#e4mExclusive:  Ashish Mishra to join Zee as Chief Marketing Officer

Ashish Mishra, former Chief Marketing Officer of ACKO, is set to join Zee as its Chief Marketing Officer, highly placed sources have confirmed to exchange4media.

He will replace Kartik Mahadev who was CMO of Zee and Zee 5 since September 2021.

Mishra brings more than two decades of experience spanning brand building, consumer marketing, financial services, advertising and digital-first businesses. 

His appointment marks his transition from the insurance sector to media and entertainment, where he will be expected to bring a consumer-centric and technology-led approach to Zee’s marketing strategy.

His appointment comes at a time when media companies are looking to develop stronger and more consistent brand identities across television, streaming and digital platforms. With audiences increasingly moving between linear television, connected TV, OTT and social media, marketing leaders are being tasked with driving both reach and deeper consumer engagement across multiple touchpoints.

Mishra joins Zee following a nearly six-year association with ACKO. He joined the digital insurer in 2020 and went on to play an important role in building ACKO into a widely recognised consumer brand in a category traditionally associated with complex products and fear-led communication.

Read earlier e4m report on Ashish Mishra exiting ACKO

During his tenure, ACKO expanded its marketing narrative beyond motor insurance as the company entered categories such as health and life insurance. Mishra was associated with the development of a distinctive and conversational tone for the brand, with campaigns that sought to simplify insurance and make it more relevant to younger, digitally active consumers.

Some of the prominent campaigns rolled out during his stint included ‘Ode to Mumbai’, the return of the popular Munna Bhai and Circuit characters for ACKO’s health insurance communication, campaigns featuring Saif Ali Khan and Sara Ali Khan, and the ‘Car Ka Action Hero’ campaign bringing together MS Dhoni and R Madhavan.

Mishra was also associated with ACKO’s ‘Tailor Test’ initiative, which won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2025. The initiative used waist-to-hip measurements collected by neighbourhood tailors to promote awareness about heart-health risks, combining cultural insight, data and public-health communication.

Before joining ACKO, Mishra spent more than a decade with HSBC in the UAE, holding several senior marketing positions. His assignments included Head of Marketing for Cards, Loans and Mortgages; Regional Marketing Manager for Media and Foreign Exchange; and marketing responsibilities covering personal loans, mortgages, auto loans and digital-channel migration.

He began his career on the advertising side and worked with Lowe Lintas and DDB Mudra Group in brand and communications roles before moving into financial-services marketing.