Arnab Goswami
MD and Co-founder, Republic TV

Journalist and well known television news anchor Arnab Goswami is the managing director and co- founder of the upcoming news channel, Republic TV.
Arnab Goswami began his career as a junior editor with the Kolkata-based Telegraph in 1994, before moving to television, just as the liberalization policies that transformed the country’s economy ended India’s era with only a single government-owned channel. He rose to become a senior anchor and editor at NDTV, a new cable network, before quitting in 2004 to set up Times Now, a new channel backed by the Times of India media group. Goswami quickly led Times Now to leadership in less than a year of launching the channel in 2006. He became famous as the outspoken Editor-in- Chief and news anchor of Times Now, which he launched and headed from 2006 to 2016. On Times Now, he anchored The Newshour, a popular live debate at 9 pm on weekdays. He also hosted ‘Frankly Speaking with Arnab’. At Times Now, he revolutionized news coverage, anchoring for 100 hours during the 26/11 attack, spearheading the greatest exposes against corruption, and path- breaking interviews with Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi in 2014 that set the news agenda for the National Election. On November 1 2016, Goswami resigned as Editor-in- Chief of Times Now and ET Now, and subsequently announced his upcoming venture Republic TV, to be launched in 2017. Goswami is a postgraduate in Social Anthropology from Oxford University, and has been a visiting fellow at Cambridge University's Department of International Relations. He has been invited to speak on Indian media at Oxford, Cambridge, Kings College London and most recently the House of Lords. In 2001, Goswami’s book ‘Combating Terrorism’ was quoted in debates in Parliament on the drafting of an anti terror law. He has been published in several international journals, on geo political trends in India and the region.

Avinash Pandey
Chief Operating Officer, Abp News Network Pvt Limited

Avinash Pandey is Chief Operating Officer of India’s largest television news network “ABP News Network Pvt Limited”.

He is a seasoned media, advertising and marketing professional and currently oversees five 24-hour news channels and digital business of ABP television network.

He is a Board Member of News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and serves in various committees in India Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and International Advertising Association.

Harish Bhat
Brand Custodian, Tata Sons Ltd., Mumbai

Harish Bhat is a veteran of the Tata Group. He joined the Tata Administrative Service (TAS), the central management cadre of the Group, in 1987.

He is a Director on the Boards of several Tata Companies, including Tata Global Beverages Limited, Tata Coffee Limited, Trent Limited, Tata Starbucks Private Limited, Infiniti Retail Limited, Tata Unistore Limited and Titan Company Limited.

During his career of 29 years with the Tata Group, Mr. Bhat has served in several senior roles. These include stints as Managing Director of Tata Global Beverages Ltd., Chief Operating Officer of the Watches and Jewellery businesses of Titan Company, and also in the telecom business of the Group. He has played a key role in several strategic moves over the past two decades, including the launch and nurturing of many iconic brands, the successful turnaround of the jewellery business, as well as the acquisition of Tetley.

Mr. Bhat is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and IIM Ahmedabad, graduating top of his class in both Institutions, and winning the IIM Ahmedabad Gold Medal for scholastic excellence. In 1997, he won the Chevening Scholarship for young managers, awarded by the British Government. He has strong professional interests in strategy, consumer behavior, business economics and business history. He has been a member of the Consumer Insights Panel of the Economic Development Board, Government of Singapore. He has also represented the Tata Group on the Executive Committee of the World Federation of Advertisers.

Mr. Bhat is passionate about writing, and is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to various publications. In 2012, his first book was published by Penguin. Titled “Tata Log”, the book narrates stories from the modern history of the Tata Group, set to an overarching theme.

Kanika Kalra
Vice President – Marketing, Snapdeal

Kanika Kalra is Vice President – Marketing at Snapdeal, one of India's largest online marketplaces. A seasoned global marketing professional with a career spanning over 12 years, Kanika joined Snapdeal after several triumphant stints at Hindustan Unilever limited, PepsiCo and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited.

At Snapdeal, Kanika will be focused on making the business more customer-centric and ensuring creativity and impact in all communication.

During her eight year stint as the Global Brand Director for Hindustan Unilever Limited, she spearheaded key innovations in the skincare category. Prior to that she was a part of the brand marketing teams at PepsiCo and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited.

