Hires & Promotions: Renew Power, Outbrain, Royal Enfield, Dentsu, HBO Max, Leverage Edu, Facebook

Renew Power Appoints Raman Kalra As Chief Digital Officer

PwC India's Raman Kalra has joined Renew Power as the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). In August, Kalra resigned from his position as Partner, PwC India - Digital Transformation and Strategy at PwC.

Kalra updated on his LinkedIn page:

Kalra started his career in 1994 with Ambuja cement, where he worked as the Costing Manager. After that, he went on to work with companies like Ranbaxy, IBM, eSense Learning and Media Research Users Council (MRUC). 

ABP Network's Allen Sharma Joins Outbrain  As Director Of Sales, India

According to media sources, web recommendation platform Outbrain has hired Allen Sharma as Director of Sales, India. Prior to this, Sharma was the director of digital sales at ABP Network.

Sharma is a senior executive with extensive experience in the broadcast media industry, with a focus on sales and digital. He has over a decade of sales and marketing experience. Times Network, Bloomberg UTV, and Network18 are among the companies in his portfolio.

Shubhranshu Singh To Resign From Royal Enfield

According to media sources, Shubhranshu Singh, the worldwide head of marketing at Royal Enfield, has resigned from the company. Singh, who has been the face of the launch of models like Interceptor, Thunderbird X, and Meteor, is apparently looking for a greater global role outside of the company and is presently on leave.

Following the resignation of CEO Vinod Dasari, the company is reportedly seeing a flurry of top-level departures. According to a news agency, Lalit Malik, the Chief Commercial Officer, has also resigned.

Prior to joining Royal Enfield, Singh was working as the Executive Vice President & Head Marketing- Sports in Star TV Network. Singh has experience of over two decades in the field of sales and marketing. He started his career in 1999 as an Area Sales Manager in Unilever. 

Dentsu India Elevates Rahul Vengalil To Managing Partner, Isobar

Isobar, the creative experience agency from Dentsu India, has promoted Rahul Vengalil to the role of Managing Partner. Rahul will report to Heeru Dingra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Isobar India group and will be responsible for building the business with creativity & experience as the key focus for future growth.

Rahul’s digital expertise cuts across capabilities in business transformation, strategy, branding, experience, and innovation. Erstwhile, Chief Business Officer (CBO), he has played an active role in driving the Isobar India growth story to newer heights and has added significant brands to the agency’s client roster, augmenting Isobar’s creative line of business exponentially. 

Rahul’s first stint with Isobar India was in the year 2011 when he joined the agency as Senior Group Head. He successfully took up and executed the challenging mandate to expand the agency’s footprint across India and set up Isobar’s first South branch in Bangalore.  

Rahul moved on from Isobar at the start of 2017 to launch his own Audit & Digital transformation company - What Clicks and returned to the agency in 2020 to power its next phase of growth. His clientele over the years includes some of India’s most prestigious brands such as Myntra, Visa, Marks & Spencer, Titan International, Skore, Eicher, Paradise Biryani, Wrangler, Air Asia, Sun Network and Sterling Holidays.

Speaking on the appointment, Heeru Dingra, CEO, Isobar India group said, “Rahul is one of our finest resources with key domain expertise and with the thrill to set up new standards each time. His strategic-led, client-centric approach is in sync with our offerings. We are certain that he will accelerate Isobar’s growth trajectory for India.”

Commenting on his elevation, Rahul Vengalil added, “I am extremely excited to begin this fresh chapter at Isobar India. My experience with Isobar has transformed my journey; and now is the time to set up new benchmarks. We have an awesome team of innovative and creative folks who are aligned with Isobar’s global vision of transforming into the most creative experience agency, worldwide. With our ‘Invent Make Change’ agenda, we are committed to being instrumental in creating an experience economy within India.”

Sony's Saugata Mukherjee Has Joined HBO Max: Reports

As per some media reports, Sony Liv's Head of original content, Saugata Mukherjee, has joined HBO Max as content head for India.

Prior to joining Sony, Mukherjee was working as the Head of Development and Creative with Disney + Hotstar. In his career of over two decades, He has been associated with the companies like Star TV Network, Pan Macmillan, Harpercollins etc.

Zee's Ambesh Tiwari Joins Leverage Edu

Zee Entertainment's Ambesh Tiwari has joined the Indian study abroad platform, Leverage Edu as the Chief Marketing Officer. In his new role, he will be leading the marketing, growth and institutional sales for the company. 

Before joining Leverage Edu, he was working as the Director of Digital Alliances and partnerships at Zee.

In the past, he was working with Viacom 18, where he led the consumer research for the Corporate strategy team aiding team secondary researches on the live events industry and digital content ecosystem and with Star India he worked as the Content Development Manager.

Rajiv Aggarwal Joins Facebook India As The Director Of Public Policy

Facebook India has appointed Rajiv Aggarwal as the Director of Public Policy to define and lead important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection & privacy, inclusion and internet governance. In this role, Aggarwal will report to Ajit Mohan, Vice President & Managing Director, Facebook India and will be a part of the India leadership team. 

Aggarwal comes with 26 years of experience as an Indian Administrative Officer (IAS), working from grassroots to global level, including as a District Magistrate in nine districts across the state of Uttar Pradesh. During his tenure as an administrative officer, he steered India's first ever national policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (M/o Commerce), and was instrumental in the digital transformation of India’s IP offices. He has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being India’s lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations. His last assignment was with Uber, where he was the Head of Public Policy for India and South Asia.   

On the appointment, Ajit Mohan, Vice President & Managing Director, Facebook India, said, “Facebook is an ally for the exciting economic and social transformation that India is witnessing, with digital playing a central role. We realise we are deeply immersed in the fabric of India and we have the opportunity to help build a more inclusive and safe internet that benefits everyone in the country.  I’m thrilled that Rajiv is joining us to lead the Public Policy team. With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognize as our responsibility.” 

Aggarwal’s appointment comes after a series of senior and leadership recruitments in recent months across marketing, partnerships, communications, and other key verticals demonstrating the company’s expanding charter and commitment to India.