MAM
Weber Shandwick is Uefa’s PR agency
MUMBAI: Public relations (PR) agency Weber Shandwick has been awarded a contract to support football’s governing body Uefa’s marketing and media management division (UMMM).
The firm was appointed following two projects it carried out for the Uefa in June and July 2005 around the Uefa Women’s Euro 2005 and the launch of the official Uefa Euro 2008 logo.
Weber Shandwick will work with UMMM to develop strategic communications targeting the European trade, marketing and business media. Weber Shandwick also will help UMMM raise awareness of its Eurotop programme. This is a new marketing concept that regroups Uefa’s professional National Team Competitions, which offers a comprehensive four-year sponsorship programme to its partners.
UMMM COO Philippe Margraff says, “We wanted to communicate the innovative marketing and commercial programmes that we are putting into place for our next sponsorship cycle in 2006. We feel that Weber Shandwick has the sports experience, capabilities and global network to help us communicate our message to the business community, National Associations and media.”
Weber Shandwick will manage the programme from its office in Geneva and will work with UMMM to enhance its profile and the awareness of its marketing operation in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
UEFA has announced three of its six EUROTOP partners, McDonald’s, Carlsberg and JVC, and recently concluded a four-year strategic licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products.
Weber Shandwick is also working with Uefa on a broader review of its overall communications offering to its relevant stakeholders; from the media and fans to the National Associations.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
