MAM
JWT Mindset gets new leadership team
NEW DELHI: MUMBAI: JWT South Asia has announced two major changes in the leadership at the JWT Mindset, Hyderabad. JWT South Asia CEO, Colvyn Harris announced that MD Santha John will be taking up an advisory role as Chairman Emeritus and Ram Gedela will be taking over as a head of JWT Mindset effective from 1 January, 2014.
Santha John is an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience. She established Mindset Advertising. along with Ram Gedela in 1998 that grew into one of the most awarded agencies across Hyderabad’s key sectors. JWT acquired a majority stake in Mindset Advertising in 2011 and was renamed as JWT Mindset.
Before setting up Mindset, John was the senior vice-president at Saatchi & Saatchi, Hyderabad.
Ram Gedela was 31 when he co-founded Mindset. Gedela has a senior management degree from IIM Calcutta. He was formerly group account manager, Saatchi & Saatchi, Delhi; and headed the account management team on prestigious clients such as Panasonic and the DuPont brands.
Announcing this, Colvyn Harris said, “In recognition of her contribution in bringing JWT Mindset to the forefront and making it a leading advertising agency in the South of India, Santha will continue her association with JWT in an advisory role. It’s been a pleasure working with Santha over the years, as she has partnered us comprehensively in the growth of JWT. I would like to thank her for helping us spread our footprint in this region and her contribution to our success.”
JWT Mindset consists of a team of 47 people and offers a full-service range of creative services, strategic planning and execution in digital, print and television. Its major clients include Airtel (AP& Kerala), ADP, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Coromandel International, Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Food Fats & Fertilizers, Gati, HIL, HSBC, Oakridge Group, PHI Seeds, Videocon and LOT Mobiles amongst others.
MAM
Gurpreet Singh named President of DishTV Alumni Network
Former Dish TV executive to lead community building and collaboration.
MUMBAI: Back to the dish, but this time it’s about connections, not channels Gurpreet Singh is returning to familiar territory with a new mandate that swaps subscribers for relationships. Singh has been appointed President of the DishTV Alumni Network, a move aimed at strengthening ties among former employees and building a more engaged professional community around the Dish TV ecosystem. The initiative reflects a growing trend among large organisations to formalise alumni networks as platforms for collaboration, mentorship and business opportunities.
The appointment draws on Singh’s deep-rooted history with Dish TV, where he held multiple leadership roles over nearly a decade. As National Business Head between June 2019 and September 2020, he oversaw profit and loss as well as operations, managing revenues of Rs 6,000 crore and leading a team of around 1,250 employees across the country. His tenure included working alongside two regional business heads and 16 circle heads, underscoring the scale of operations he handled.
Prior to that, Singh served as Executive Vice President and National Head for Sales and Revenue from 2016 to 2019, and earlier as Senior Vice President and National Head for Sales and Revenue. He also briefly led international operations as Country Head for Sri Lanka, further expanding his exposure across markets.
His broader career spans leadership roles across telecom and consumer businesses, including a stint as Chief Operating Officer at Bharti Airtel’s Malawi operations, senior leadership roles at Reliance Communications, and earlier positions at Hindustan Sanitaryware and Kodak India, where he spent over a decade.
In his new role, Singh is expected to focus on reconnecting former employees, fostering collaboration, and building a structured alumni ecosystem that leverages shared experience and industry networks. As companies increasingly recognise the long-term value of their extended workforce, the DishTV Alumni Network appears set to turn nostalgia into a strategic asset, one connection at a time.
