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.”

Mullen Lintas has appointed Sharon Picardo as Executive Director and Head of Mumbai operations.

Sharon brings in 22 years of experience as a P&L Head and Brand Strategist.

Hari Krishnan, CEO of Mullen Lintas, said, “Mullen Lintas is one of the youngest creative agency brands in India’s top 10. Building brands using the ‘Challenger’ framework, we have managed to create a quiet revolution in terms of creative reputation and growth. Mumbai being our flagship operation, this is a very coveted role in that sense. In Sharon, we found a perfect leader and team player. She has the right blend of experience, knowledge to be able to lead the fabulously talented Mumbai team and consolidate & grow the operations of Mullen Lintas, Mumbai”

Sharon Picardo expressed her excitement about joining the team, “Mullen Lintas has been making quite an impact over the last few years with their brand of creativity and also in terms of growth, the no: of new brands and categories they’ve added is quite impressive. So, when this opportunity came up, I felt that it would be an exciting challenge to take up, to team up with some of the best talent, maintain the pace and consolidate on the success. My interactions with the leadership team regarding the vision and plans for Mullen Lintas also gave me further confidence. I look forward to this exciting journey.”

SBI General Insurance has appointed Rathin Lahiri as Head-Marketing and CSR.

Lahiri has over 30 years of experience in the financial services and consumer industries.

"As Head of Brand & Marketing, Rathin will play a crucial role in developing and implementing strategies to enhance our brand identity and drive business growth. We are confident that his leadership and vision will help us achieve our goals and take our business to new heights," the company statement read.

Lahiri was earlier with Seed Investor and prior to that with Mahindra Maulife Mutual Fund.

He was also with DBS Bank for nearly 4 years as SVP and Head Strategic Alliances.

The Board of Directors of CEAT Limited, an RPG Group company, at its meeting held on 20th March 2023, named Anant Goenka as the Vice Chairman of the tyre major. This appointment, effective 1^st April 2023, follows Anant Goenka’s decade-long stint as MD & CEO of CEAT, a phase that witnessed a significant transformation of the tyre major, in technology, branding and production capabilities.

The move also progresses the Board’s succession plan for the company with Arnab Banerjee, currently Chief Operating Officer, taking charge as the new MD and CEO.

Anant Goenka, son of RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka, will now take up strategic functions at the group level for its next stage of growth. Anant is an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a graduate in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He was recognised by Forbes magazine as the ‘Next Generation Business Leader of the Year’ in 2017 and as ‘India’s 40-under-40 Business Leaders’ by Economics Times-Spencer Stuart.

Anant led CEAT through a highly transformative ten-year period which saw the market capitalisation of the company grow from Rs 370 crore to Rs 5800 crore. The Company became the only tyre maker outside Japan to receive the coveted Deming Prize and is now the only tyre facility in the world to receive the Lighthouse certification by the World Economic Forum.

“Anant has had an exciting time at CEAT and has been able to lead the company through a transformative phase where technology, brand-building and capacity-creation have been the key themes. As Vice Chairman of the Company, I am sure he will be able to focus more on specific subjects besides his deeper engagement in driving new businesses at the group level. I wish Arnab and his team success as they take CEAT to a new phase of growth and excellence”, said Harsh Goenka, Chairman of CEAT and RPG Enterprises.

Arnab Banerjee has executive experience of over 30 years during which he has worked in CEAT, Marico and Berger Paints. Arnab is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, IIM Kolkata and IIT Kharagpur. He joined CEAT in 2005 as Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Under his leadership, CEAT has seen innovation in marketing, digital capabilities, sales and distribution strategy, manufacturing flexibility and seamless supply chain processes. The Board of the Company had been grooming Arnab to take over the top post at the company, giving him company-wide exposure as its Chief Operating Officer.