MAM
Pallavi Singh exits BMW India, takes a sabbatical
MUMBAI: BMW India marketing head Pallavi Singh has stepped down from her role. Singh took to professional networking platform LinkedIn to break the news. In the post, she stated that she will be on a sabbatical for the next year or so and will be focusing more on driving impact projects and initiatives for start-ups and non-profit organisations.
"The last decade has been super exciting and eventful. We have witnessed major shifts in society – climate change, communication, mobility, clean energy, social connections, and healthcare. The underlying theme for my work during this time has been to harness the power of communities, build sustainable and meaningful brands, and leverage technology to make an impact," she wrote.
Singh added that the world has been changed fundamentally and radically across various dimensions, especially after the Covid2019 outbreak.
"The truth is, that great changes have been in the works way before this global pandemic. These will forever have an impact on work, life, and play," her post said.
Singh has more than 15 years of experience in various marketing functions. She started her career in 2007 in Yamaha as an assistant manager. Later, she joined Harley Davidson Motor Company and worked there for eight years. She left the company as director – marketing. In 2017, she moved to MG Motors India as the head of marketing and worked there until 2019. In 2019, BMW India brought her on.
"My focus and efforts are now aimed at engaging with businesses, brands, start-ups, and non-profits to work on – demystifying and leveraging our digital-first reality, Creating data-centric strategies for business, and Building purpose & vision-based programs," Singh detailed her future plans.
MUMBAI: Mar-tech network Wondrlab Network is in talks to acquire advertising major Madison World, according to media reports, in a move that could reshape India’s agency landscape.
In a statement shared with Social Samosa, Wondrlab Network founder and CEO Saurabh Varma, confirmed that the group is actively evaluating acquisition opportunities but declined to confirm any specific transaction.
“We have consistently stated that Wondrlab is building for scale, and acquisitions remain an important part of that strategy. We are in discussions with multiple companies across capabilities that strengthen our platform-first, full-funnel marketing and technology offering. Any development will be communicated at the appropriate time,” Varma said.
Wondrlab has pursued acquisitions as part of an ambitious plan to buy 26 agencies across three phases. In 2025, it completed its seventh acquisition, underscoring its appetite for inorganic growth.
According to reports, Madison founder Sam Balsara is seeking around Rs 1,000 crore for the agency. If the Wondrlab deal goes through, it would rank as the largest acquisition of an Indian agency by another Indian agency.
Wondrlab was launched in November 2020 by Saurabh Varma, Vandana Varma, and Rakesh Hinduja. Its first acquisition followed swiftly with the December 2020 purchase of Amit Akali’s creative shop, What’s Your Problem.
Since then, the group has steadily expanded its footprint. It acquired influencer marketing firm Opportune and performance marketing agency Neon in 2022. In 2023, it bought Salesforce consultancy and data analytics firm Cymetrix, alongside Poland-based WebTalk, marking its entry into Europe. It later added influencer marketing agency OPA and, last year, took a majority stake in BigStep Technologies, a generative AI and cloud-native software firm.
Madison, meanwhile, has long been a target for global advertising groups. Over the years, it has drawn interest from WPP, Publicis Groupe and Dentsu. In May 2025, Havas was reported to be the frontrunner, with an offer of about Rs 700 crore for a majority stake.
Earlier talks with WPP in 2015, when Madison was valued at roughly Rs 500 crore, collapsed over valuation and equity differences. Discussions with Publicis and Dentsu also failed to yield a deal.
