Hires, Promotions, Exits: Viacom18 Sports, Bajaj Consumer Care, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Roblox

Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj resigns amid merger with Disney Star India

Anil Jayaraj, CEO of sports at Viacom18, has resigned after nearly three years in the role. This departure coincides with the ongoing merger between Reliance Industries-backed Viacom18 and Walt Disney's Star India. Sources familiar with the situation reported that Jayaraj submitted his resignation on June 17.

During his tenure, Jayaraj significantly grew Viacom18's sports business across TV and digital platforms such as Sports18 and JioCinema. Under his leadership, Viacom18 secured high-profile properties including the Indian Premier League (IPL) digital rights, the BCCI media rights, the Women's Premier League (WPL), and the 2024 Olympics.

Before joining Viacom18, Jayaraj led ad sales for Disney Star's sports network, Star Sports, where he developed monetization strategies for seven IPL seasons across Star Sports and Viacom18. Jayaraj's extensive 27-year career also includes roles as chief marketing officer at Pidilite and senior marketing positions at BP and Castrol.

Bajaj Consumer Care appoints Sanath R. Pulikkal as CMO

Bajaj Consumer Care has appointed Sanath R. Pulikkal as its Chief Marketing Officer. 

Pulikkal is a marketing professional with over 20 years of comprehensive experience and a proven track record in managing key brands in challenging market environments. In his last role, he was the General Manager of Marketing - Home Care at Dabur India, where he led the marketing and business strategy for brands like Odomos, Odopic, SaniFresh, Dazzl, and Odonil. He has expertise in pioneering innovations, product launches and category marketing in FMCG (Food/Beverage and Home Care) and the automotive industry.

Some of his notable achievements include developing and launching Tata WaterPlus, the first fortified water product in India, and Sparkling Himalayan, a premium mineral water brand. He also led the marketing and brand development for various home care products like EXO, PRIL, MAXO, T-Shine etc. at Jyothy Labs, achieving significant growth in market share and profitability. He's also had stints at Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Pulikkal completed PGDBM (Marketing) from IMT Ghaziabad in 2003 and B.E (Production) from K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering in 1999.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Prasad has resigned from the position of Head - Marketing of the Company to pursue opportunities outside the organisation. Prasad will be leaving the company at the end of July.

Sony Pictures Entertainment names Nachiket Pantvaidya as General Manager, Sony Pictures International Productions - India

Sony Pictures Entertainment has named veteran executive Nachiket Pantvaidya the General Manager of Sony Pictures International Productions (SPIP), India.

In this role, Pantvaidya will oversee local Indian production while working alongside Shony Panjikaran (General Manager and Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India).

Shebnem Askin, EVP, Creative Production and Head of Sony Pictures International Production says, “Sanford Panitch and I are so pleased to have Nachiket join the Sony Pictures International Productions to lead our local Indian production. These are exciting times as we take a step to make and release our biggest local slate for the Indian market in the next two years. We are most excited as Nachiket brings along not only rich industry experience but also new energy and dynamic execution skills to lead SPIP to a prime position.” 

Commenting on his appointment, Pantvaidya points, “I am pleased to lead and nurture our creative and business forces to ensure that we best serve our movie audiences, especially in these dynamic times where the creative and business parameters for movie making in India are being redefined. We are aiming to scale our output to not only match audience expectations but also to ensure that the right cohorts get to see the movie of their choice on the distribution medium of their choice. I hope to partner fruitfully with the players in the market and with Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and optimise SPIP’s strength going ahead.”

In his earlier assignments, Pantvaidya was Group CEO, Balaji Telefilms, Business Head of Sony Entertainment Television. He was also the Business Head of Star Plus and held several roles in the Star TV network, including Head of Star Pravah and Managing Director of Fox Television Studios. An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, he has also held key management roles in BBC and Disney.

As he takes up this new assignment, he will continue to perform his duties as CEO, Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures in parallel.    

Microsoft Xbox Jerret West to join Roblox as CMO

Jerret West, who led Microsoft's Xbox as its Marketing Chief, will be joining gaming platform Roblox as CMO.

During his tenure, West oversaw all marketing efforts for gaming across the company, including a 200-person global team and over half a billion dollars in marketing spend. His team developed marketing strategies for games, hardware, and services such as Game Pass and Series S/X consoles across the gaming division.

He began his career at Avenue A and went on to work across American Express and Netflix.

As the VP- Digital Marketing at American Express, West managed the digital marketing for American Express' consumer travel business. Amex Travel is a leading provider in the competitive travel market, focused on revenue and enhancing card member benefits. His role was to expand our presence on new digital platforms, including mobile and tablet, while maximizing our presence in traditional digital channels. This included overseeing the team's efforts in display, paid search, affiliate, SEO, and email list management.