MAM
Gozoop strengthens leadership with Megha Ahuja as group director
MUMBAI: Integrated marketing company Gozoop has appointed Megha Ahuja as group director – brand communications. Based out of the company’s Mumbai HQ, Ahuja will report to Gozoop vice president- national operations Premkumar Iyer.
Ahuja will lead the mandates of Dell, Bisleri, Tata Steel, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, World Gold Council, and Tata Class Edge, the company said.
Prior to joining Gozoop, she was with L&K Saatchi, where she spearheaded account management for brands such as Renault Duster & Blackberrys Menswear. During her formative years as a marketer, Ahuja’s career spanned internationally with Leo Burnett Dubai & InPress Hakuhodo Dubai, where she was recognised for some award-winning and industry-shaping work.
“In Gozoop, I have found an organisation that deeply resonates with my core values,” said Megha Ahuja. “Gozoop’s digital-first brand approach aligns seamlessly with my vision of building brands across platforms and borders. In this constantly evolving marketing landscape, I hope to produce work and build brands that will be remembered for years to come. Gozoop’s 'freedom within a framework' operating system provides me the ideal environment to do so.”
Gozoop CEO & co-founder Ahmed Aftab Naqvi added, "In our uncompromising endeavour to build a people-first organisation, we are stronger with Megha on our side. With her impeccable account management skills and deep and diverse mainline experience in building consumer brands, Megha will play a pivotal role in partnering with and helping our brands win in the new world.”
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
