MAM
Haresh Nayak moves on from dentsu International
Mumbai: Posterscope India MD and Posterscope president APAC Haresh Nayak has quit dentsu International. Along with Nayak, dentsu India SVP & Indeed CSR head Sahil Arora has also announced his departure from the agency. The news of the latest exits from dentsu was confirmed by the network.
It further issued clarity on the OOH businesses being aligned into Amplifi, dentsu’s supply-side management platform, under the leadership of Media India, CEO, Divya Karani, following Nayak’s departure.
In a statement to IndianTelevision.com, the company said, “To stay ahead of the growth opportunities and potential we see for our clients and our teams we are accelerating into dentsu India 2.0. This is crucial to realising our global ambition of becoming the most integrated network in the world, simplifying and transforming our business to deliver greater agility, speed to market, and increased value to our clients.”
Dentsu further added, “As part of this transformation, our OOH businesses will be aligned into Amplifi, our supply-side management platform, under the leadership of Divya Karani, CEO, Media India following the departure of Haresh Nayak. Out of Home advertising is an incredibly important part of the Media environment for dentsu and our clients, and we will continue to grow our market-leading expertise and results in outdoor advertising with a strong and continued focus on innovation, locally relevant solutions, and integration to deliver competitive advantage to our clients.”
The two resignations are the latest in a slew of top-level exits at the network that have shocked the advertising fraternity.
Several senior-level executives have moved out of the network in the last few days, including Isobar COO Gopa Menon, iProspect CEO Rubeena Singh, DAN Performance Group CEO Vivek Bhargava, Isobar’s South Asia Group MD Shams Jasani, DAN Programmatic chief data and product officer, APAC, and CEO Gautam Mehra, Taproot Dentsu CCO Agnello Dias, dentsu India CEO, formerly CFO Anand Bhadkamkar, and Taproot Dentsu co-founder and CCO Santosh Padhi.
There have also been a couple of high-profile hires at the network simultaneously. Recently Mindshare’s Vinod Thadani joined as dentsu Media Group chief digital growth officer, and iProspect CEO. Ajay Gahlaut was also onboarded as dentsu Creative India group CCO last week.
Nayak had recently completed thirteen years at the network, having joined Posterscope India in 2008 as managing director. He was elevated to the position of Posterscope’s APAC president last year. Prior to joining Posterscope, Nayak was business director and national buying head at Lintas India (IPG India) for six years.
Brands
Kingfisher signs three-year IPL partnership
Packaged water brand signs on as ‘good times partner’ for 2026–28 cycle
MUMBAI: Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water is betting big on cricket’s biggest stage, sealing a three-year partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to sharpen fan engagement at the TATA Indian Premier League.
The brand, owned by United Breweries, will serve as the official “good times partner” for the men’s IPL from 2026 to 2028, extending a relationship that began with the Women’s Premier League. The move signals a broader push to embed itself deeper into live sport, with a focus on immersive, consumer-led experiences rather than conventional sponsorship visibility.
At the heart of the tie-up is a suite of fan-first activations spanning broadcast, stadiums and digital channels. These include the “Kingfisher Bird Cam”, offering a branded spider-cam perspective during live matches, and the “Good Times Zone”, an in-stadium entertainment hub during play-offs aimed at amplifying match-day buzz. The brand will also back IPL fan parks, elevate public screening experiences and run digital contests tied to key moments through the season.
Vikram Bahl, chief marketing officer, United Breweries, said cricket in India “is more than a sport, it is a shared cultural moment”, adding that the IPL brings that energy alive at scale. “For Kingfisher Premium Packaged Drinking Water, being present at the heart of these moments, in partnership with the BCCI, is a natural extension of what we stand for. Through this association, we aim to enrich how fans experience the game… making every match more immersive, social and memorable,” Bahl said.
Devajit Saikia, honorary secretary, BCCI, said the IPL “has always been at the forefront of redefining sports entertainment and fan engagement”. He added that the collaboration would fuse cricket fandom with “innovative fan experiences that extend beyond the stadium”, helping create memorable moments for audiences nationwide.
For United Breweries, part of the HEINEKEN group, the play is clear: move from passive branding to active participation in the fan journey—on screens, in stands and across social spaces. With millions tuning in and turning up each season, the IPL remains the country’s most potent marketing theatre. The question now is whether “good times” can translate into lasting brand recall in a market where visibility is easy, but engagement is hard-won.
