Mumbai: Publicis Groupe South Asia has announced the appointment of Lalatendu Das (LD), the current CEO of Performics India, to the newly created role of CEO of Publicis Media South Asia. In his new capacity, LD will continue to report to Anupriya Acharya, CEO of Publicis Groupe South Asia, and will work closely with key media leaders including Jai Lala, CEO of Zenith India; Rathi Gangappa, CEO of Starcom India; Sejal Shah, Managing Director of PMX India; and other senior media executives across the region.
LD’s promotion marks a significant step in the group’s continued expansion and integration of its media offerings across South Asia. He will be responsible for overseeing and driving the strategy for Publicis Media’s agencies, including Zenith, Starcom, and Performics, while further strengthening Publicis Groupe’s media portfolio in the region.
LD joined Publicis Groupe India in early 2022 as CEO of Performics India, where he led the company to a dominant position in performance marketing and digital solutions. Under his leadership, Performics India has not only won high-profile clients but also developed innovative products that have set new benchmarks in the industry. Prior to his tenure at Publicis, LD spent nearly a decade at McKinsey & Company, where he was a Partner and founding member of McKinsey Digital Labs in Asia Pacific. There, he co-led the McKinsey Digital/Technology practice, focusing on digital business transformation, customer journey innovation, and analytics-led solutions. Additionally, LD has had an extensive career at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), where he held key operational roles for over ten years.
An engineer by training, LD holds a Postgraduate degree in Business Management from IIM Ahmedabad and brings 25 years of leadership experience in business strategy, digital transformation, and performance marketing to his new role.
Anupriya Acharya, CEO of Publicis Groupe South Asia said, “LD is a remarkable leader with established credentials. He has led Performics India to great heights in the past three years. His extensive background in consulting, digital-led transformation, and large-scale operations across India and global markets made him uniquely qualified to drive significant value for our media clients. We are really excited to have him take on this new mandate.”
Lalatendu Das said, “I am delighted to be leading Publicis Media South Asia at an exciting, pivotal, and transformative time. It has scaled capabilities across strategy, insights and analytics, data and technology, and a strong and established portfolio of brands in its client roster. I look forward to keeping the growth momentum going, delivering industry-first offerings and tangible, exponential growth for clients. The canvas is vast, and the opportunities are huge.”
In a separate development, Publicis Groupe South Asia also announced that Tanmay Mohanty, the current CEO of Publicis Media Services, will be stepping down to pursue new opportunities. Tanmay has been instrumental in overseeing the media operations of Zenith India and Starcom India, in addition to managing the Media Product & Solutions Portfolio for the region.
“I would like to thank Tanmay for his contributions which have been invaluable. During his tenure with us, our media services and capabilities have not only scaled up tremendously with some of our biggest clients, but they have become the best offerings in the market. We wish him the very best in his future endeavours”, added Anupriya Acharya.
