Hires & Promotions: GSMA, Disney+Hotstar, Social Panga

GSMA names José María Álvarez-Pallete López as chair, re-elects Gopal Vittal as deputy chair

The GSMA has elected new members of the GSMA Board of Directors for a two-year term beginning 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2026. The GSMA Board has also elected José María Álvarez-Pallete López, as chair, and Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO, Bharti Airtel as deputy chair. López will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, which represents the world’s mobile operators and companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

“I am honoured and excited to be re-appointed as Chair. I look forward to another term of working together with our talented team to achieve our goals and continue to make a lasting impact. Together, we will continue to stay at the forefront of trends and make a positive impact in our industry,” says López.

Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA comments; “The industry is going through rapid change, driven by advances in technology, digital transformation, and the rise of AI. It is a very exciting time to be part of this transformation, and I am confident that with the leadership of the Chair and our Board, the GSMA is well-positioned to successfully continue to advocate for our members and achieve our goals”. He added that “we are excited to welcome the new and re-elected Board members, and we thank the outgoing Board members for their outstanding support.”

There are 26 members of the GSMA Board. Members include senior representatives from global mobile operators as well as smaller independent operators.

Disney+Hotstar's head Sajith Sivanandan quits

Sajith Sivanandan, who led Disney + Hotstar as head, has stepped down from his position, states an industry report.

This decision comes after an internal decision regarding all live sporting events of the merged entity, which includes IPL (Indian Premier League) to be streamed on Disney's Hotstar app, and not on Reliance's JioCinema app, further added to the report.

It is yet to be decided by the leadership whether JioCinema, which has the rights to IPL cricket, will continue as a separate app.

Sivanandan began his career at Star TV and went on to work across The Gallup Organisation, Affle UK, and Google.

On February 28, 2024, RIL’s Viacom18 inked a binding agreement with The Walt Disney Company to merge their media operations in India and form a joint venture that will see the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India being combined.

As a part of its growth strategy, Reliance Industries will invest Rs 11,500 crore. The transaction values the joint venture at Rs 70,352 crore on a post-money basis.

After the above-mentioned steps have been completed, 16.34 per cent of the joint venture will be owned by Reliance and 46.82 per cent by Viacom18 and 36.84 per cent by Disney.
 

Social Panga appoints Ketki Karandikar as senior creative director

Social Panga, the integrated creative and digital marketing agency, now part of LS Digital, has appointed Ketki Karandikar as senior creative director for its Mumbai office. Karandikar brings over 15 years of experience in the creative and digital space. Before this role, she was the senior creative director at Ogilvy Mumbai. 

Karandikar has worked on brands like Colgate Palmolive, Pampers, Mondelez, Stayfree, and Marico. In her new role at Social Panga, she will be responsible for driving the creative vision, developing innovative campaigns and enhancing brand storytelling to deliver impactful results for clients. She will also play a vital role in mentoring and nurturing the agency’s creative talent.

Speaking on her appointment, Gaurav Arora, co-founder at Social Panga, says, “Ketki brings a wealth of creative experience from her time in the mainline industry, seamlessly aligning with the ecosystem we are building. Her approach is a perfect blend of creativity and media-focused marketing, which fits right into our vision. With Ketki on board, our integrated marketing strategy will gain new momentum, and her expertise will further elevate the capabilities of our in-house production team.”

Speaking on her appointment Karandikar adds, “As the boundaries of online and offline advertising are fast blurring, Social Panga offered me a fresh perspective to explore. It is always exciting to work with like-minded people and I am looking forward to this new chapter in my career. At Social Panga the energy and enthusiasm are contagious and I cannot wait to use all my learnings and experience to lead the team towards greater success. Keep an eye on us as we are about to take some fun Pangas.”