Hires & Promotions: Ford India, Wavemaker, Publicis Media, Lido Learning, Realme

Anurag Mehrotra quits Ford India: Reports

Ford Motor Co's India head Anurag Mehrotra has quit the company to pursue other career opportunities, media reports have claimed. The move comes days after the card company announced its decision to stop manufacturing cars in India.

Some reports, quoting sources, claimed that September 30 will be Mehrotra's last day with Ford.

 Mehrotra has spent over a decade with Ford in India across multiple roles including marketing, sales and most recently as president and managing director.

Lido Learning Appoints Jagnoor Singh As Chief Business Officer, Global Operations

EdTech startup, Lido Learning has appointed Jagnoor Singh as Chief Business Officer for its global operations. Jagnoor was previously working with the hospitality giant, OYO Rooms as its Region Head, North & East India & Nepal.

Jagnoor's appointment is in sync with its recently announced growth and expansion plans into the US and Canada markets.

In his new role, Jagnoor will be responsible for scaling up Lido Learning’s international operations and services. Jagnoor will work closely with Sahil Sheth, CEO & Founder, Lido Learning and a dedicated team for international expansion towards sharpening the company’s global strategy and operations. Lido Learning recently announced its foray into the US and Canada. The company plans to expand into the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia in early 2022. Jagnoor will also oversee the recent expansions into UAE and Saudi Arabia which have seen rapid adoption of the small-group tutoring model offered by Lido.

Announcing Jagnoor’s appointment Sahil Sheth, CEO & Founder, Lido Learning said, “We are excited to have Jagnoor joining us at Lido Learning. His experience across industries is a strength that we can leverage as we expand into new markets, while also improving our local offerings. His experience in the hospitality industry will enable us to become even more customer-centric and experience-focussed. Given Jagnoor’s rapid success at OYO, we are confident that he will be instrumental in driving the company’s growth and international operations. His extensive knowledge and experience as a business leader make him the ideal choice for Lido Learning.”

Jagnoor Singh, Chief Business Officer, Global, Lido Learning on his appointment said “Lido’s purpose and vision appeal to both, the parent and the business officer in me. True learning that lasts a lifetime can't happen in isolation or a crowd. Lido has solved the problem of combining peer-learning and personal attention with its small-group tuition classes. It is the best of both worlds, which will help us fulfil our promise of making success a habit for every child, every time, in all of life's tests. I'm excited to help Lido on its next milestones to disrupt the $15 billion neighbourhood tuition market!” 

Madhav Seth Elevated To Handle Realme's Business Operations In Latin America 

Madhav Sheth, Vice President Realme and CEO, Realme India & Europe, has been promoted to lead Realme's presence and business operations in Latin America. Madhav will lead the product, marketing, brand-building, and sales functions in these regions as Vice President, Realme and CEO, Realme India, Europe, and Latin America. The entry into a new and promising market reflects Realme's vision of bringing cutting-edge technology and leapfrogging performance to consumers in the region, allowing it to meet its goal of gaining dual 100 million users by 2023 and establishing itself as a leading Tech brand.

In Mexico and Brazil, Realme will prioritize product development, which is always a top priority for the company and will aim towards building a strong local workforce in the Latin American region. Latin America is a promising market for feature-rich, performance-savvy smartphones and Realme aims to fill in the gap in the needs of young audiences and continue to launch products with cutting-edge performance and trendsetting design at democratized pricing, which have played as a key growth driver. In addition, Realme will optimize its market and channel strategies in Mexico and Brazil. Under Madhav’s stewardship, Realme has ascended to the top five vendors in Europe in Q2 2021 as per Strategy Analytics, and the company plans to do the same in Mexico and Brazil next year. 

Realme has announced its Realme TechLife Ecosystem with a vision of 'Technology that Empowers Life’ and a mission to create a smart, connected and trendy lifestyle for the youth, supported by its 1+5+T strategy. Realme will gradually introduce Realme TechLife Ecosystem In Latin America also. 

Wavemaker Appoints Shipra Roy And Helen Price To Global Leadership Team

Wavemaker has named Shipra Roy as its new Global Chief People, Inclusion and Culture Officer alongside Helen Price as Global Chief Investment Officer. Both will be based in London and join CEO Toby Jenner’s global leadership team.

Shipra, who comes to Wavemaker from a position as Chief People Officer for McCann UK and Europe, will oversee all aspects of the people function to ensure that Wavemaker continues to attract the best talent and creates great careers regardless of level, role or geography in the organisation that spans 7,000 people across 88 markets. She replaces James Edgar who left the agency in August.

Helen joins Wavemaker from IPG Mediabrands where she was Head of Global Accountability and Investment. At Wavemaker her focus will be on creating value for clients and commercial opportunities for the agency. She replaces Keith Tiley who will be retiring at the end of the year. In addition, Wavemaker has promoted Global Managing Partner Simon Broderick to Global Head of Investment.

Toby Jenner, CEO, Wavemaker, commented, “Even in the face of a global pandemic, Wavemaker has had an incredibly strong year and, as our growth journey continues, I’m pleased to welcome Helen and Shipra to the team. They are both tremendous resources in their fields, and I look forward to working closely with them to help us deliver positively provoking, innovative and commercially sound solutions for both our clients and our people.”

Publicis Media Elevates Rajiv Gopinath And Ajit Gurnani

Publicis Media Services realigns its media capabilities and strengthens its growth vertical that helps to create and maintain competitive advantage and single-minded focus on new-business development by on-boarding Rajiv Gopinath as Chief Product and Solutions Officer and Ajit Gurnani as Chief Growth Officer, Media Services.  

The structure is strategically built to encompass clients and drive the synergies between data, tech and digital to deliver scaled media solutions. 

Rajiv Gopinath steps up as a Chief Product and Solutions Officer from being a Chief Client Officer at Starcom, where he has been instrumental in building strategic functions and upscaling the business. In his new mandate, Rajiv will be leading product development and fortify the existing offerings while acquiring new products at Publicis Media Services. He will also be helping brands to strengthen their digital offerings, enabling data partnerships, data collection, research and tools.   

Ajit Gurnani has been spearheading the role of Chief Client Officer at Zenith and has a splendid track record of business growth. In his new role as Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Media Services, he will drive the Power of One initiative with non-media entities and agencies of Groupe.  

Speaking on the key appointments, Tanmay Mohanty, CEO, PublicisMedia Services, said, “I am delighted to have Rajiv Gopinath and Ajit Gurnani as a part of Publicis Media Services. Their deep understanding of data, digital, tech and media tied with a proven track record in business growth will help us in the realignment of our media services. In our continuous efforts to strengthen our team, we are confident that Rajiv and Ajit’s expertise and vast experience will add significant value to the organization.”