Brands
Nishit Vora joins Lenovo worldwide as global brand manager for consumer marketing
Star India marketing head moves to global role after 16 years across media, retail and digital
MUMBAI: Lenovo has tapped Nishit B Vora as global brand manager for consumer marketing, hiring a marketer with more than 16 years’ experience across media, retail, FMCG and digital to help shape its global consumer narrative.
Vora announced the move as a shift to Lenovo Worldwide, saying he looks forward to “bringing smarter technology for all”. The appointment marks a global turn for a career built on brand building, content IPs and integrated campaigns in India.
Vora most recently served as head of marketing for the Integrated Network Solutions vertical at Star India, formerly Viacom18 Media. There he spearheaded content IPs, events and live experiences, owned the marketing P&L and drove both digital and offline strategy, including ticketing, partnerships, loyalty and retention programmes aimed at deepening fan engagement.
Before that, he was vice-president digital at Think9 Consumer Technologies, leading brand growth for Future Group’s D2C label Kingdom Of White and pushing social, content and influencer-led expansion, alongside retention strategies for in-house brands. At Future Group India, as lead for digital marketing, he handled P&L and content across retail, fashion, FMCG and home décor businesses.
Agency-side, Vora spent over four years at FoxyMoron, rising from digital strategy manager to account director and group account director, leading digital mandates for FMCG, entertainment, BFSI and consumer durable brands. He also consulted on digital marketing and merchandising for Rohit Shetty Productions during the Singham Returns campaign and worked as strategy consultant for KarmYog Education Network’s Indian Idol Academy, shaping its pilot and phased pan-India launch.
His early career included media planning and buying at FCB Ulka for Tata Motors and Tata Teleservices, handling brands such as Tata Nano, Tata Indicom and Tata Photon across offline and digital. He worked on brand integrations with films, television shows, music events and college festivals, and built a reputation for data-led planning using tools such as IRS, TAM and RAM. Short stints at PhoCusWright and Concept Engineering International rounded out his foundation in research, marketing and business development.
An engineer by training, Vora often describes himself as a storyteller at heart, focused on the intersection of content, culture and commerce. His portfolio includes work on brands such as Tata Nano, Aditya Birla Capital, Hershey’s Kisses and Big Bazaar, with campaigns that won awards and, by his account, “made history”.
His core strengths span integrated marketing, go-to-market strategy, digital and social thinking and building content ecosystems that drive business outcomes. The through line, he says, is creating consumer experiences that do not just reach people but stay with them.
As global tech brands race to stay culturally relevant, Lenovo is betting that a marketer fluent in both numbers and narratives can help it cut through. For Vora, the brief is simple and the stage is bigger: take local lessons, scale them worldwide and make the brand travel.
Brands
Abhinav Rastogi named global marketing director for YouTube Shopping
Google veteran to scale creator commerce and expand shopping across global markets
SINGAPORE: Abhinav Rastogi has stepped into a new role as global marketing director for YouTube Shopping, marking the latest chapter in a more than decade-long career at Google.
Rastogi, who took on the position in February and is based in Singapore, will lead global marketing for YouTube Shopping, a platform designed to connect creators, viewers and merchants in a single ecosystem. His remit includes expanding the service into new markets and strengthening its positioning as a growth channel for both creators and brands.
In a reflective note on the transition, Rastogi pointed to a simple but powerful idea driving the role. For years, creators have quietly built trust with audiences through consistent and authentic content, and that trust often shapes purchasing decisions. What is changing now, he said, is the infrastructure around that behaviour. YouTube Shopping aims to make it easier for viewers to discover and buy products recommended by creators they already follow.
The scale is already significant. More than half a million creators have joined the programme, with recent expansion into Japan through a partnership with Rakuten signalling further global ambitions.
Rastogi believes the future of shopping on YouTube will be driven by a blend of creators, content and communities. In his view, it is the human voice behind the screen, not just the product, that ultimately builds trust and drives discovery.
Prior to this role, he served as director of marketing, YouTube Asia Pacific, where he led regional marketing across creator engagement, brand building and reputation. During that time, he played a key role in launching and scaling YouTube Shopping across eight markets in the region.
Earlier stints at Google include group product marketing manager, consumer apps, overseeing growth for products such as Search, Maps and Assistant across India and Southeast Asia, and product marketing manager roles spanning consumer apps and YouTube, where he contributed to launches including YouTube Music, YouTube Originals and YouTube Shorts.
Rastogi began his career in consulting with Boston Consulting Group and A.T. Kearney, before moving into the technology sector. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Alongside his corporate role, he is also an active angel investor, backing early-stage startups in consumer technology and electric mobility across India and Southeast Asia.
As he settles into the new role, Rastogi is betting on a future where every video can double up as a storefront, and where commerce feels less like a transaction and more like a recommendation from a trusted voice.
