Brands
Publicis India, MMT part ways
MUMBAI: In a recent announcement, Publicis India and MakeMyTrip (MMT) have agreed to mutually part ways. This will also include the end of the agency’s journey with Goibibo, which was acquired by MMT. Details of the transition are still being worked out and the agency will be releasing the last few works for the brand very soon.
MakeMyTrip group chief marketing officer Saujanya Shrivastava says, “Publicis has been a commendable creative partner to us. As we reviewed the way forward, we mutually agreed to part ways as it is now time for us to discover a new approach to branding. I thank Publicis for their contribution, and wish them the very best for their future endeavours.”
Publicis India managing director Srija Chatterjee adds, “This brand-agency partnership was iconic in more ways than one. We harnessed and built the brand for more than three years, and jointly established MakeMyTrip and Goibibo as one of the leading brands in India with a differentiated and strong equity with consumers. The final outcome notwithstanding, for factors beyond our control, it was necessary that the partnership be reviewed from a different lens. We are happy with the way the relationship has turned out for us and we wish the team all the success for the future.”
In India, Publicis currently works with an impressive array of clients that include Nestle, Citibank, Zee, Garnier, Heineken, Nerolac, Skoda, Malaysia Tourism, HDFC Mutual Funds, among others.
Brands
Paytm taps Ujas Shah as vice president for sales, business development
Veteran executive to drive swiping devices and merchant-led growth
BENGALURU: Paytm has appointed Ujas Shah as vice president—sales business development, reinforcing its push to scale offline payments and device-led monetisation as competition in fintech intensifies.
In the role, Shah will lead business development for swiping devices, shape go-to-market strategy and oversee profit-and-loss execution across Paytm’s offline payments stack. His remit includes expanding distribution, tightening merchant lifecycle management and rolling out KPI-led sales systems aimed at improving acquisition and retention.
The appointment reads like an operational signal from the top: execution, discipline and scale now matter as much as growth. Industry executives say device-led payments, long viewed as margin accretive, are back in sharp focus.
Shah is a long-standing Paytm executive, having previously served as national sales head, assistant vice president and general manager for sales. Before joining the company, he held senior roles at Kinara Capital, where he was field sales head, and earlier at Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Samsung Electronics and Asian Paints.
His two decades across telecom, consumer and fintech businesses give him a rare, cross-sector view of distribution-heavy models: an asset as Paytm looks to extract more value from its merchant base amid tighter capital and higher investor scrutiny.
