MAM
Starcom onboards Niti Kumar as chief operating officer
NEW DELHI: Media agency Starcom has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Niti Kumar as chief operating officer. She will be responsible for client deliverables, revenue growth, and new business development across the agency’s offices.
Kumar will report to Starcom India CEO Rathi Gangappa, and will work closely with the senior leadership at Publicis Media to consolidate businesses and drive integrated solutions.
During her 20 years in the media and marketing industry, she has dabbled in media planning, marketing, digital communications, and media investment management, and has worked across a variety of categories like publishing, FMCG, telecom, automobiles, garments, and BFSI.
Gangappa said, “I believe that there is immense growth potential in the market today, especially considering the shifts we are likely to see in consumer and workplace habits in a post- pandemic era. This is the right time for Starcom to recruit the right talent, drive future-focused capabilities and to grow the agency’s business through innovative and organic streams.”
Before joining Starcom, Kumar was the senior vice president at Penguin Random House India, where she spearheaded marketing along with the digital and data initiatives of the organisation. A graduate from MICA, she has held leadership roles at GroupM (managing partner north & east at Mediacom) and Mudra Communications (office head, media, Delhi & Kolkata).
A TEDx speaker, Kumar has closely led and managed media investments and strategy for global and local businesses like Mars Wrigley, Shell Plc, Makemytrip.com, Gillette, Amway and Reckitt Benckiser, to name a few.
“I’ve always believed in the power of communications to influence a brand’s business impact and their relationship with consumers,” said Kumar. “Starcom has a diverse and interesting portfolio of clients, and I’m looking forward to working with them to drive more value, innovation and effectiveness for their media investments while also using the agency’s unique offerings to grow and strengthen the teams and the business.”
MAM
WPP appoints Estée Lauder’s Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer
Former Estée Lauder executive to lead operations, technology and culture overhaul under WPP’s three-year growth plan
LONDON: WPP has appointed Anne-Isabelle Choueiri as chief transformation officer in a newly created role tasked with delivering the group’s Elevate28 strategy.
Choueiri joins from The Estée Lauder Companies, where she led enterprise-wide strategic initiatives, including the “One ELC” operating model and major upgrades to enterprise marketing, data and analytics capabilities. She also led the redesign of enterprise technology teams and served on the company’s AI taskforce, driving AI strategy, adoption and value realisation across the business.
At WPP, she will be responsible for designing, implementing and embedding the operating model behind Elevate28, the company’s three-year growth plan unveiled in February 2026. She will lead efforts to improve innovation, efficiency and integration across WPP’s client offerings, with a focus on delivering agile, outcome-driven solutions and measurable growth.
Choueiri will oversee organisational transformation across the group, working closely with product and enterprise technology teams to deploy AI, data and technology to build new capabilities and improve operational performance. She will also work with the people function to embed cultural change, strengthen an agile performance mindset and support talent development across the organisation.
Before joining Estée Lauder, she held senior roles across consulting and digital agencies, including at Accenture, Masaï (a Bain & Company spin-off), and Kearney, with experience spanning strategy, data and digital marketing transformation.
Cindy Rose, chief executive officer of WPP, said Choueiri brings a strong track record of leading large-scale transformation across operations, technology and culture, adding that her appointment will help accelerate the group’s next phase of growth under Elevate28.
Choueiri said WPP’s strategy represents an ambitious opportunity to reshape how the company operates and delivers for clients, adding that she looks forward to building integrated solutions and fostering a culture of innovation and change.
She will be based in New York and will join WPP’s executive committee.
