MAM
Offbeet Media appoints Rohit Tugnait as Chief Executive Officer of 101 India
Mumbai: Offbeet Media has made its play for young India, naming Rohit Tugnait as chief executive officer of 101 India, the youth-focused digital platform it recently acquired. The hire signals a sharp push to revive the once-buzzy brand and scale it into a serious contender in culture-led media.
Tugnait arrives with more than two decades in media, spanning digital and television, and a track record in building youth brands. He will steer creative direction, business strategy and long-term growth, with a brief to turn 101 India into a go-to hub for distinctive stories from across the country. Previously, he ran India operations at Vice Media Group, pitching the Vice proposition to both audiences and advertisers.
“Our focus for 2026 is aggressive growth, and 101 India will lead that vision for the group. With Rohit leading the way, along with other industry heavyweights, I am confident we will create a trajectory of magic for the brand,” said Jaideep Singh, founder, Offbeet Media Group.
Tugnait is betting on culture, community and new formats. “101 India is an extremely unique platform in what it represents and produces. It represents an aspect of India that young audiences have not seen or experienced through a cultural lens. From Dinner with Dons, which captures fun conversations with erstwhile thugs, to Oddly in India, where we tell human-interest stories with a twist. We have an extremely engaged community that we are going to build on with hosting new content, new formats of serving content and a play with AI at some point. 101 India in 2026 will be a platform defined by ambitious stories and ambitious benchmarks,” he said.
Offbeet is pitching 101 India as culture-first and youth-first, diving into India’s cultural and subcultural veins. The platform courts a new generation of storytellers and viewers with narratives that mirror modern India, spanning culture, subculture and counterculture. Distribution runs across YouTube, social platforms and its own site, mixing video, articles and original formats.
The appointment takes effect immediately. For Offbeet, the wager is clear: in the battle for young eyeballs, culture is currency, and 101 India is back in the game.
MAM
Kate Rouch steps down as OpenAI Chief Marketing Officer
Marketing leader prioritises health after late-stage breast cancer diagnosis.
MUMBAI: When the toughest battle moves from the boardroom to the personal front, even the sharpest minds know it’s time to step back and focus on winning the most important fight of all. Kate Rouch, chief marketing officer at OpenAI, has announced she is stepping down from her role to focus on recovery following a diagnosis of late-stage breast cancer.
In a heartfelt LinkedIn post, Rouch revealed she was diagnosed around a year and a half ago, shortly after taking on the CMO position. Despite undergoing intensive treatment, she continued to lead the company’s marketing function through what she described as one of the most challenging periods of her career.
She explained that while she remained deeply committed to her role and team, she had reached a point where prioritising her health and recovery had become essential. Rouch called the decision difficult, noting it required acknowledging personal limits and shifting priorities. She reflected that the experience had reshaped her understanding of courage not always about pushing harder, but sometimes about stepping back to focus on long-term wellbeing, family and sustainability.
Rouch expressed gratitude to her team and colleagues for their support. She mentioned that Gary will step in to help lead the function and recruit a successor. She plans to support the transition and remains open to returning in a different capacity in the future, depending on her health.
Prior to joining OpenAI, Rouch served as the first chief marketing officer at Coinbase and spent over a decade at Meta, where she was vice president and global head of brand and product marketing.
She also thanked well-wishers for their messages and shared that stories from fellow survivors had a meaningful impact during her treatment journey.
In the high-stakes world of tech marketing, Kate Rouch has always been known for her strategic brilliance. Now, she is showing a different kind of strength, one that reminds us that even the most driven leaders sometimes need to pause, heal, and come back stronger when the time is right. Wishing her a full and steady recovery.
