Mumbai: GroupM India announced on Wednesday that Ashwin Padmanabhan will be promoted to president-investments, trading, and partnerships. Padmanabhan, who earlier led ‘Trading’ and ‘Partnerships’ will now also be taking on the ‘Investments’ portfolio from Sidharth Parashar. Parashar will be joining the APAC Mindshare leadership team as chief investment officer, Mindshare APAC, and will now be based out of Singapore.
Padmanabhan will continue to report to GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar and be based out of the Gurgaon campus. Over the next three months, Parashar and Padmanabhan will work closely to ensure a seamless transition into their respective new roles along with their key leadership team.
GroupM South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar said, "Sidharth has had a phenomenal career journey where the organisation has witnessed his evolution from a practise expert to a leader over the last 18 years with GroupM. He has successfully led investment mandates across all media, elevating the practise through innovative products and exceptional value for our clients. I would like to wish him the very best and will continue to work closely with him as he drives the regional investment strategy for Mindshare."
"I am also excited to see Ashwin taking over this additional role. He has a deep understanding of the business, and we continue to benefit from his knowledge of the media ecosystem. Focusing on cutting-edge innovation backed by his solid process orientation is a value-add for clients. His 'start-up’ mindset has helped GroupM venture into new practices, deploying creativity to our products and solutions, keeping client delight at the helm," he added.
Parashar will report to Mindshare APAC chief executive officer Helen McRae, and work on enhancing Mindshare’s local market investment strategy and driving thinking on the opportunity of good growth and intentional investment for the region.
Helen McRae said, "I am very pleased that Sid will be joining our regional team. He brings a tremendous depth of expertise and will be a great champion of good growth for our clients."
Sidharth Parashar said, "It has been an amazing journey at GroupM, and I am delighted to now take over this new Mindshare APAC investment role. I look forward to this opportunity in new markets to build value for our client’s business."
Ashwin Padmanabhan said, "GroupM has been a fertile ground for innovation and creating value in a highly entrepreneurial environment. This expanded remit motivates me to renew my focus on the GroupM value proposition for our clients, media partners, and technology partners. We want to keep the momentum up with these relentless efforts toward improving today for a better tomorrow."
