The Big Rejig of 2021-Part 3

2021 turned out to be a year of resignations for the ad industry with a record number of leaders leaving their jobs globally. India too witnessed many top-level exits this year across domains. Here is e4m’s pick of major changes at the top in brand, agency, print and OOH domains: 

Sudhir Sitapati
Sudhir Sitapati quit as HUL’s Executive Director and Vice President, Foods & Refreshment, in May. He joined Godrej Consumer Products Limited as CEO and MD

Gaurav Jeet Singh
Gaurav Jeet Singh stepped down as GM Media- South Asia at Unilever earlier this month. He is said to be joining a global digital platform.

Ashish Bhasin
Industry stalwart Ashish Bhasin quit as dentsu International’s India Chairman and CEO - Asia Pacific this November, wrapping up a 13-year stint with the company. Bhasin has not disclosed his future plans, but has hinted about joining Harvard soon.

Anand Bhadkamkar
Anand Bhadkamkar, then Chief Executive of advertising firm dentsu India, stepped down from the position in August. He had joined dentsu in 2008. In December, Practus appointed him as the industry leader – media, entertainment, and integration specialist.

Priti Murthy
OMD India CEO Priti Murthy quit the company recently. She headed OMD India for four years. Murthy has joined as President, GroupM Services India.

Bharat Khatri
Bharat Khatri called it quits as the Country Head of Xaxis India in May this year. He had a seven-year stint with the company, which is GroupM’s advanced programmatic arm. He has joined OMG as Chief Digital Officer, APAC. 

Vishnu Mohan
Vishnu Mohan, then Chairman and CEO at Havas Group Southeast Asia, India and North Asia, put down his papers in January this year after 25 years with the organization. He recently joined Dept as CGO and Partner to lead expansion in APAC. 

Vindod Thadani
Vinod Thadani, the former Chief Digital Officer, Mindshare - South Asia, stepped down from his position early this year after serving the company for about six years. He is now the Chief Digital Growth Officer of Dentsu Media Group and CEO of iProspect. 

Anand Chakravarthy
Anand Chakravarthy, the then MD of Essence, quit the GroupM company earlier this year. He has now joined an e-learning platform Results and Outcomes as Co-founder. 

Gopa Kumar Menon
Gopa Kumar Menon stepped down as the Chief Operating Officer at Dentsu’s digital agency Isobar in the middle of the year after spending 12 years at the organization. He has joined as Mindshare, Digital Head, South Asia.

Print and OOH

TN Ninan
Noted journalist and Chairman & Director of Business Standard N Ninan retired from his post. Ninan was associated with the company for close to three decades, including 12 years as Chairman & Director of the company.

Sandeep Dahiya
Sandeep Dahiya, the then CEO - Times Lifestyle Enterprise, and Director - Brand Extension, BCCL, decided to move on in September. Dahiya spent eight years with the group. His next move is not known. 

Dipankar Das Purkayastha
Dipankar Das Purkayastha decided to step down as the CEO & Managing Director of ABP in March. Purkayastha has been associated with ABP Pvt Ltd for four decades and will continue to remain associated with the company.

Sujit Banerjee
Sujit Banerjee, former Director & CEO of Publicis Media-owned OOH organization Ecosys OOH, switched his job at the beginning of the year after serving the company for five years. He joined Moving Walls as Head-Demand India.