MAM
Maxus strengthens top management in south; appoints Anil Sathiraju as GM
MUMBAI: In a move to further strengthen their top management, global media and communication planning firm Maxus has appointed Anil Sathiraju as general manager Maxus South 2.
Maxus South has been growing rapidly and handles some of the biggest clients of the region. Sathiraju will report to Maxus South India & South Asia managing p Sanchayeeta Verma.
With Sathiraju coming on board, Maxus consolidates the senior management strength in the South, along with Kishankumar Shyamalan as GM South 1.
Maxus South Asia managing director Kartik Sharma said, “Our South operations have been the trail blazers in many areas for Maxus and we are looking forward to scale new heights. Anil is an important and strategic addition keeping this in mind.”
Commenting on the new appointment Verma added, “The media landscape is possibly at its most dynamic state today. It’s a time of rapid and big changes. Not only do we have to stay on top of this and ensure that we incorporate the new state of things in the way we do the communication planning for our brands, we also have to ensure executional excellence so that strategy translates to reality. On top of it, in today’s uncertain economic conditions, our media monies have to result into tangible business results for our brands. All of this means, more engagement and more speed at the senior management level. This prompted us to create two distinct SBUs within Maxus South and bring in the best people to man them, i.e, Anil and Kishan. Anil typifies Maxus PACE and we are delighted to have him on board.”
Elaborating on his new role, Sathiraju said, “Moving from an agency after 15 yrs was not at all easy for me. Maxus gave me that confidence and motivation to take the leap. With the vision that Maxus has, and the kind of work that they do, my decision making became that much easier.”
Armed with an experience of 19 years, Sathiraju worked with Mudra Max prior to this.
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI: Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
