GroupM Malaysia has appointed Varun Channa as the new Managing Director of Mindshare Malaysia operation.
He replaces Gerald Wittenberger, who has moved on from the role after just over a year. He returned to Europe at the end of 2014.
Channa joins Mindshare after six years with Danone Indonesia, where he helped to turn around their Fresh Dairy business and developed the roadmap for their Isotonics. Prior to that, he was marketing head and part of the start-up team for Danone India and also spent nearly 15 years with JWT India at their flagship Mumbai office working with Unilever and other key clients.
Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, said: “We are totally delighted to welcome Channa on board, who brings a wealth of experience across industries and markets. This is the beginning of a new chapter in the whole new world of connected media, where content, creativity and consumer data in the Malaysian market is at the centre of all activities and importance.”
Girish Menon, CEO GroupM Malaysia, said: “With Varun, we have hit upon a fantastic combination – with JWT, he honed his skills in developing communications solutions for some iconic global brands and then as a tech-savvy marketer with Danone in three different fast-growing, competitive markets, he got his hands dirty developing marketing solutions to deliver strong business results. I believe these are the combination of skills and experiences that our clients increasingly expect from the head of their agency, so I am confident that Varun will lead Mindshare to even greater success.”
The appointment comes on the same day that GroupM announced the promotion of Linda Lim as head of trading in Singapore.
