MAM
Mindshare veteran Sonal Jadhav moves to lead Havas Media’s western operations
MUMBAI: Sonal Jadhav has traded her corner office at Mindshare for the top job at Havas Media Network India, where she will serve as managing partner and west lead. The appointment marks a significant coup for Havas, which has poached one of the industry’s most seasoned media hands.
Jadhav spent three years and seven months as principal partner at Mindshare, the GroupM-owned agency, before making the switch this month. Her departure represents a notable loss for Mindshare, where she had deep roots stretching back over a decade.
The Mumbai-based executive brings formidable credentials to her new role. She cut her teeth during a marathon 10-year stint at Mindshare, rising through the ranks from client lead to senior cluster lead. In her most recent role there, she managed a portfolio of blue-chip accounts including Kellogg’s, ICICI, Rio Tinto and Onida, with full profit-and-loss responsibility.
Her earlier Mindshare tenure was particularly notable for her stewardship of the Hindustan Unilever skincare portfolio, where she crafted media strategies for the conglomerate’s beauty brands from 2006 to 2013. The assignment cemented her reputation as a strategic thinker with a knack for marrying brand-building with performance metrics.
Between her two Mindshare chapters, adhav spent four years as general manager at Wavemaker, another GroupM stable-mate, focusing on FMCG clients and honing her expertise across traditional and digital media channels.
Her career began in print advertising, with early roles at Hindustan Times and Indian Express, where she learned the fundamentals of media sales and revenue optimisation.
The appointment signals Havas Media’s ambitions to strengthen its presence in India’s fiercely competitive media landscape, where agencies are battling for a larger share of the country’s advertising spend. Ms Jadhav’s deep FMCG experience and client relationships make her a natural fit for a market where consumer goods companies remain among the biggest advertisers.
At 15-plus years in the business, she represents the kind of seasoned leadership that agencies increasingly prize as they navigate the complexities of digital transformation and attribution-based media buying.
MAM
Time brings TIME100 Next franchise to India with Reliance
List to spotlight 100 emerging leaders, gala set for December 2026 in Mumbai.
MUMBAI: It’s about time India’s next wave got a global spotlight and now, it’s on the list. New York-headquartered Time is expanding its TIME100 Next franchise to India, partnering with Reliance Industries Limited to launch TIME100 Next India, its first international extension of the rising leaders platform. The announcement was made at the Time100 Gala in New York by Jessica Sibley and Nita Mukesh Ambani, signalling a strategic push to tap into India’s growing influence across sectors.
The India edition will recognise 100 emerging leaders from the country and the global Indian diaspora, spanning business, science, sports, arts and social impact. The list will be curated by Time’s editorial team and published online, continuing the franchise’s focus on identifying individuals shaping the future.
The initiative will culminate in a gala event scheduled for December 2026 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, anchoring the platform within India’s cultural and business ecosystem.
TIME’s broader Time100 franchise has steadily expanded its global footprint since 2021 through events and impact-led initiatives. Executives noted that India’s growing pool of influential voices and innovators made it a natural next step for the platform’s international ambitions.
For Reliance, the partnership aligns with its broader push to support emerging talent and ideas on a global stage. For Time, it marks a timely bet on India not just as a market, but as a talent engine shaping the next chapter of global leadership.
