MAM
Ad Club new committee appointed
MUMBAI: At the recently concluded annual general meeting, The Advertising Club unanimously elected Colors CEO Raj Nayak as its President for the second consecutive term.
The new managing committee is as follows:
• President| Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
• Vice President| Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Media and OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.
• Secretary | Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group
• Jt. Secretary | Bhaskar Das, Group CEO, Zee Media Corporation Ltd.
• Treasurer| Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands
• Office Bearer | Ashish Sehgal, COO, Zee Unimedia Ltd.
• Member |Mitrajit Bhattacharya, President and Publisher, Chitralekha Group
• Member | Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, McCann
Worldgroup
• Member | Pradeep Dwivedi, Chief Corporate Sales & Marketing Officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group | DB Corp Ltd.
• Member | Ramesh Narayan, Managing Director, Canco Advertising Pvt. Ltd.
• Member | Vikas Khanchandani, Chief Business Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Limited
• Member | Viral Jani, Head TV Partnerships, Twitter India
• Co-opted Member | Partho Dasgupta, CEO, Broadcast Audience Research Council
• Co-opted Member | Punitha Arumugam, Director, Agency Business, India and South East Asia, Google India Pvt. Ltd.
• Co-opted Member | Ajay Chandwani, Director, Percept Limited
• Immediate Past President | Pratap Bose, Founder, Social Street
Expressing his pleasure at his re-election, Nayak said, “I am extremely honored & humbled at the love bestowed upon me by the industry. I hope to continue working even more vigorously to realize The Ad Club’s agenda of acting as a catalyst in developing our vibrant and dynamic industry.”
Publicis Worldwide CEO South Asia and AAAI president Nakul Chopra welcomed the announcement saying, “I am delighted that Raj has been elected President Ad Club for another term. A dear friend, a respected colleague – Raj has always worked for the good of the industry via various forums. I look forward to working closely with him to further the already strong relationship between The Ad Club and AAAI.”
Zee MD and CEO and IBF president Punit Goenka added, “I am most certain that with his rich experience, acumen and industry knowledge, Raj will continue to take ‘The Advertising Club’ to greater heights. The very fact that he is re-elected, speaks abundantly about his contribution made to the club and to the industry. Over the last year, the club has certainly been a catalyst in developing the industry and with its interactive platforms and properties, it has served as a brilliant platform for industry professionals to interact and exchange thoughts. I wish Raj all the success in this role.”
Showing his excitement about the announcement, K Swamy BBDO Chairman,MD and IAA president India chapter, IAA Global Senior Vice President Srinivasan Swamy said, “I was delighted to hear that Raj was reelected to lead The Advertising Club. His passion and energy levels are infective. He has brought in many senior names to join the committee and I eagerly look forward to next phase of accelerated growth for the Club under his stewardship.”
Industry stalwart Madison world chairman Sam Balsara also expressed his pleasure by saying, “I am delighted that Raj has agreed to continue as The Ad Club President. This augurs well for the members of the advertising, media and marketing community in general and members of The Ad Club in particular. Raj is everybody’s favorite person and is uniquely positioned to discharge this onerous responsibility which he has kindly agreed to, despite his hectic and I am sure taxing work schedule”.
Industry veteran GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas commented, “Its great news for the industry that Raj Nayak has been re-elected President of The Advertising Club. Raj brings a lot of style and substance to whatever he does. His boundless energy, passion and commitment is so amazing. I wish him the very best and look forward to another great year with him at the helm”.
AD Agencies
WPP Media elevates Dipti Gulati to vp, client growth for APMEA
Singapore-based executive to commercialise AI-powered solutions business across the region
SINGAPORE: WPP Media has promoted Dipti Gulati to vice president, client growth, handing her the mandate to lead the commercialisation of its solutions business across APMEA.
Based in Singapore, Gulati steps up after serving as senior director, client growth, where she drove expansion across APAC spanning programmatic, search, social, CTV, DOOH and cross-channel offerings. Now, she is tasked with translating advanced AI, data and technology ecosystems into scalable growth strategies for global brands across FMCG, luxury, F&B and financial services.
“I commercialise the future of media — at scale, across APMEA,” Gulati said, announcing her appointment. She added that she turns advanced data, AI and technology ecosystems into real commercial outcomes, shifting the conversation “from a pure media play to owning business outcomes”.
Her brief is unapologetically future-facing: addressable, accountable and AI-powered media. She will work with cross-market teams across APMEA, bringing together diverse perspectives and cultures to accelerate growth and build what she calls the “future of media”.
Gulati’s rise caps nearly two years at WPP Media and follows a six-month stint as regional director of growth, APAC, at Mindshare, where she led new business development and expanded capabilities for existing clients. Earlier, as global account director for integrated marketing communications on the Unilever business, she drove communications strategy for multi-million dollar beauty and wellbeing brands across Southeast Asia.
Before that, Gulati spent close to two years as associate director at Warner Bros. Discovery in Singapore. She also served as director, strategic partnerships and market development at TrustSphere, leading go-to-market and growth initiatives across Asia and evangelising relationship analytics to C-level executives. TrustSphere, credited by industry and Harvard Business School case studies as a pioneer in relationship analytics, became a springboard for her deeper engagement with data-driven growth.
Her board and evangelist roles at the Asia Cloud Computing Association and its Asia Analytics Alliance further sharpened her regional policy and analytics credentials. Earlier chapters include marketing consultancy at Blockchain Foundry and a seven-year run at Warner Bros. Discovery in India, where she led ad-sales and business development for HBO and WB across north and east India, delivering record billings. She began her career at Diligent Media Corporation Ltd and Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd..
From ad-sales floors in Delhi and Mumbai to boardrooms in Singapore, Gulati’s arc mirrors the industry’s own shift — from selling spots and slots to engineering outcomes through data and AI. At WPP Media, the brief is clear: scale smarter, move faster and turn algorithms into advantage.
