MAM
Publicis appoints Suraj Pombra as new EVP
MUMBAI: Publicis announced the appointment of Suraj Pombra as executive vice president for the Publicis Capital Mumbai operations. In his new role Pombra will oversee all operations of the company in Mumbai and will report to Publicis Capital CEO Hemant Misra.
Announcing his appointment Misra said, “Suraj is a seasoned Publicis man and I am delighted to welcome him back to our fold. He will lead a large team and have responsibility for some of our marque accounts like Garnier and Sanofi. I am very confident he will quickly make his mark with the value he will bring for our clients and their business.”
Pombra discovered his attitude and aptitude for advertising two decades ago. In this time, he has sharpened his instincts across a plethora of categories and stewarded many a brand, including Marico, Citibank, Kotak, IndianOil, Bisleri, Park Hotel, Reliance Infrastructure, Meru, Legrand and more. Starting with Trikaya Grey in Kolkata, his tryst with advertising has taken him through DDB/Mudra, JWT, Grey again, Publicis Ambience and even the rare entrepreneurial experience of founding & running a startup agency. Having been there, done that, he returns to Publicis, a place he calls home.
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
