MAM
Ad Club names Ajay Kakar & Vikram Sakhuja to head Effies 2015
MUMBAI: The Advertising Club has named Aditya Birla Group chief marketing officer – financial services Ajay Kakar as the chairperson and Madison Media & OOH group CEO Vikram Sakhuja as the co-chair for this year’s Effies. The awards ceremony will be held at the sea-side lawns Hotel Taj Land’s End, Mumbai on 15 January, 2016.
The Effies are marketing communications awards given yearly by Effie Worldwide Inc. Effies provides recognition to campaigns for their direct impact on return on investments for a brand at the market place with special attention given to effectiveness and results. In its 15th year, Effies will celebrate not only the advertising agency behind the campaign, but also the client.
Commenting on their appointment, The Advertising Club president and Colors CEORaj Nayak said, “The Effies is an institution by itself giving due recognition to campaigns that engage consumers thereby furthering a brand’s promise and proposition. I would like to congratulate Ajay Kakar and Vikram Sakhuja for this new project that they will be leading. The entire advertising community looks forward to the Effies and I am certain that they will strengthen its credibility within the industry.”
Kakar said, ”Over the past four years that I have chaired the Effies, I have seen growing support and participation. Every year has broken the record entries and numbers of participating agencies, from the previous year.I believe this demonstrates the underlying need and demand for marketing campaigns that are not only creative, but more importantly, work for the brand and business. And I am confident that this year’s Effies will again beat last year’s record. And be even bigger and better.”
Added Sakhuja, “For me it is imperative for advertising to drive demand and strengthen brand value. It is therefore an honour to be part of the Effies, which is the undisputed champion of effectiveness in India and worldwide.”
Earlier this year, Kakar and Sakhuja were also inducted as the new office bearers of The Advertising Club. While Sakhuja was elected as the secretary, Kakar was elected as the joint secretary.
MAM
Coca-Cola appoints Tapaswee Chandele as Global Chief People Officer
Succeeds Lisa Chang from May 1, reports to CEO Henrique Braun
MUMBAI- When leadership refreshes, culture often follows and The Coca-Cola Company is pouring a new mix into its global people strategy. The company has appointed Tapaswee Chandele as its Global Chief People Officer, marking a key transition in its human resources leadership as long-time executive Lisa Chang steps down after seven years in the role.
The appointment, effective May 1, positions Chandele at the helm of Coca-Cola’s global people agenda at a time when multinational organisations are rethinking talent, culture and leadership pipelines in an increasingly hybrid and competitive workforce landscape.
In her new role, she will report to chief executive officer Henrique Braun, signalling the strategic importance of HR within the company’s top leadership structure.
Chandele brings over two decades of institutional knowledge to the role. She currently serves as senior vice president and executive assistant to president and chief financial officer John Murphy, a position she has held since May 2025, placing her at the centre of the company’s financial and operational decision-making. Prior to this, she spent six years, from 2019 to 2025, as senior vice president of global talent, development and HR system partnerships, where she led Coca-Cola’s worldwide talent strategy and worked closely within Chang’s leadership team.
Her journey with Coca-Cola began in 2001 in India, and over the years she has built a cross-market perspective through roles spanning human resources and talent development. Her international assignments across Turkiye and South Africa, followed by a relocation to the United States in 2017, reflect a career shaped by both geographic and functional diversity, an increasingly critical trait for global leadership roles.
The transition also marks the end of Lisa Chang’s seven-year tenure, during which she played a central role in shaping Coca-Cola’s global people practices through a period defined by organisational transformation and evolving workforce expectations.
Chandele’s elevation comes at a time when HR is no longer a back-office function but a strategic driver of growth, culture and resilience. As Coca-Cola looks ahead, the focus will likely be on aligning talent strategy with business agility ensuring that the people behind the brand remain as globally adaptive as the product itself.
