Ravi Rao is partner, client leadership, Unilever - South Asia

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Ravi Rao, regional executive director, group development, Omnicom Media Group - UAE, has been appointed as partner, client leadership, Team Unilever - South Asia. He assumes his role by October end. Rao would be reporting to R Gowthaman, leader, Mindshare - South Asia.

Commenting on this appointment, R Gowthaman said, "I am extremely thrilled to have Ravi on board to lead the Unilever operation. As a key member of the client leadership team, I am looking forward to Ravi playing a much larger role in Mindshare towards becoming the clients' lead business partner."

"South Asia is now a hotbed for media related activities, so after a long stint in the Middle East, getting back home and joining the new revolution is too good an opportunity to resist. I am happy to get back with Mindshare and hope that with Unilever being in multiple categories, it will be a refreshing challenge to provide new impetus in a growing market." says Ravi Rao

Rao comes with an extensive track record working across several FMCG, consumer durables and service industries – from Pepsico, P&G, Unilever, Henkel, LG Electronics, Masterfoods, FedEx and Wrigley.

Mindshare has recently also roped in Ajit Gurnani to lead the newly formed AOR (agency of record) to service the Aditya Birla Group business. Over the past two months, he has been involved in setting up the processes and structures for this unit.

Earlier, Gurnani was marketing head, Al Ain National Juice and Refreshments Co., Sharjah. Gurnani has more than 15 years of experience in the media and marketing industries across multiple categories. He has played the roles of both the client and the agency.

Mindshare's client leadership structure is enhanced with Chanchal Chakrabarti, who will lead the PepsiCo business based in Delhi. He will also be responsible for all Mindshare clients, excluding Unilever, in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In his stint at the helm of MindShare Malaysia, Chakrabarti led the agency to three consecutive wins in the Malaysian Media Awards, winning the Agency of the Year Awards for 2006, 2007 and 2008, and also the Grand Prix in 2008.