MAM
Gaurav Nabh and Deepak Kumar launch Thrive
Mumbai: After successfully building the full-service digital agency Korra over the last five years, seasoned creative and marketing experts Gaurav Nabh and Deepak Kumar launched Thrive, a new-age creative capital. Through Thrive, both Gaurav and Deepak aim to bring their expertise and experience to new-age and digitally native brands, support them with their brand story and infuse them with capital to accelerate their growth. While Gaurav Nabh served as the founder and CEO of Korra, Deepak Kumar, served as the agency’s chief creative officer.
Thrive will infuse new-age brands with a unique incubation platform. Focused on partnering with early-stage direct-to-consumer brands, Thrive will guide them with their narrative, go-to-market strategy, ROI-based media and content. Thrive will support brands with creative and capital investment, thus enabling founders to focus on their growth story and scaling their business.
Having spent over two decades in marketing consulting and having worked closely with brands of all sizes, Gaurav has led multiple successful brand launches in India during his roles at NIIT, Virgin Mobile & Telenor. He has served as the Chief Marketing Officer at fast fashion brand Koovs and led a digital consulting business at GroupM. Deepak on the other hand has over 15 years of experience in building brands like Mamaearth, Uber, Taco Bell and Land Rover along with agencies like Ogilvy, Havas and Wunderman Dubai. His work has won him several metals at Cannes, New York Festival and ADFEST along the years.
Speaking on Thrive’s creative capital, Thrive founder Gaurav Nabh said, “Having been a part of the industry for over 2 decades, we believe that the world has changed, and brands are being built in more guerilla ways than ever. Advertising today is no longer limited to a campaign and brands with a purpose coupled with strong brand narratives will have a better right to win. Thrive is founded with the idea to partner with founders, who are building for the audiences of today, a consumer who is far more aware, educated and conscious of their choices. We believe founders today need the right advice backed by experience, relevant brand narratives, razor-sharp creativity and creative capital to grow. Whether it is finding a brand’s purpose, helping scale business through new product introductions and launches or even disrupting with never-seen-before brand marketing and content, Thrive will change how new-age brands are built.”
“No brand is born to just survive but Thrive. We believe brands thrive when the brand partners directly collaborate with marketers and founders and own outcomes more than owning ideas. Having built a couple of unicorn brands, including India’s biggest IPO in 2023, we believe that our creative capital infusion will enable brands to find new ways of creating brand love. This begins with handpicking talent across industries and looking beyond traditional solutions. We are sure that the next generation of brands will be built on creative capital and Thrive is well positioned to support them on their journey.” added Thrive co-founder Deepak Kumar.
Built to help brands in a highly dynamic environment, Thrive has partnered with brands in the sexual wellness, personal care, pet food, and fintech category. Thrive is already working with brands across Reckitt, Nestle India, DS Group, and RP Sanjiv Goenka Group as they launch.
MAM
Toyota appoints Kenta Kon as President & CEO
New leader to steer EV push and global innovation amid industry shift.
MUMBAI: Toyota just handed the keys to a new driver because when the road to electric mobility gets twisty, you need someone who knows how to accelerate without skidding. Toyota Motor Corporation has named Kenta Kon as its new president and chief executive officer, a key leadership transition as the Japanese giant doubles down on its transformation in the fast-evolving global automotive landscape.
Kon brings deep expertise in automotive innovation, business strategy, and operational leadership to the top job. His appointment signals Toyota’s intent to sharpen focus on accelerating electric mobility, strengthening worldwide operations, and pushing customer-centric breakthroughs in next-generation technologies.
The company is betting on Kon to guide it through the industry’s pivotal shift toward sustainability, digital integration, and smarter mobility solutions. Key priorities under his watch include ramping up electric and hybrid lineups, expanding global market reach, driving cutting-edge automotive R&D, tightening supply-chain efficiency, and scaling connected and intelligent vehicle ecosystems.
This move comes at a time when legacy automakers face intense pressure to balance heritage strengths with aggressive electrification timelines and software-defined vehicle demands. Toyota aims to reinforce its position as a leader in sustainable, reliable, and future-ready mobility while navigating competitive challenges from both traditional rivals and new-age EV players.
For a brand that’s long defined durability and innovation, Kon’s elevation isn’t just a title change, it’s Toyota flooring it toward the next lap, ready to turn today’s tech talk into tomorrow’s showroom reality.
