MAM
Havas India appoints John Thangaraj as chief strategy officer of Havas Creative Network India
Mumbai: Havas India has appointed John Thangaraj as the chief strategy officer of Havas Creative Network India and his remit will include Havas Worldwide India (creative), Havas CX India (customer experience), Conran Design Mumbai (brand design), Ekino (technology), and Havas People India (employer branding). John will be responsible for driving the strategic mandate of the creative network and will also work closely with Havas Village India leaders to drive integration.
He will be based out of Gurugram and report to Havas India, South East Asia and North Asia (Japan & South Korea) group CEO Rana Barua.
Speaking about the appointment, Barua said, “Havas Creative Network India has gained tremendous scale and size over the last six years. One of the agencies which has seen unprecedented growth, new leaders, tremendous business traction is Havas Worldwide India and therefore John will work closely with Anupama Ramaswamy and Kundan Joshee to further drive the growth of the agency. In addition, he will also work closely with Geet Nazir (Conran Design Mumbai), Prashant Tekwani (Havas CX India) and Arindam Sengupta (Havas People India) to further strengthen the strategic vision. He will further consolidate our client relationships and drive thought-leadership to ensure meaningful business growth and establish Havas Creative Network India as the most future-forward and progressive creative network conglomerate. I wish him all the best.”
Thangaraj said, “I couldn’t be more excited to be embarking on this journey with Rana and the rest of the Havas India team. As the saying goes, it takes a village. And the Havas Village remains one of the most deeply and seamlessly integrated creative networks in the world. The opportunities to create meaningful client value across the entire chain are quite literally, limitless, and I can’t wait to get started.”
John comes armed with 22 years of experience as a multi-functional marketing communications strategist across consumer research, marketing, advertising and media. With a postgraduate degree in Marketing, Advertising, and Communication, he began his career in PR in 2002. In 2007, he joined adidas, managing the launch and promotion of the adidas Originals brand in India. In 2008, he transitioned to advertising with Rediffusion Y&R as Head of Strategic Planning, handling brands like Bacardi, Danone, and Tata Steel. At MullenLowe Lintas Group from 2010, he worked with brands including Hindustan Times, Nestle, and HCL Technologies. In 2013, he led strategic initiatives at Mindshare for clients such as Pepsico, Lufthansa, and GlaxoSmithKline. Most recently, at FCB Group India, he worked with major brands like Google, Uber, Bata, Pernod Ricard and Vistara.
Brands
Acko CMO Ashish Mishra to exit in July
The digital insurer’s marketing chief, who helped build the brand over nearly five years, is heading for the exit.
Ashish Mishra is stepping down as chief marketing officer of Acko, with his departure confirmed for July. He remains in the role for now, and an official announcement from the company is expected shortly.
Mishra joined the digital insurance start-up in August 2020, making him one of the longer-serving marketing chiefs in India’s fintech and insurtech space. Over nearly five years, he played a central role in building Acko’s brand presence in the country’s fiercely competitive digital insurance market. More recently, he was closely associated with Acko Life’s Unmixed brand philosophy, a proposition built around pure protection products stripped of the investment components that have long complicated traditional insurance offerings in India.
Before Acko, Mishra spent over a decade at HSBC in a series of marketing leadership roles spanning the Middle East, including regional marketing manager for credit cards and advance propositions, brand and media manager, and marketing manager for retail banking. Earlier in his career, he worked on the agency side, serving as senior brand service manager at Lowe Lintas and as executive for brand communications at DDB Mudra Group.
His exit leaves Acko with a sizeable gap to fill at a time when the brand is pushing deeper into life insurance and doubling down on its direct-to-consumer positioning. Whoever takes the seat next will inherit a brand that Mishra spent five years building from the ground up. That is not nothing.
