Mars Wrigley India has promoted Kalpesh Parmar as General Manager of Mars Wrigley Asia and Tamer Kadry as the new Country General Manager of India.

In his new role, Kalpesh will oversee 20 diverse markets in the Mars Wrigley Asia portfolio. He will lead business operations of the chocolate, gum, and fruity confections segments across all Asia markets as well as the pet nutrition segment in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. He joined the India business in January 2020.

Tamer Kadry is currently the Vice President of New Markets & Future Growth, Global Emerging Markets (GEM) region, Mars Wrigley, and was formerly the CFO of GEM. He has spent more than two decades in Mars Incorporated and brings immense diverse experience, having worked across multiple geographies in Europe, CIS, APAC, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and lived in Dubai, Milan and Brussels.

Kalpesh and Tamer are currently transitioning into their respective roles.

Kalpesh Parmar, Outgoing Country General Manager, Mars Wrigley India, said, “India will always remain an important part of my leadership journey. Over the years, I have witnessed Mars Wrigley India grow from strength to strength and I am fortunate to have been a part of its Purpose-led growth culture. Guided by Mars’ Five Principles and led by a highly capable leadership team and exceptional talent, the business turned around marking double-digit growth. I am delighted to hand over the reins to my dear friend and colleague Tamer Kadry, a long-time Mars Associate and a great business and people leader, who I am confident will take the business to greater heights. I wish him the very best and look forward to my assignment in Asia.”

Incoming General Manager for Mars Wrigley India, Tamer Kadry said, “India is one the fastest growing markets for Mars and I am looking forward to leading Mars Wrigley’s India business and delivering on our sustainability commitments along with an incredible India Leadership Team and passionate Associates. I thank Kalpesh for building a legacy of Purpose-driven growth momentum while nurturing world-class talent and laying a strong foundation of future-ready capabilities. I am looking forward to inspiring moments of everyday happiness for our Indian consumers and shoppers with our iconic global brands, and for our communities.”

Guruprasad Mudlapur will be appointed President of the Bosch Group in India and Managing Director of Bosch Limited. In his new role, Guruprasad will be responsible for the strategic growth and overall performance of the business in the region. At the same time, he will continue to be Chief Technology Officer for Bosch Limited.

Guruprasad has more than 15 years of experience in the Bosch Group and has held various positions in engineering and business management. Most recently, he was Joint Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of Bosch Limited. Previously, he was Regional President and Managing Director of Bosch Automotive Electronics Private Limited.

Effective June 30, 2023, Soumitra Bhattacharya will be retiring from Bosch India, after 28 years of service in various capacities. He took over the role of President of the Bosch Group in India and Managing Director for Bosch Limited in 2017. Prior to that, he was Joint Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer for Bosch Limited.

From July 1, 2023, Sandeep Nelamangala, currently executive Director at Bosch Limited and Executive Vice President, Mobility Solutions at Bosch India, will be appointed Joint Managing Director of Bosch Limited.

Filiz Albrecht, Member of the Board of Management and Director of Industrial Relations of Robert Bosch GmbH, who is also responsible for the Bosch Group in India, said: “I want to thank Soumitra for his outstanding leadership and for enabling sustained growth, even in challenging economic times. I am delighted to welcome Guruprasad in his new role from July 2023, a very important time in the advancement of our company as we move into the next century of Bosch in India. Guruprasad is well versed in driving innovative technology initiatives that are expected to influence key business dynamics. With Sandeep assuming the role of Joint Managing Director of Bosch Limited, we look forward to their contributions to our continued success. I am confident that the new leadership will continue to make a positive impact on all our stakeholders.”

IndiaCast has appointed Piyush Goyal as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

In a career spanning over 20 years, Goyal has worked in leading media companies like Star TV, Network18, NDTV and DEN Networks.

In his last stint, he was EVP and Head - Key Accounts at Star India, where he handled major MSO and DTH players. 

