MAM
Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias moves on after 27 years
Mumbai: Lodestar UM CEO Nandini Dias has decided to move on from the agency, after being its CEO for close to a decade. She joined the group 27 years ago as a young media person and has since gone on to acquire the top positions.
“I leave Lodestar UM in the hands of a strong, capable, and empowered team that has stayed vested and bonded with me for a long time,” Dias said. “In fact, almost all of the top 30 have been with me throughout my tenure as CEO – something that I am particularly proud of. So it was with a heavy heart that I had to break the news to them about my decision to move on. It is rare that one gets the opportunity to hand over the reins after an organisation’s best years, but this year was one of Lodestar UM’s finest.”
“Over a dozen new businesses, over 20 international awards, Campaign’s Agency Of The Year – Silver, RECMA recognised it as the agency with highest Vitality and personally, my being recognised as the Media Agency CEO Leader Of The Year by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and feted by the Governor of Maharashtra. I couldn’t choose a greater milestone year in which to hand over the baton and go out on a high,” she further said.
Over the years, Dias has been recognised with numerous honours by several bodies – starting with being the Media Planner of the Year in 1998 to going on to be the Media CEO of the Year on various platforms in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021. She’s also been recognised by platforms like The World Leadership Congress and made it to The Times of India’s coveted list of Times Power Women, among others. She has also been on the Economic Times Most Influential list for several years now, one of the first woman leaders to make it there.
While not having taken a decision on the future yet, Dias said, “I started out with a fledgling agency and am handing over the Media Agency of the Year as I move on. So I am looking forward to taking a well-earned break for the first time in my life and am excited to see how things will unfurl.”
In 2018, Dias piloted a pan-industry citizens’ initiative – WorkToLiveToWork – that pushed a radical solution to save commuter lives on their way to work, for which she was awarded the prestigious ‘Gamechanger Of The Year’ award. She’s won over 100 awards at Asia-Pacific Spikes, Festival Of Media Global and APAC, Creative Media Award, several Cannes Lions and many, many local awards. It is widely believed that her focus on innovative solutions transformed the culture of Lodestar UM into an award-winning one which led to the company being one of the most respected media groups in the industry today.
“Nandini has been my partner ally, and friend for 27 years,” Mediabrands CEO India Shashi Sinha said. “She has led from the front to build Lodestar UM ground up to make it what it is today. A dynamic, vibrant top three agency in the country. Passion is what defines Nandini, whether it is creating business solutions, building strong media properties for her clients or making a difference to our society and communities or just bringing her teams together to celebrate a festival or a win, Nandini did it all with remarkable fervour. At a personal level, I will miss her terribly. But I have always believed that a good leader is defined not by what has been built but by what is left behind. Nandini leaves her indelible mark on Lodestar UM in the solid and hugely capable leadership team that she has nurtured and I can say with all confidence that they will only continue to build on her legacy.”
MAM
Ember Cookware appoints Amit Singh as chief of supply chain
10-year veteran to lead operations as brand scales across D2C, quick commerce and retail.
MUMBAI: Ember just handed its supply chain the perfect seasoning because when your cookware is non-toxic and non-stick, the operations behind it better be fast and flawless. Ember Cookware has appointed Amit Singh as chief of supply chain and Services, bolstering its leadership team at a pivotal growth phase. Singh brings over a decade of experience in supply chain strategy, operations and large-scale network buildouts.
He began his career at Singapore-based retail giant Giant Hypermarket before joining Pharmeasy in 2015, where he played a foundational role in building and scaling its pan-India supply chain across B2B and B2C channels. At API Holdings, he later led supply chain operations for North India, managing end-to-end execution across complex, multi-city networks.
In his new role, Amit will oversee Ember’s complete supply chain and service ecosystem including sourcing, manufacturing coordination, logistics, last-mile delivery, post-purchase support and workforce development. His mandate focuses on building cost-efficient, resilient operations that shorten fulfilment times, strengthen inventory management and deliver a consistently high-quality consumer experience as the brand expands nationally.
Ember Cookware co-founder & CEO Siddharth Gadodia said, “Supply chain is where growth either holds or breaks. As we scale across channels and geographies, we need operations that are efficient, resilient, and built for speed, without ever compromising on the consumer experience. Amit has done this before, at real scale.”
Ember Cookware co-founder & CMO Himanshi Tandon added, “As we scale, supply chain efficiency becomes as important as product and brand. Amit’s mandate is to build the operational foundations that make our promise consistent at scale.”
Amit Singh commented, “Ember is building something genuinely different, a category-defining brand with a clear purpose and the ambition to match. I’m looking forward to building supply chain infrastructure that doesn’t just keep pace with growth, but enables it.”
The appointment forms part of Ember’s broader push to deepen leadership across key functions as it invests in its Innovation Lab, proprietary material technologies and operational backbone to support national expansion.
In a kitchenware world where non-stick promises are easy but delivery is hard, Ember isn’t just cooking up products, it’s cooking up an operation that keeps every promise sizzling from factory to fork.
