Brands
Ugam rebrands as Merkle as part of integration strategy
Mumbai: Analytics and technology company Ugam on Friday announced that it is changing its name to Merkle as part of an integration plan following its acquisition by the performance marketing agency in 2019.
Part of dentsu International, Merkle is a leading customer experience management company that picked up a majority stake in Ugam to bring scale to its analytics’s business, provide a platform for dentsu’s and Merkle’s shared analytics services, and offer a complete and scaled analytics-based services layer for M1, dentsu’s people-based insights, planning, activation and measurement platform.
Ugam 1600-strong talent will now have access to Merkle’s leadership, global mobility and best-in-class learning and development programs.
Over the next few months, the brand migration will be reflected across Ugam’s assets including its website and social media handles and will be communicated to all stakeholders.
Ugam CEO and co-founder Sunil Mirani said. “I’m proud of Ugam’s achievements in the past 22 years. We’ve experienced year-on-year growth, driven impact for our long-tenured clients and strategic partners, grown into a family of 4,000+, and been recognised as a Great Place to Work. We’ve pushed boundaries to drive meaningful impact in society too. I’m excited about this brand migration as we will be part of a global leading company with similar values and culture.”
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