In this new role, Goyal will closely work with the operating heads of TV News, Entertainment and Sports businesses of the Network18 Group. He will report into Network18’s Managing Director Rahul Joshi.

Commenting on his new role, Goyal said, “I am extremely thrilled and look forward to spearheading Indiacast. It's home coming for me at Indiacast after 10 years. With the ever changing landscape in the media industry, there could not have been a better time to be part of this vibrant and fastest-growing media conglomerate.”

MX Player has announced that Nikhil Gandhi has decided to step down as the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) to pursue other interests.

Serving his notice period, Gandhi is ensuring a seamless transition. His appointment as COO in August 2021 was in line with the company’s strategy to drive growth and efficiency. Nikhil worked closely with MX Player, Chief Executive Officer, Karan Bedi and was responsible for taking the platforms to their next phase of growth by expanding its geographical reach, enhancing data-driven innovation, growing the scope and scale of revenue streams, and building maximum impact for internal and external stakeholders, the company said.

“Thanks to Nikhil's contributions, the company is in a strong position, and we are confident that our team, values and talent will continue to thrive, improve business synergy and create even more valuable organizational depth. We sincerely thank Nikhil for his leadership and meaningful contribution in MX Player's growth and success and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Karan Bedi.

“I am proud of all that we have accomplished during my tenure at MX Player. I am especially grateful to Karan and the extraordinary team who worked alongside me to introduce new revenue growth drivers and create so many impactful and digital experiences for our users and stakeholders. I wish them all the best,” said Nikhil Gandhi.

The development has come at a time when the OTT player’s parent company Times Internet is in talks with Amazon for the sale of MX Player. 

Karan Bedi is likely to benefit substantially from the sale proceeds. How much and whether other senior execs will also get is currently not known.

Gandhi joined the platform in August 2021. He had earlier served as TikTok’s Head of Middle East, Africa, Turkey & South Asia. He joined TikTok as its India head in October 2019.

Based out of Mumbai and Singapore for this role, Nikhil was responsible for taking the MX Player to its next phase of growth by expanding its geographical reach, enhancing data-driven innovation, growing the scope and scale of revenue streams, and building maximum impact for all stakeholders like consumers, advertisers, or internal teams across verticals.

Amazon's acquisition of MX Player has the potential to make India’s OTT war intense.

“The deal size is roughly $100 million, $40 million less than what Times Internet invested in MX Player at the time of acquisition,” sources claimed.

If the deal really goes through, then Amazon Prime Video is set to grow four times bigger in terms of consumer acquisition. Amazon has an estimated 28 million users in India while MX Player has nearly 78 million users.

PubMatic, an independent technology company delivering digital advertising’s supply chain of the future, today announced it has appointed Sandro Catanzaro as VP of Product Management for CTV and Video. At PubMatic, Catanzaro will be responsible for the product vision and roadmap for the company’s fast-growing CTV and video businesses. He will lead a team of seasoned product managers to further develop and execute product plans, ensuring that the company continues to drive innovation for an increasingly sophisticated and diverse CTV and video market. 

“We are thrilled to have an esteemed product innovator like Sandro join PubMatic. With his guidance, we will build on our leadership position in the high-growth video and CTV formats, and enhance the value we bring our global publisher and advertiser customers across the open internet,” said Nishant Khatri, SVP of Product Management at PubMatic.

Catanzaro joins PubMatic from Roku, where he was Head of Publisher Media Strategy, leading the product team by providing automated solutions for publishers, including self-service header bidding. Previously, he was Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at DataXu, which was acquired by Roku. Prior to his tenure at DataXu, Catanzaro was a consultant at Bain & Company.

“PubMatic has a legacy of industry-first innovation and technology strength that puts us in prime position as leaders in CTV and video,” said Sandro Catanzaro. “I look forward to working with our incredible engineering and product teams, along with our global customers, to deliver solutions that are meaningful and rewarding for publishers, advertisers, and consumers.”

