By A Correspondent

Dentsu Aegis Network has restructured its top deck in media agencies group across Carat and Vizeum. Kartik Iyer has been elevated to President, Media Brands and Amplifi.

Rajni Menon will be CEO of Carat and Joydeep Raha will be CEO of Carat Context as Himanka Das will take over as CEO, Vizeum. Shripad Kulkarni has announced his decision to move on from the group by end-December to pursue his own interest. The move does not impact Dentsu X headed by Divya Karani so far.

Ashish Bhasin

Said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network: “To enable a more future ready product for our clients, our media agencies have been reorganised for the rapidly changing market environment under the unified leadership of Kartik Iyer who has been leading our fastest growing media agency, Carat, for over eight years now. He will be responsible for enabling the continued fast track growth of the brands and will provide senior executive council level oversight to the media brands, in addition to his Amplifi responsibilities.”

Speaking on his appointment and on the next steps for the Media Brands, Iyer said: “I am delighted to have been given this opportunity and look forward to working with the agencies in their growth path over the years. Carat is future proofing to take on the new opportunities that the market dynamics have provided in order to be able to provide world class service to our clients… Rajni is a true blue One DAN exponent. In the past 8 years that Rajni has been with Carat, she has led some of the agency’s most significant developments in capabilities, especially in the area of ICP, CCS, CCS Planner, Multiscreen planning (TV Stack) and Digitizing of Carat, which has enabled the entire group to deliver more consumer focused and business oriented solutions and is best placed to drive it to the next level. Joydeep has been a pillar in the growth path that Carat has seen over the years, particularly in the South markets. With his focus on business growth backed by delivering integrated solutions, he has constantly been adding business for the group. Further, Himanka Das will be taking over as CEO of Vizeum. Himanka has been a part of Dentsu Aegis Network Media leadership for the last 5 years and has a proven ability in managing and growing client relationships both Multinational and Indian,” Iyer added.

Shripad Kulkarni

Speaking on Kulkarni’s exit, Bhasin said: “Shripad has contributed significantly to the growth of Vizeum in India.  His focus on business and managing client relationships has enabled Vizeum to grow from strength to strength in the last two years. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

Speaking on the future, Iyer added: “The leadership of our media group will continue to focus on delivering Business Outcomes and Digitally Ahead solutions. Over the next few weeks, each of the agencies will be setting up their plans for the coming years and you can expect some very significant initiatives in this area by each agency. Rajni, Joydeep and Himanka, as leaders of their respective media agencies, will continue to innovate the way brands are built.”