Ex-Mediaedge:CIA MD Praveen Tripathi joins RK Swamy group’s management group

Two months after he parted ways with Mediaedge:CIA, Praveen Tripathi has decided on his next destination. He has confirmed to exchange4media that he has begun a stint with the RK Swamy group as a senior member of the management team.

The RK Swamy group consists of advertising unit RK Swamy/BBDO, media wing Media Direction, the Hansa group of companies which includes Hansa Vision that deals with programme production, Hansa Events and Exhibition, outdoor unit Hansa Outcell, and Hansa Research.

Prior to this Tripathi was working with Zenith Media (since September 2003), where he held the designation of President, South Asia, and Regional Director, Strategy Planning, Asia. With the re-branding of Zenith Media to Mediaedge: CIA in May 2004, Tripathi was at the helm of affairs as Managing Director of the operations until October 2004.

An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Tripathi began his career in 1979 with Lintas as management trainee. After three years in media planning and four years in client servicing, where he worked on the Unilever and Lipton business, Tripathi quit the agency to join Marg in 1986 as General Manager-Media Research, and rose to become Director in 1992. It was in 1996 that he joined Leo Burnett as Associate Regional Director for Media and Strategic Planning. With the emergence of the independent media unit of the agency, Starcom, in July 1999, Tripathi took over the unit as Managing Director.

In December 2001, he left the agency and became an independent communication and media effectiveness consultant. In August 2002, he left the country to play the role of Strategic Planning Director for P&G for the Greater China region comprising Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. The stint lasted for over a year. The career graph presents a unique mix of advertising, media and research.