The company has driven significant gains in CTV and omnichannel video on behalf of advertiser and publisher customers. In its latest earnings announcement, PubMatic reported that in 2022 CTV revenue nearly tripled over 2021, as a result of monetizing inventory from 214 CTV publishers, up from 154 publishers in the fourth quarter of 2021. Revenue from omnichannel video, which spans across desktop, mobile, and CTV devices, increased 42% year over year.

Metro Brands has appointed Deepika Deepti as Senior Vice President Marketing.

Deepika will work alongside leaders Farah Malik Bhanji, Managing Director and Nissan Joseph, CEO of the footwear brand, to spearhead the company’s marketing mandate.

She has 18 years of experience with the retail industry and has been known for building brands.

At Metro Brands, Deepika will help steer the company through its vision of being a leading new-age Indian footwear retailer with a strong omni-channel presence across the country by strategically strengthening the brand portfolio.

“It is an honor to be part of a celebrated legacy company like Metro that has stood the test of time. In my current role here, I look forward to upholding and elevating the company’s many brands by building cultural relevance and value for each of them. My focus will be to keep pace with marketing innovations and continue to build brand aspiration,” said Deepika Deepti.

Prior to joining Metro Brands last year, Deepika was CEO & Chief Marketing Officer at Camp SMA and worked with brands like Veg Non-Veg as well.

As former director-brand activation, emerging markets at adidas, Deepika has spent a decade gaining in-depth knowledge of Indian and international retail markets to strategically grow the business.

Joji George has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Percept Live, with effect from March 15, 2023.

As CEO, Joji will be responsible for leading the Vision and Strategic direction of Percept Live encompassing R&D, charting global market trends to ascertain new business and brand extension opportunities, monetization of all the Percept Live IPs, exploring opportunities for synergy with other brands, managing the P&L, profitability, enhancing revenue both organically and inorganically, sourcing new areas, brand extensions and plotting the roadmap for each unique IP across India and overseas. He will work closely with the CXOs of the various business units across the Percept Group to herald the next growth phase for all the IPs under the Percept Live umbrella.

Joji has managed cross-functional teams across South East Asia and South Asia, worked on turnarounds and transforming companies.

Prior to joining Percept Live, Joji was the Co-Founder of GoNuts.com.

He also previously worked with Beacon Advisory, served as Vice President & General Manager/Country Head at World Wrestling Entertainment, India, Managing Director at UBM (now Informa) and EVP at The Global Brand Forum, Singapore. He has also worked with leading global organizations like ASTRO (Astro All Asia Networks Plc), Malaysia, Yahoo! Asia, Singapore, MTV Asia, Singapore and SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, India.

Joji also previously served at Percept in the capacity as CEO, Percept Sports & Entertainment, where he built and scaled the Sports and Entertainment IPs, launched new businesses and consolidated the Talent Management division. Over the past two decades Joji has conceptualized many unique ideas and identified many opportunities in the Media & Entertainment domain to curate them into valuable IPs.

Joji George, Chief Executive Officer, Percept Live, said: “Having worked with leading entertainment and media brands across Asia, I am excited about working with India’s leading EMC conglomerate that has transformed thousands of brands by offering unique “Integrated Marketing Solutions” and spearheaded the Intellectual Property space by creating an iconic global IP like Sunburn. My aim is to make Percept Live a highly dynamic, and progressive company, both with consumers and brands across demographics and psychographics, connecting our live and digital platforms to create memorable experiences that help brands connect stronger with their customers. Sunburn is a stunning example of how a simple idea transformed music tourism in India and emerged as Asia’s largest Live Media Asset. I am excited to merge my experience with global brands and reinvent the Sunburn learning curve to expand five more stellar IPs from the Percept Live stable, to offer a bespoke experience to brands and consumers, and create immense value for our investors.”