Former chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi India, V Shantakumar, joins Pitchfork Partners as senior strategist and board member
Mumbai: Brand and marketing veteran V Shantakumar has joined Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting LLP as a senior strategist and board member.
Shantakumar will work closely with co-founders Sunil Gautam and Jaideep Shergill, and the team at Pitchfork Partners, to support its aggressive growth and diversification plans. Shantakumar has been involved with Pitchfork Partners for more than two years as a consulting partner on several assignments; the new role will take his relationship to the next level.
Shantakumar is a veteran of more than four decades in marketing and advertising. He retired as chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi India in 2008, and was an advisor to the worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi Network through to 2010. That year, he founded an independent strategy advisory service called Doing Think focused on helping create sustainable business advantage using a proprietary process called Context Engineering.
Gautam and Shergill said: “We are excited to have Shanta join us. His credentials are impeccable and Shanta’s ability for creative thinking and strategy are par excellence.With his guidance and support, Pitchfork Partners will take the next leap towards redefining the communications landscape of India.”
Shantakumar added: “I am thrilled to be an integral member of the Pitchfork team. Although I have been involved over the past two years, the relationship today is more solid and allows me to contribute to my fullest. Sunil and Jaideep are great friends, and I am really excited to work with them to realise the Pitchfork dream.”
Shantakumar holds a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in physics from Loyola College, Madras University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Shantakumar’s experience spans a variety of industries in his capacity as a marketing and communications strategist. These range from fast-moving consumer goods to consumer durables, financial services and B2B industries.
