MAM
Rajiv Gopinath new CCO at Starcom India
MUMBAI: In a bid to enhance strategic product and delivery and usher in greater opportunities, Starcom India (Starcom) has appointed Rajiv Gopinath as its chief client officer (CCO). Gopinath will interface with key clients and will bring in perspective on businesses, enabling the company to develop strong client relationships.
Gopinath’ s last stint was in East Africa where he headed planning on Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble (P&G), and other local businesses across seven sub-Saharan African markets. Prior to that, he was in China where he did extensive planning on P&G.
“The dynamic marketing communications landscape is both a challenge and an opportunity. It calls for upstream strategies that bring in radical business transformation for brands,” said Starcom India group CEO Mallikarjun Das. “Starcom today is as much a business partner as a communications partner, offering deep-level category insights, data-driven personalised communication, real-time marketing and predictive models. We map the full consumer journey and come up with effective, media-neutral, integrated solutions.” Das said that Gopinath, with his experience and thought leadership, would enhance Starcom’s strategic offering still further and deliver the desired business results for clients.
Said Gopinath, “Starcom is one of the few agencies that has truly has a pulse on the consumer and can leverage the power of integrated communications. It has great expertise on the evolving media product and a wonderful set of clients. I am delighted to get this opportunity and look forward to it.”
AD Agencies
WPP appoints Hephzibah Pathak CEO of WPP Creative India
Ogilvy India chair takes charge of unified creative model in key market
NEW DELHI: WPP has appointed Hephzibah Pathak as chief executive officer of WPP Creative India, putting a local leader at the helm of its newly created creative operating model in one of its most important growth markets.
The move brings clarity to how WPP’s global restructuring will play out in India, weeks after the group unveiled WPP Creative as part of its Elevate28 strategy. The unit sits alongside WPP Media, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions, and is designed to simplify what the company previously described as an overly complex structure.
Pathak, who continues as executive chairperson of Ogilvy India, will represent all agencies under the WPP Creative umbrella in India. Her role centres on driving integration across brands, expanding capabilities and ensuring clients can tap into the network’s full talent pool without friction.
WPP said Pathak will work closely with agency brand CEOs to “enhance integration, expand capabilities, and ensure seamless client access”, while maintaining the distinct identities of its agencies.
The portfolio under WPP Creative includes leading networks such as VML, Landor, AKQA and Grey, along with Burson and its affiliated firms. Leaders across these agencies will now report into Pathak, even as each brand continues to operate independently within a unified system.
The appointment also formalises a dual-track strategy in India, preserving agency identities while accelerating collaboration. Pathak is expected to work closely with media leadership to align creative and media capabilities, reflecting growing client demand for integrated, multi-market solutions.
WPP Creative global CEO Jon Cook has described the unit as “not an agency” but an operating system that helps creative, design and PR brands work together more effectively. The group has been clear that it is not merging or phasing out legacy agency brands, instead aiming to reduce complexity on the client side.
Pathak brings nearly three decades of experience within the network, having joined in 1997 and held roles ranging from Mumbai office head to chief client officer. She made history in 2024 as the first woman to lead Ogilvy India in its 95-year presence in the country.
Her expanded mandate positions India at the centre of WPP’s Asia-Pacific strategy, with a focus on strengthening brand presence, deepening client relationships and unlocking growth in a fast-evolving market.
The appointment signals WPP’s intent to move beyond the traditional holding company model towards a more integrated, AI-enabled structure. With Pathak now steering WPP Creative India, the group appears set to test whether simpler structures can indeed deliver sharper creative outcomes.
