Hires & Promotions: GroupM. Facebook, DDB Mudra, Chanel

GroupM restructures leadership team at Central Trading Group

GroupM has reportedly restructured its media buying function– Central Trading Group.  

According to media reports, Pratik Rathod, who was leading buying for Wavemaker, will take over as the national broadcast head, GroupM India.

Muralidhar T will be taking on an elevated role of leading buying function for the whole of Mindshare.

K Srinivas Rao, who was leading the Mediacom buying function, will take over the Wavemaker buying mandate from Rathod.

Further, Rahul Satoskar, currently the region buying lead for Mindshare (West), has been elevated to lead Mediacom buying nationally.

HUL's Gaurav Jeet Singh to join Facebook as Director-Partnerships

Gaurav Jeet Singh, General Manager Media- South Asia at Unilever is all set to join as Director Partnerships at Facebook India. As per reliable sources, Singh has already stepped down from Unilever after being with the company for over 13 years.

At Unilever, Singh has been responsible for driving media attributable business growth across all brands & categories in South Asia.  He is credited for building media models to drive consumers across DTC (direct to consumer), E-commerce, and Traditional trade (online & offline sales).

As per his LinkedIn profile, Singh also spearheaded campaigns for the brand across platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and emerging OTT platforms.

Prior to the current role, he was the Marketing Manager- Pureit, responsible for the category P&L and built Direct to Consumer (DTC) businesses in Unilever. Before that he did various Sales leadership roles at Unilever leading high-performing sales teams and setting up a premium beauty sales system.

DDB Mudra elevates Iraj Fraz Batla to Creative Head- North role

In order to strengthen its creative leadership structure, DDB Mudra has elevated Iraj Fraz Batla to the position of Creative Head - North. Prior to this, he served as Executive Creative Director – West for over 3 years in the company. During this time, he successfully led the creative mandate for brands like Kwality Walls Kids, Meesho, Cars24, and Protinex. In his new role, Fraz will drive the creative output from the North office under the leadership of Rahul Mathew, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group.

In a career spanning over 18 years, Fraz has worked with some of the biggest creative agencies in the world including Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, Y&R Dubai, JWT, Lowe Lintas, among others. He brings in a wealth of knowledge from his experience of working with 35+ Indian and international brands. His work has won several accolades at Spikes Asia, Adfest, Kyoorius, Effies and Goafest. 

Speaking on Fraz’s new role, Rahul Mathew said, “As we grow our creative ambition and reputation, it’s critical for us to have leaders who possess the same vision and standards across the Group. Having worked with us at our hugely celebrated West office for 3 years, Fraz is just the person to carry forward our torch for creative excellence. His blend of creativity and resilience will surely help us reach our creative potential in North and touch even greater heights as a Group.”

Talking about his new mandate, Fraz said, “DDB Mudra’s North office is producing strong advertising and is headed in the direction to be the agency of the future. And I’m lucky to be part of this exciting phase. From here on, may the best work win.”

Leena Nair of Unilever joins French luxury group Chanel as CEO

French Luxury Group, Chanel, has appointed Unilever executive Leena Nair as its new Global Chief Executive, based in London.

Nair's career at the global consumer goods company spanned 30 years, most recently as the Chief of Human resources and a member of Unilever's executive committee.

The group said in a statement that French billionaire Alain Wertheimer, who owns Chanel with his brother Gerard Wertheimer, would move to the role of Global Executive Chairman.

She follows U.S. businesswoman Maureen Chiquet, who came from a fashion background and was CEO of Chanel for nine years until early 2016. She was not replaced until now.

Chanel was founded in 1910 by fashion legend Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel and grew to become a byword for French chic.