MAM
Ogilvy’s B. Ramanathan is back from Ogilvy Asia Pacific.
Mumbai: We are pleased to announce the return of B Ramanathan from Ogilvy Asia Pacific back to Ogilvy India. Ram joins us as chief client officer of Ogilvy India.
Over a 29-year illustrious career, Ram has donned many hats. His stint in Ogilvy is now in its 24th year, 16 of which have been spent in various business and office leadership roles across markets in Ogilvy India.
Prior to rejoining Ogilvy India, Ram’s last role was as the Chief Marketing Officer of Ogilvy Asia and the Global Brand Leader – Mondelez, based out of Kuala Lumpur. He had also been instrumental in driving the growth and transformation agenda for Ogilvy Indonesia as it’s Group CEO.
Ogilvy India Group CEO VR Rajesh growth has been on the back of client centricity and depth of engagement and Ram’s return adds fillip to this core strength. He will focus on our top clients in bringing to bear the best of Ogilvy’s capabilities, driving transformation and growth of the businesses. He will be an important shot in the arm as Ogilvy India continues its journey of creative excellence.
Ogilvy India chief client officer B Ramanathan, said “It feels great to be back at the mothership, especially at a time when it is going through a purple patch. With the repertoire of marquee clients, I look forward to partnering with our fantastic teams across markets in delivering transformative work and growth for the businesses.”
MAM
‘You packed my parachute’: Avinash Kaul’s farewell salutes Network18’s unsung thousands
The outgoing chief’s LinkedIn post skips the boardroom tributes and goes straight to the security guards, drivers and office boys who kept the machine running
MUMBAI: Most farewell posts by senior media executives follow a familiar script: gratitude to leadership, a nod to the team, a hint of what lies ahead. Avinash Kaul’s is not that post.
Writing on LinkedIn on his last day at Network18 Media & Investments, where he spent nearly 12 years rising to chief executive, Kaul bypassed the boardroom entirely and directed his most heartfelt words at the people furthest from it: the security guard who greeted him before the building was fully awake, the fleet staff who drove him to airports at ungodly hours, the office assistants, the housekeeping teams, and the administrators who, as he put it, “held ten thousand invisible threads so the rest of us could look organised.”
“You packed my parachute,” he wrote. “Every day. Without fanfare, recognition, or ever asking for it.”
It was a striking note from a man who leaves behind a considerable operational record. Kaul joined Network18 managing three channels and exits with responsibility for 20, alongside a publishing business, a growing connected television footprint, and what he says is the highest revenue and highest channel share in the group’s history. He was quick to deflect the credit. “Not because of me. Because of 4,000 people who showed up, every day, in every department, across the country.”
To content teams across India, he issued a reminder that carries some weight given the pressures Indian news media currently faces. “Keep being custodians of trust for 700 million people. That is not a small thing. That is the whole thing.”
To colleagues in revenue and ratings who found him relentless and hard to satisfy, he was unapologetic but generous. “There was never a single moment of ill intent in my heart. Everything I pushed you towards came from one belief – that you were stronger than you knew, and I was not willing to let you settle for less than your real capability.” Those who believed him, he said, flew. Those who did not taught him to be a better communicator. He was grateful to both.
On what comes next, he offered a hint wrapped in metaphor. Something is being built, he said, prepared for “the way you pack a bag before a long climb. Not out of restlessness. Out of readiness.”
In a media landscape that rarely pauses to acknowledge the people who keep the lights on, it was, at the very least, a different kind of goodbye.
