Kaacon Sethi joins Kantar as senior director for business development in specialists

MUMBAI: Kantar has made a fresh play in the business growth game, appointing Kaacon Sethi as senior director, business development in its specialists division, strengthening its leadership bench with one of India’s most seasoned media and marketing professionals.

Sethi announced her move this week, marking a new chapter after nearly 12 years at Dainik Bhaskar Group, where she most recently served as chief marketing officer and helped steer business growth across one of India’s largest media networks.

At Kantar, Sethi will focus on expanding business opportunities within the specialists division, a unit known for delivering deeper analytics and advisory solutions to brands navigating fast-changing consumer markets.

Her appointment comes as companies increasingly turn to sharper data, stronger insights and specialised consulting to decode changing customer behaviour, particularly in India’s rapidly evolving consumer economy.

Sethi brings more than two decades of experience spanning marketing, media, branded content and business development. During her long stint at Dainik Bhaskar Group, she worked well beyond traditional brand-building, driving revenue growth, market expansion and client-led solutions with a strong focus on “Urban Bharat”, a term used to describe India’s fast-growing non-metro consumer markets.

Before that, she spent nearly two years as an independent business and marketing consultant, advising companies including SMAAASH Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and Indigo Business Services on marketing execution and consumer engagement.

Her earlier leadership experience also includes serving as president, branded content at Lintas Media Group, where she helped build integrated content-led offerings for clients, and as founder and partner at Mediasys Solutions, a media and marketing consultancy she led for over three years.

Sharing the update, Sethi said she was looking forward to working with Puneet Avasthi, Biswapriya Bhattacharjee and the wider Kantar team, adding that after a short break she felt refreshed and ready for the work ahead.

Academically, Sethi holds a master’s degree in economics from Patna University and studied earlier at Notre Dame Academy.

For Kantar, the appointment signals more than a new hire. It is a strategic investment in leadership that understands both the numbers and the narrative, a useful combination in today’s data-driven business world.