JioBLAST names Zohair Shaikh as head of marketing

MUMBAI: JioBLAST, the esports platform, has appointed Zohair Shaikh as head of marketing, bringing in a digital marketing operator with more than 15 years of experience to drive the brand as India’s gaming industry approaches what many believe is its defining moment.

Shaikh joins from BigBang.Social, the digital media platform where he spent nearly two years as the go-to-market strategy and product monetisation lead, building advertiser value propositions, spearheading user growth and crafting the commercial narrative for the business. Before that, he served as group account director at aló, managing major accounts, leading pitches and overseeing profit and loss responsibilities.

His career stretches back to the early days of India’s digital marketing industry. He has held senior roles at Span Communications, where he managed government PSU accounts, and at Everymedia Technologies, where he ran the brands department across Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, handling clients including Bosch Home Appliances, Hyundai and Zee Music. Earlier still, he co-founded Jazzap, a digital marketing agency that counted Urban Ladder and Mahindra Insurance among its clients and was ranked among the top ten most valuable digital marketing companies in Mumbai in 2016 by Insight Success.

Shaikh began his career at Gozoop Online, rising from intern to manager over three and a half years, before moving to Interactive Avenues as a senior account manager handling online reputation management for major brands.

The appointment was confirmed by Charlie Cowdrey, who Shaikh credited with extending the opportunity.

Shaikh has made no secret of his conviction about the sector. Esports in India, he argues, is approaching an inflection point, moving from a niche pursuit to a cultural force powered by creators, communities and a rapidly expanding audience. For marketers hunting category-defining opportunities, he says, few come around this often.

At JioBLAST, he will now have to prove it.