MAM
Rupert Harrow joins Publicitas as APAC ED – sales and biz development
MUMBAI: After acquiring Indian company Mediascope, Publicitas has appointed Rupert Harrow as executive director sales and business development. He will be based out of Hong Kong and will report to Publicitas India and Asia CEO Marzban Patel.
Harrow will be in charge of sales and business development for Asia Pacific.
Patel said, “Rupert‘s professionalism and knowledge of the business, combined with his excellent network are perfect for our business. I am looking forward to rapidly growing our business across Asia together with Rupert.”
Harrow comes with 13 years of experience in the field. He spent 10 years at The Economist as head of sales. Prior to that he spent three years at Getty Images as business head. His experience covers the entire region – Asia (including China and Japan), the Pacific and India for both his earlier companies.
Harrow said, “I am excited by the opportunity of working for Publicitas, their media partners and advertising customers. There’s is such a powerful offering and strong team to work with, that am confident we will be able to build on the current success and continue to be a preferred partner for media owners and advertisers.”
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI: Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
