MAM
Essence appoints Monica Bhatia as MD for Singapore
NEW DELHI- Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency that is part of GroupM, has appointed Monica Bhatia as the company’s managing director for Singapore. Bhatia will be responsible for driving continued client-centric innovation in data, analytics, and technology, as well as business growth and company culture for Essence in Singapore. As part of Essence’s APAC leadership team, Bhatia will report to APAC CEO T. Gangadhar (Gangs).
Alongside her new position, Bhatia will continue in her current role as Essence’s senior vice president client partner, APAC, leading the agency’s Google business across the region and reporting to Dave Marsey, Essence’s president, global client partner. Prior to joining Essence in 2017, she headed the digital practice for GroupM’s Maxus in APAC, building its product proposition across 14 markets. With over 17 years of experience in the industry, Bhatia has worked on the brand side at L’Oréal and Godrej Group in India, and Dabur in Nepal. She has also held client services and strategic planning roles at creative and media agencies in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and India.
“Monica’s impressive experience in marketing, advertising, and media, and her deep understanding of Essence’s business, clients and culture, make her the best person to lead our Singapore office. A believer in true partnerships as well as diversity and inclusion in the workplace, she constantly strives to nurture strong collaborative relationships with both clients and employees. I am really excited about our next stage of growth with Monica’s steady strategic leadership and direction, as she continues to champion our clients, work, and people in Singapore,” said Gangs.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to lead the highly talented, entrepreneurial, and dedicated team at Essence in Singapore. Having worked closely with the team over the past three years, I am truly proud of the industry-leading capabilities we have built-in data, analytics, and technology. Brands today are increasingly looking to achieve transformational data-driven growth, and I am looking forward to leveraging our unified approach to media and creativity to deliver breakthrough work for our local, regional, and global clients in Singapore,” said Bhatia.
Since Essence’s entry into APAC with its first office in Singapore in 2013, the agency has rapidly expanded to seven countries and 11 offices across the region. Essence’s portfolio of clients in Singapore includes the Financial Times, Google, NBCUniversal, and Scoot.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
