MAM
JWT acquires minority stake in Turkey’s Wanda Digital
MUMBAI: J. Walter Thompson Company has acquired a minority stake in Turkish digital agency Wanda Digital.
Founded in 2006 and employing 80 people in Istanbul, Wanda’s clients include Turkcell, L’Oreal, Nestle and Unilever.
Wanda offers a range of services including campaigns, social media, platform development and games and apps.
The agency’s unaudited net sales for the year ended 31 December, 2014 were approximately $ 3.4 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately $ 2.3 million.
Following the transaction, Wanda and J. Walter Thompson’s local office, Manajans J Walter Thompson Turkey, will operate independently, but jointly invest in new technology and innovative projects.
Since 2010, Manajans J. Walter Thompson Turkey has tripled its revenues and won over 40 awards including the “Global Smarties” in 2014.
Turkey is one of the Next 11 growth economies where WPP companies (including associates) generate revenues of over $1 billion and employ over 10,000 people. In Turkey itself, WPP companies (including associates) generate revenues of around $120 million and employ approximately 1,300 people.
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.
