The firm has confirmed several key senior appointments and internal promotions which are slated to take effect at the onset of 2016
Global public relations consultancy, Genesis Burson-Marsteller, has secured a series of fresh hires in relation to several key senior leadership roles across the agency as well as promoted internally, with the new appointments scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2016.
Leading the charge is Nikhil Dey (pictured left) who has stepped into the shoes of President, Public Relations & Public Affairs. In the said capacity, He will continue to oversee the firm’s client growth strategy in addition to scaling up the brand’s recently launched Centres of Expertise. He will also focus on mentoring the outfit’s public affairs business.
Atul Sharma (pictured right) has been promoted as Chief Operating Officer for India. Having served with the network for more than 12 years, he has experience with diverse businesses as well as corporate and brand reputation programme management. Meanwhile, he retains his position as India Practice Chair, Telecom & Technology.
Current India Practice Chair, Corporate & Financial and 10-year WPP veteran, Vandana Sandhir, has been selected to assume a new leadership role within the network. She is being succeeded by Sanjay Aurora who has been with the company for more than six years and in the industry for nearly two decades.
Having serviced many of the firm’s Fortune 500 companies, he is an expert hand at corporate reputation management campaigns. His elevation places him as the aforementioned department’s authority, in that his core function is to ensure quality of service delivery and customer satisfaction.
Former reporter, Ajit Sahi, who joined the firm in 2014 as Director, Thought Leadership, will now take on the mandate of public affairs. With nearly three decades of in-depth and extensive experience in journalism, he brings with him a thorough understanding of the Indian and international political environment.
Finally, with the brand working to strengthen its focus on its technology segment, Genesis Burson-Marsteller will now have two separate leaders driving its business-to-consumer and business-to-business domains in 2016. Piyal Banerjee and Shivaram Lakshminarayan have been appointed across the said categories.
The former has been named Managing Partner for the network’s national B2C Telecom & Technology practice. She also takes on the mantle of Business Leader, Step Up, an offering dedicate to helping start-ups take the next leap by narrating their story through creative communication campaigns.
With over twelve years under her belt, she has brand and corporate communications experience across top Asian markets including India, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Lakshminarayan has been with the firm in Bengaluru for over a decade and has served as the technology lead in the southern markets.
He has been appointed Head of the B2B vertical of the same practice, given his strong credentials in the IT and ITeS space. Additionally, he is also taking over the stewardship of the Corporate & Financial Practice for South and will be working closely with Arora.
“Over the last twelve months, the consultancy has reinvented itself into a new-age communications firm to meet the growing requirements of our clients. I am happy about the great leaps we have taken in 2015 and excited about the opportunities that lie ahead,” Prema Sagar, Vice Chair and Principal/Founder of Burson-Marsteller, Asia Pacific.
