WPP Media appoints Ganapathy Subramanian as SVP- client investments, marketplaces & partnerships, India

BENGALURU: What goes around comes around. For Ganapathy Subramanian, the next chapter of his career is also a homecoming. The media executive has joined WPP Media as senior vice president, client investments, marketplaces and partnerships, India, marking his return to the network where he spent an important phase of his early career.

Subramanian announced the move on LinkedIn, saying he had not planned to switch jobs earlier this year. Instead, regulatory changes affecting India’s real money gaming industry prompted him to reassess his career path, ultimately leading him back to WPP Media.

“I felt less like joining a new company and more like coming home,” he wrote while announcing his appointment.

Before returning to WPP Media, Subramanian served as director of media buying and planning at Head Digital Works from July 2024 to December 2025. Reflecting on his stint, he credited the company’s leadership for giving him the trust, mentorship and freedom to take ownership, experiment with new ideas and broaden his perspective on leadership and collaboration.

He noted that the experience reinforced an important lesson that while industries evolve, the skills, relationships and professional networks built over time continue to create new opportunities.

Subramanian brings more than 15 years of experience across media planning, investments, client partnerships and business development.

Prior to Head Digital Works, he was business director at OMD APAC in Kuala Lumpur, where he worked across regional client mandates. Earlier, he spent more than four years at Motivator, part of GroupM, serving as business director and later client lead. During that period, he worked with fintech, edtech, quick commerce, mobility and consumer technology brands while leading new business development across southern India.

His earlier career also includes a nearly three-year stint at Havas as media director, where he led strategic media planning and investment initiatives for several emerging digital-first brands.

Subramanian holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning.

His appointment comes as WPP Media continues to strengthen its leadership bench in India, with growing emphasis on client investment strategies, marketplace partnerships and data-led media solutions in an increasingly competitive advertising landscape.