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Mars snacking names Chinmay Kelkar as Asia media and integrated ecosystem director
Cannes-winning strategist and WPP veteran takes charge of media across key Asian markets
VIRGINIA: Mars has appointed Chinmay Kelkar as Asia media and integrated ecosystem director for its snacking division, handing a sprawling regional mandate to a planner known for mixing data rigour with creative firepower.
Kelkar moves to the role in Singapore after a rapid senior run at WPP Media and EssenceMediacom, where he handled regional clients and transformation briefs across Asia-Pacific. His remit at Mars spans media strategy and integrated ecosystem planning in some of the world’s most complex and competitive consumer markets.
A Cannes winner, Kelkar has been named among IMPACT’s top 30 future leaders of Indian advertising and was earlier singled out as a rising star on WPP’s global Team Procter & Gamble. His career has zigzagged across China, India and wider APAC, covering categories as varied as B2B, sports, telecoms, automobiles and FMCG.
Before Mars, Kelkar served briefly as svp, regional clients at WPP Media. He also spent over four years at EssenceMediacom in Singapore as head of transformation and regional business lead, focusing on capability-building and cross-market integration. Earlier roles at Mediabrands saw him spearhead the ExxonMobil business across 11 Asia-Pacific and Oceania markets, leading cross-functional teams spanning planning, buying and ad operations while chasing incremental growth.
A long China stint with MediaCom sharpened his reputation as a sales-driven strategist. As planning director on Team P&G China, he oversaw media strategy, communications planning and end-to-end e-commerce store management for grooming brands across Shanghai and Guangzhou. Campaigns under his watch delivered 66 per cent higher media-led sales for Gillette at 19 per cent lower budgets. Braun achieved sales at 238 IYA, while Gillette reached 184 IYA through offtake-led e-commerce planning and flagship-store management.
Kelkar also helped build P&G China’s first live media command centre and created what is billed as China’s first branded VR e-commerce experience for Gillette. Earlier, he drove adoption of MediaCom’s 20/20 framework aimed at delivering 20 per cent more effectiveness at 20 per cent better efficiency.
His career began in India with Lodestar Universal, where he planned telecoms and automobile campaigns for some of the country’s biggest advertisers, winning a silver Emvie for Tata Photon in 2010 and a bronze Emvie in 2011 for Tata Nano.
Kelkar describes himself as someone who enjoys “creating order out of chaos” and pushing business outcomes to the front of media thinking. He relishes pitches, product launches and the heat of competitive briefs. On weekends, he swaps dashboards for joysticks as a compulsive gamer and amateur video-game reviewer.
For Mars, the hire adds a strategist steeped in scale, performance and experimentation. For the region’s media market, it is another sign that global advertisers want leaders who can stitch together commerce, content and communications. In Asia’s high-speed attention economy, Kelkar’s brief is simple to state and hard to execute: turn complexity into advantage—and do it at scale.
Brands
Axis Bank named Official Banking Partner of DP World PGTI
Partnership supports all tournaments this season to grow professional golf in India.
MUMBAI: Axis Bank just teed up a hole-in-one partnership because when a bank sponsors golf’s biggest swing in India, even the fairways feel more financially secure. Axis Bank has been appointed Official Banking Partner of the DP World Professional Golf Tour of India (DP World PGTI), strengthening its commitment to sporting excellence and community engagement while backing the growth of professional golf across the country.
Under the partnership, Axis Bank will support all DP World PGTI tournaments this season, contributing to talent development, enhanced tournament experiences and wider fan engagement. The collaboration aligns the bank’s values of precision, discipline and trust with the Tour’s focus on performance and opportunity.
Axis Bank executive director Munish Sharda said, “We are pleased to partner with DP World PGTI as its Official Banking Partner. Golf embodies precision, discipline, and a pursuit of excellence qualities that strongly reflect who we are at Axis Bank. This association also strengthens our engagement with India’s growing premium customer segments, where the sport has a deep and enduring connect.”
Professional Golf Tour of India president Kapil Dev said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Axis Bank as a Tour Partner of the DP World Professional Golf Tour of India. Partnerships of this stature play a vital role in strengthening the foundation of the Tour, enhancing opportunities for our players, and expanding the sport’s reach across the country.”
Professional Golf Tour of India CEO Amandeep Johl added, “Axis Bank’s strong legacy of excellence, innovation, and nationwide reach aligns perfectly with DP World PGTI’s goal to elevate professional golf in India and provide greater opportunities for our players.”
In a sport where every stroke counts and every partnership drives distance, Axis Bank isn’t just backing golfers, it’s investing in the fairway to future, turning India’s greens into a stage where precision meets passion and every drive has the power to inspire.
