MAM
APG comes to India
MUMBAI: Having made its mark as an acclaimed community of planners and strategists across the globe, the highly celebrated Account Planning Group (APG) is set to formally begin operations in India. Helmed by Sudeep Gohil of Publicis India with support from planners across top agencies, APG will begin its India chapter in the second week of December with an inaugural session that will see acclaimed adman and founder and chairman of Whyness Worldwide, Ravi Deshpande, present a session on culture and creativity.
APG is a membership organisation that promotes smarter thinking. It is headquartered in London and has a presence in multiple markets across the globe. The India chapter will see the coming together of the planning community across leading agencies who together will leverage the power of strategy to solve business problems and transform brands. A core belief of the APG is the importance of equipping planners and strategists with the training and inspiration they need to be bold and rigorous thinkers – to this end, future events will focus on this function.
Publicis India chief strategy officer and managing partner Sudeep Gohil says, “Globally, the APG is a well-established body with a number of countries including UK, Australia, Canada and Germany – successfully running their operations with partner agencies in individual markets. It was surprising that India, despite being the hub where so many great ideas take birth, didn’t have APG to bring together and celebrate achievements of the planning community. That will now be a thing of the past as we have set up a core committee for APG India that will work closely in formulating the core objectives and will also create a platform for people to engage, deliberate and debate. We are thankful to Ravi Deshpande for gracing the inaugural function, and we look forward to hosting similar events on a regular basis across the country.”
The APG is a not-for-profit organisation run for and by its members, primarily account planners in advertising agencies but increasingly the wider community of communications strategists, including media planners, channel planners, digital planners and DM planners.
Ravi Deshpande is a prominent creative leader who currently spearheads Whyness Worldwide, an integrated agency, and Ecole Intuit lab, a French design school, on the same campus. Prior to that, he was at the helm of Contract India, a WPP company as chairman and chief creative officer, leading the agency to over 600 national and international awards as it became India’s premier creative force.
The session will be held at the newly opened MTV@FLYP, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel on 13 December 2017, 6.30 pm onwards.
MAM
Taboola names Krishan Bhatia as chief business officer
Digital ad veteran takes the reins to steer taboola’s global sales and AI growth
NEW YORK: Taboola has added Krishan Bhatia to its leadership team as chief business officer, signalling a bold push in global sales and partnerships.
Bhatia will spearhead revenue growth across Taboola’s full product suite, including its Realize performance advertising platform, publisher network, CTV performance, and generative AI offerings. He brings a proven record of driving growth at leading tech and media giants, including Amazon and NBCUniversal.
At Amazon, Bhatia launched and led the global video advertising business spanning Prime Video, Live Sports, Twitch, and third-party programmers as VP, global video advertising and partnerships. Prior to that, he served as president and chief business officer at NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships division, overseeing digital, streaming TV, and advanced advertising.
“Krishan is joining Taboola at a pivotal moment in our journey,” said Taboola CEO Adam Singolda. “We are redefining performance advertising on the open web. Realize is gaining real momentum as advertisers look for scalable growth beyond search and social. DeeperDive is putting generative AI directly into publishers’ hands, helping them innovate and thrive. The opportunity ahead is massive.”
Singolda added that Bhatia’s experience in building global advertising businesses and executing at scale will complement Taboola’s growth. “We’ve built a strong foundation for long-term success, surpassing $2 billion in revenue under Eldad Maniv, our president and COO. With that momentum, I’m thrilled to welcome Krishan to the team to take our go-to-market execution to the next level.”
“Taboola has a bold vision, combining global scale and innovative technology to empower advertisers and publishers,” said Bhatia. “The launch of Realize has strengthened Taboola’s position as a leader outside search and social. With DeeperDive, generative AI, and a clear focus on partner success, there is a huge runway ahead. I’m excited to join the team at such a transformative time.”
With Krishan Bhatia on board, Taboola is all set to turn up the heat in performance advertising, blending global scale, AI innovation, and next-level partnerships to shape the future of the open web.
