Celebrating Vikram Sakhuja: The marketer who became media's master builder
Vikram Sakhuja's four-decade career has shaped how India plans, buys and thinks about media
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Published: Oct 30, 2026 12:48 PM | 3 min read
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- Vikram Sakhuja, a prominent figure in Indian advertising, has had a diverse 40-year career spanning roles as a client, broadcaster, and agency leader, shaping the media landscape in India.
- He began his career in 1984 at DCM Ltd. and later worked with major companies such as Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, contributing to iconic brands and pioneering media research methods.
- Sakhuja transitioned to the agency sector in 2002, leading Mindshare and GroupM, and eventually became the Group CEO of Madison Media & OOH, establishing it as India's largest independent media agency.
- He will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Advertising Agencies Association of India in January 2025, recognizing his significant contributions to the advertising industry and the out-of-home sector.
From P&G and Coca-Cola to Star TV, GroupM and Madison, Vikram Sakhuja's four-decade career has shaped how India plans, buys and thinks about media.
Few people in Indian advertising have seen the business from as many seats as Vikram Sakhuja. Over nearly four decades, he has been a client, a broadcaster, a network head and the leader of the country's largest independent media agency. On his birthday today, the industry has plenty to celebrate.
An alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Calcutta, Sakhuja began his career in 1984 as a management trainee at DCM Ltd. The scheme took him across DCM Toyota, SRF, DCM Data Products, DCM Engineering Products and Swatantra Bharat Mills, with classroom learning alongside on-the-job training in procurement, marketing and finance. In his second year, he was a sales executive for SRF's industrial fabrics division in the western region.
In 1988, he moved to Procter & Gamble, where he spent eight years managing the company's centralised media function and market research.
Coca-Cola India came next in 1996, where he handled brand management, media and market research for four and a half years. Industry accounts credit his marketing years with work on iconic brands such as Ariel and Sprite, and with pioneering media research methods. In 2001, he joined Star TV as Executive Vice President, Marketing, setting up the marketing department for the entertainment network and launching Star Vijay and Radio City.
The agency chapter began in 2002, when he took charge of Mindshare Fulcrum as Managing Director. He rose to lead Mindshare South Asia and, from 2006 to 2012, served as CEO South Asia of GroupM, helping shape India's media ecosystem. A stint as Worldwide CEO of Maxus followed in 2013, and he became GroupM's Global Strategic Development Officer in London.
In 2015, Sakhuja came home. He joined Sam Balsara's Madison World as Partner and Group CEO of Madison Media & OOH, with an equity stake in the business, taking charge of the media and out-of-home divisions that accounted for around three-fourths of the group's revenues at the time.
Over nearly a decade at the helm, he steered Madison Media & OOH to its position as India's largest independent media agency. In January 2025, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) conferred its Lifetime Achievement Award on him, recognising a 38-year journey that includes 23 years in the agency world. The award is regarded as the highest honour an individual can receive in Indian advertising, and it also acknowledged his role in transforming the OOH sector.
Sakhuja's story is a reminder of what a client-side grounding can do for an agency leader. Having sat across the table as a buyer of media at P&G and Coca-Cola, he understood the pressures on both sides of the deal, a perspective that served him well in agencies.
In August 2025, he handed over the Group CEO role to Ajit Varghese and became Partner and Director at Madison, with a focus on building organisational capability. It is a fitting brief for someone who has spent four decades building brands, businesses and the people who run them. Happy birthday, Vikram Sakhuja.
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Groupm india
media industry transformation
Indian advertising pioneer
Vikram Sakhuja media career
Madison Media leadership
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P G Coca Cola marketing
Star TV marketing executive
Mindshare Fulcrum CEO
OOH sector innovation
