Hires & Promotions: FCB Kinnect , Britannia

FCB Kinnect elevates Kejal Teckchandani to executive vice president of influencer outreach

FCB Kinnect has elevated Kejal Teckchandani from senior vice president to executive vice president – influencer outreach. The agency has also elevated Mala Sharma to AVP – influencer outreach.

Teckchandani has played a pivotal role in building Kinnect Outreach, a celebrity and partnerships desk. 

During her seven years at FCB Kinnect, she has established a data-centric team that transcends traditional influencer buying, marrying data and creativity with a brand-building strategy. She’s also added a dedicated creative team that tackles end-to-end influencer briefs to the existing influencer desk of 50+ at FCB Kinnect.

Together they have worked for the top brands in the country like Amazon, Asian Paints, Google, Intel, Lenovo, ITC Foods, SBI, HDFC Bank, Tata EV, and more. This strong portfolio of work and clients makes Kinnect Outreach the strongest influencer service provider in the country, which has also become the preferred partner of choice for Google and Meta.

With over thirteen years of experience in Finance, Teckchandani possesses a deep understanding of the critical importance of ROI and value addition for clients. In a highly unorganised market, this has helped her build an influencer business model that delivers cost efficiencies to brands through strong relationships with the influencer community, from top-tier celebrities to localised micro-influencers.

To enhance transparency among clients, she developed KinnectFluence, a proprietary tool and live dashboard that oversees the entire lifecycle of influencer marketing campaigns.

Speaking on the elevation, Rohan Mehta, CEO, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India says, “With India’s influencer marketing sector projected to reach INR 33.75 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18%, the impact of influencer marketing is undeniable. For every consumer-facing brand, implementing an influencer strategy is essential. Kejal has done a fantastic job in building and growing Kinnect Outreach, shaping her team to think like a creative agency and execute like a media agency. Under her leadership Kinnect Outreach powers influencer marketing capabilities not only for FCB Kinnect but for the entire Group.”

Teckchandani also adds, “Building the leading influencer desk in the country and giving our clients a competitive edge has been incredibly gratifying. Although I come from a background in finance, I found my true calling in advertising, and I couldn't be happier with this transition. Our goal has always been to harness creativity in influencer marketing to drive economic value for brands. It has been a fantastic journey, and we will continue to invest in data, tools, and people to elevate Kinnect Outreach to even greater heights.”

Britannia Industries shuffles leadership team; Vinit Mahadevan joins executive committee

Food major Britannia Industries has shuffled its leadership team. Vinit Mahadevan, who is the head of strategy and business development, will become part of the executive committee and senior management personnel. Mahadevan holds a B.E. (Electrical) from University of Mumbai. He is also an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Mahadevan has 17 years of overall experience across various organisations like Huhtamaki, Diageo, WNS, Accenture and Citigroup.

Chief procurement officer Manoj Balgi has been named as the chief manufacturing and procurement officer in an expanded role. Balgi holds a B.E. (Mechanical) from Pune University and is a post graduate in industrial management from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering. Balgi has been with the Company since 2009.

Vinay Singh Kushwaha who led the company as chief technical and strategy officer announced his retirement which will be effective starting July 31st.