The year 2021 proved to be a year of resignations for the advertising industry, with a record number of executives departing their positions around the world. 2021 in India, there were a lot of top-level domain exits.
There have been significant changes at the top in the brand, agency, print, and out-of-home (OOH) domains.
- Sudhir Sitapati
In May, Sudhir Sitapati, HUL‘s Executive Director and Vice President of Foods and Refreshment resigned. He became the CEO and MD of Godrej Consumer Products Limited.
- Gaurav Jeet Singh
Gaurav Jeet Singh, Unilever’s GM Media for South Asia, resigned in December. He’ll be joining a global digital platform, according to reports.
- Ashish Bhasin
Ashish Bhasin, Dentsu International’s India Chairman and CEO – Asia Pacific, stepped down in November after a 13-year tenure with the company. Bhasin has not said what his plans are for the future, however, he has intimated that he would be attending Harvard soon.
- Anand Bhadkamkar
In August, Anand Bhadkamkar, who was then of advertising business Dentsu India, resigned from his position. In 2008, he joined Dentsu.
- Priti Murthy
Priti Murthy, the CEO of OMD India, just resigned. For four years, she was the CEO of OMD India. Murthy has joined GroupM Services India as President.
- Bharat Khatri
In May, Bharat Khatri resigned as the Country Head of Xaxis India. He worked at the company, which is GroupM’s advanced programmatic branch, for seven years. As Chief Digital Officer, APAC, he has joined OMG.
- Vishnu Mohan
After 25 years with the company, Vishnu Mohan, then Chairman and CEO of Havas Group Southeast Asia, India, and North Asia left in January this year. He recently joined Dept as the CGO and Partner in charge of the APAC expansion.
- Vindod Thadani
After serving the company for almost six years, Vinod Thadani, the previous Chief Digital Officer of Mindshare – South Asia, resigned down early this year. He is now the CEO of iProspect and the Chief Digital Growth Officer of Dentsu Media Group.
- Anand Chakravarthy
Anand Chakravarthy, the CEO of Essence at the time, left GroupM early this year. He is now a co-founder of the e-learning platform Results & Outcomes.
- Gopa Kumar Menon
Gopa Kumar Menon, the Chief Operating Officer of Dentsu‘s digital firm Isobar, resigned down in the middle of the year after 12 years with the company. He has joined Mindshare as the South Asia Digital Head.
Print and OOH
- TN Ninan
TN Ninan, a well-known journalist and the Chairman and Director of Business Standard, has stepped down from his position. Ninan had been a part of the company for nearly three decades, including 12 years as Chairman and Director.
- Sujit Banerjee
Sujit Banerjee, the previous Director & CEO of Ecosys OOH, a Publicis Media-owned OOH company, changed jobs at the start of the year after five years with the company. As Head-Demand India, he joined Moving Walls.
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