MAM
Kasbekar says ta-ta to Starcom, joins Tata Teleservices
MUMBAI: Senior media professional Anjali Kasbekar, who was working with the Ravi Kiran-headed Starcom West and South as a consultant has bid adieu to the firm. Kasbekar has hopped on to Tata Teleservices to look after the media functions of the telecom company.
Starcom India executive director (North), Anita Nayyar confirmed Kasbekar’s departure.
Says Kasbekar: “I have been in the advertising industry for two decades now and I now want to be on the other side of the fence. The telecom industry is a very dynamic industry and is booming right now. I see it as a tremendous opportunity for me to put my experience into the company.”
Kasbekar joined Tata Teleservices on 12 May. She has varied experience and was with Lintas in the late eighties-early nineties as a media director. She quit Lintas and was a member of the core team that founded Carat along with Meenakshi Madhavani in nineties. Also in the interim period she was involved closely with ICICI Bank for a marketing project. At Starcom she handled Heinz.
“Tata Teleservices has a very clear focus and I want to use my experience to achieve the goals that the company has set for itself. I see it as a huge challenge and I am very excited about it,” says an elated Kasbekar.
Kasbekar will be involved in the media buying and planning for the company and will work closely with its creative (McCann Erickson) and media agencies (The Mediaedge – TME).
She will have her work cut out for her. For starters, Reliance is spending big time money on promotion and advertising. Then Tata Teleservices itself is on an aggressive expansion spree.
Currently operating in eight circles that is Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chennai and Gujarat, Tata Teleservices has a customer base of about 1.6 million.
With a planned nationwide footprint across the country, Tata Teleservices has licences to operate in 11 more circles, which include Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Kolkata, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal.
The company is getting aggressive in Maharashtra too and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), which launched CDMA wireless services in July-August 2003 in Mumbai, Pune and other cities in the western India state, is expanding its network to cover 150 towns and cities with presence in every district in Maharashtra and Goa. It has a claimed subscriber base of 485,000.
MAM
Ad:tech honours 2026: Full list of winners announced
Expanded awards spotlight winners across 22 categories as industry doubles down on intelligent automation
NEW DELHI: Marketing’s tech elite took the spotlight as the ad:tech honours 2026 returned with a sharper focus on AI, data and immersive media, signalling how deeply technology now underpins brand strategy. Held at Yashobhoomi on March 17, the second edition drew industry leaders to celebrate innovation that is reshaping engagement and performance.
Presented with the International Advertising Association India chapter and new partner Huella, the awards expanded from 8 to 22 categories, tracking the rapid convergence of creativity, automation and analytics.
The winners’ list reads like a snapshot of marketing’s future. In affiliate and partner marketing, Lyxel & Flamingo – Boat and Paytm Ads – Giva took silver. Mobavenue Media Private Limited struck gold in AI-driven dynamic creative optimisation, alongside a silver for Laqshya Media Limited.
Creative AI collaboration saw Rediffusion Brand Solutions Private Limited win gold, with Saltinc Consulting Private Limited securing silver. Laqshya Media Limited continued its strong run, taking gold in AI conversation agents and adding multiple wins across categories, including silver in GenAI-led creative and both gold and silver in interactive DOOH campaigns for Tanishq and Tata Coffee.
Predictive AI honours went to Strong Metrics and Tyroo, both silver, while Orient Bell Limited picked up silver in immersive retail tech. In GenAI-led creative, Laqshya Media Limited, Salt – Kotak and Sumimoto each secured silver, reflecting the crowded race in generative creativity.
Publicis bagged silver in influencer management and gold in performance marketing, where it shared the stage with Arm Worldwide and The Trade Desk, both silver. Glad U Came Private Limited stood out with gold in influencer measurement and analytics.
Marketing automation saw CereOne Media Pvt. Ltd. and Globale Media win silver, while ADMOTT Private Limited claimed silver in OTT innovation.
Programmatic media categories highlighted the shift to advanced targeting and connected screens. Mobavenue Media Private Limited clinched gold in connected TV advertising, with Animmoov Digital Media Pvt Ltd – Asus and Lyxel and Flamingo taking silver. Cheggout Services Private Limited won silver in retail media advertising, while Paytm Ads – Versuni secured gold.
On social platforms, Vayner Media India took gold in community and UGC engagement, with Under 25 – Oppo winning silver. Segumento rounded off the list with silver in the innovation category.
Jaswant Singh, country managing director at ad:tech India, underscored the momentum, saying generative AI and data-driven decision-making are now central to marketing impact. Neena Dasgupta, IAA mancom member and chief executive and founder at The Salt Inc Consulting, added that the awards celebrate not just technology, but “the people, the creativity, and the relentless effort behind it.”
Backed by Comexposium Group, ad:tech New Delhi has long tracked digital disruption. Now, with the honours, it is rewarding those who are not just adapting to change but engineering it.
In an industry racing towards automation, the message from 2026 is unmistakable. The future of marketing will be written not just in ideas, but in algorithms.
