Publicis Media: Mallikarjun Das is now Group CEO, Starcom India; Tanmay Mohanty is Group CEO, Zenith India

Publicis Media India recently announced the structure and leadership appointments for Starcom India and ZenithOptimedia. Mallikarjun Das will head Starcom India as Group chief executive officer, while Tanmay Mohanty will head ZenithOptimedia as Group chief executive officer.

Commenting on the new appointments, Anupriya Acharya, chief executive officer, Publicis Media India, says in a press release, "One of the greatest strengths of our new organisation in India is its team of leaders, which has a proven track record within our system. The team has been integral in accomplishing what we have in the last two-three years, and is now committed to setting strategy and charting the course for the new organisation."

She further adds, "The new structure that follows the framework of the global vision is fully equipped to fit the future and best serve our clients. It is a fresh opportunity to simplify our organisation, invent more modern approaches to gain effectiveness and efficiency, introduce structures for greater collaboration, and drive new levels of client value and delight."

Publicis Media India, will consolidate its agency brands Starcom Mediavest, ZenithOptimedia, Equinox, Performics, Convonix, Resultrix, Ninah, and Newcast into four agency brands that are in line with the global structure, namely, Starcom, Zenith, Mediavest | Spark, and Optimedia | Blue 449.

In this new model, the agency network names of Starcom Mediavest Group and ZenithOptimedia Group have retired to better enable a flatter organisational structure. VivaKi's capabilities will be fully integrated into Publicis Media's global practice model. Performics will remain Publicis Media's global performance marketing brand and scale within all agency brands.

The key appointments announced are:

Sarfaraz Khimani and Pallav Jain, both as co-chief executive officer, Performics.Convonix. They will report to Das.

Basabdatta Chowdhuri, who now takes on the role of national chief operating officer, Starcom India. She will also report to Das.

ZenithOptimedia's managing director Hari Krishnan is moving on to pursue other opportunities. "We thank (Hari) Krishnan for all his contributions and wish him the best," comments Acharya. Another key appointment in Zenith, under Mohanty's leadership will be announced in due course.