

The company had already announced the successor to Sanjiv Mehta in Rohit Jawa, who took over the role of MD & CEO after Mehta’s retirement. 

Sonam Pradhan, Kellogg’s India

From Mahindra Group, Sonam Pradhan joined Kellogg’s India in September as head of media and digital marketing. During her tenure with Mahindra, she was integrated media and advertising head (Automotive Division.) 

 Kiran Mani, Viacom18

Viacom18 roped in Kiran Mani as the CEO of the digital business. His previous stint was with Google as general manager and MD for Android and Google Play for Asia Pacific.

Mayur Hola, Culinary Brands

Mayur Hola joined Culinary Brands as the chief marketing officer in January. He had previously worked with OYO as its SVP of Global Brand for nearly 4 years. 

McCann India announced restructuring

MWG India announced a significant restructuring at McCann India. Amitesh Rao, who was previously executive vice president and head of McCann Delhi was elevated to the role of executive director of McCann Advertising for North and West.

Abhinav Tripathi, who used to head creative at McCann Mumbai, has also taken up the mantle of creative head of digital, nationally at the agency. Sambit Mohanty and Souvik Dutta now lead the creative forces in McCann Delhi. Mohanty however continues to oversee McCann Bangalore Creative.

Megha Vishwanath, Zomato

Zomato onboarded Nothing’s Megha Vishwanath as vice president of operations in November. She worked as global product marketing manager at Nothing, where she was responsible for crafting and executing product marketing strategies, messaging and positioning of the product range. 

Nikhil Gandhi, Arise IIP

Nikhil Gandhi joined Arise IIP as its executive director. He took to LinkedIn to announce the same. Before this role, Gandhi was with MX Player as COO for over a year.

PepsiCo elevates Tarun Bhagat

In May, PepsiCo elevated Tarun Bhagat to CMO, India and South Asia Beverages promoting him from his previous role as senior director of marketing for Mountain Dew, 7UP, and Mirinda- International beverages. 

Rahul Shivshankar, Network18 Group

Rahul Shivshankar joined Network18 Group as a consulting editor. He moved on from Times Now in June 2023.

Ramsai Panchapakesan, Havas India

Ramsai Panchapakesan quit Zenith as the Sr. vice president & national head - integrated media buying. Panchapakesan joined Havas Media Network India as managing partner- investments for Havas Media India. He oversees integrated buying in the North and East markets, along with assuming additional responsibilities for Trading.

Rebranding of Landor & Fitch to Landor; Lulu Raghavan promoted to VP, APAC 

In June, Landor & Fitch promoted Lulu Raghavan as vice president of APAC. Previously, she was the India managing director.

In November, Landor & Fitch also rebranded to Landor, accompanied by a refreshed brand expression and a new ultramarine blue identity. 

This colour choice symbolises the transformative power of water, paying homage to the company's origins when Walter Landor founded it on a ferry boat in San Francisco harbor.

Sagar Kapoor left Lowe Lintas after 20 years

Sagar Kapoor left Lowe Lintas in 2023 after two decades in the agency. Prior to his exit, he was the chief creative officer of Global Brands. Kapoor is behind some memorable campaigns like Lifebuoy’s #HelpAChildReach5.

He was the global creative lead for the brand, Lifebuoy and has also worked for brands like Axe, Pepsodent, Zee, Astral Pipes, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Godrej HIT.

Shemaroo Entertainment

This year, Shemaroo Entertainment announced key appointments and exits.

Saurabh Srivastava was named the chief operating officer - digital business. His previous stint was at Disney Star India as the head of product and revenue strategy for the Hindi entertainment network.

Zubin Dubash, COO of ShemarooMe and Digital Business moved on from the organisation in April 2023.

Kranti Gada, who was associated with Shemaroo Entertainment as its president - new business opportunities, stepped down from her role to launch her venture 'neOwn'.

Shirish Agarwal, Samsung India

September marked Shirish Agarwal's entry into Samsung India as director of marketing. Formerly he was the head of brand and marketing communications at Panasonic India.

Smita Murarka, Deloitte

Smita Murarka joined Deloitte as director in September. Previously, she was working as chief marketing officer at Duroflex. 

Pulkit Trivedi, Snap Inc.

Snap Inc., announced the appointment of Pulkit Trivedi as India's managing director in August. He joined Snap from Google where he was the director of Google Pay- India Business Team for five years. 

Soumava Maiti, ABP Group

Soumava Maiti was appointed the chief marketing manager of ABP Group in September 2023. His previous stint was as a senior manager of brand and digital at Nuvoco Vistas.

RS Sodhi, GCMMF

RS Sodhi resigned as Amul MD in January, After serving as the managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) for a decade. The dairy sector cooperative giant, which owns the Amul brand, then appointed Jayen Mehta as the MD. 

In April, RS Sodhi joined Reliance Retail to head its Grocery Business. 

Debosmita Majumder, WeWork

The workspace provider company WeWork in September announced Debosmita Majumder as CMO. Her mandates include enhancing the marketing infrastructure of the company. 

Zee Media Corporation

Zee Media Corporation onboarded Mona Jain as its chief revenue officer. She worked as the CRO for ABP Network for three years before joining Zee.

As Jain moved in, the company’s former CBO Joy Chakraborty decided to move out. Reports say that he “decided to leave the organisation to pursue his personal endeavours.”