Kanika holds a Postgraduate degree in Marketing from IIM, Lucknow and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Delhi University.

Pradeep Dwivedi
Chief Executive Officer, Sakal Media Group

Pradeep Dwivedi is Chief Executive Officer of the media business of the Sakal Media Group, which includes print dailies, magazines, Television, Digital/ Online business as well as on-ground activations and innovative media solutions businesses.

Pradeep Dwivedi is an accomplished industry leader with an experience of over 23 years of B2B as well as B2C management- cutting across functions and industries. He has wide-based expertise in Sales & marketing, service delivery, risk operations and business management, across Media, Telecommunications, Banking and Financial Services and Automotive industry domains.

In his most recent role, Dwivedi was the Chief Corporate Sales and marketing officer at Dainik Bhaskar Group; one of India’s largest newspaper groups. He commenced his career with managing sales, distribution and marketing with Eicher Motors Limited in the automotive industry. This was followed by Consumer Banking and Financial Services Industry assignments in prestigious multinational firms like GE Capital Commercial Finance, Standard Chartered Bank and American Express Bank in diverse areas such as business development, sales& risk operations in commercial, unsecured and secured products. Subsequently as Regional COO of Tata Teleservices Ltd, he was managing their Enterprise Business and had held roles in Service operations, marketing leadership, strategic business development and new product innovation.

Pradeep is an MBA from Panjab University with specialisation in Marketing and Finance. He has also done an Executive Program from the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, at Tata Management Training Centre. He is passionate about people power, and believes in leveraging the strength of traditional and digital media for transformation through social and professional networks. He is an active participant in many industry associations such as IAA (International Advertising Association – India Chapter) as Honorary Secretary & Managing Committee member and The Advertising Club of India as managing committee member.

Punit Misra
CEO - Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL)

Punit Misra is the CEO - Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). In his previous stint, Punit was Executive Director - Sales and Customer Development at HUL and a member of the Management Committee of HUL. He was also part of the Global Sales Leadership Team of Unilever. He has had a wide ranging experience across Sales, Marketing and General Management, and has worked across several FMCG categories. His experience has been in India, and across several Developing and emerging markets. He is an Electrical Engineering graduate from The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and has a PGDBM in Finance and Marketing from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Sam Balsara
Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World

Coming soon...

S Sivakumar
President- Revenue, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd

S. Sivakumar is a Fellow member of Chartered Accountants and the Cost & Management Institute of India. Areas of expertise include Finance, Sales & Marketing, Business development, M & A, Corporate Strategy & Planning, P & L responsibilities and now heading the Times of India sales organization as President Revenue. Currently driving the sales as well as the media innovation business of Brand Capital at the Group. Brand Capital is one of the most innovative growth engines of the Times Group with Assets of USD 2 Bn under management and an ecosystem of 800 + clients. What started as a media for equity business today has metamorphosed into a compelling value proposition transforming new age entrepreneurs as well as businesses into higher orbits of brand led growth.

In its continued quest for innovation, Brand Capital has now created specialized cells that act collectively to address the varying needs of the market. Its newest business engines of Spring Board, Brand Scope, BCGSV accelerator etc. dispels the outdated notions in its path, as it moves at the speed of light, leveraging all formats of media, in the digital era, for brand creation through innovative structuring solutions. Each of these cells is headed and staffed by experienced professionals. We constantly strive for innovation and break new frontiers in business, challenging convention wisdom, creating and laying the foundation for exponential growth

He is also a fitness enthusiast. He actively participates in marathons, triathlons around the world and coaches aspiring enthusiasts in his free time.

Sonali Dhawan
Brand Director, P&G

Sonali Dhawan, who was previously marketing director for P&G’s Pet Care Business for Asia and ANZ, took over as brand director at P & G in 2013. This involves leadership of brand function for P&G, as well as ownership of operations across all brands in P & G India. Her career spanning nearly 18 years includes handling the beauty and hair-care business for India, South East Asia and Australia. She was appointed as an Additional Director (Non-executive Director) of the company, with effect from May 7, 2014.

HISTORY
Sonali secured admission into IIM, Ahmedabad after graduating from Lady Shriram College In 1998. She joined Procter and Gamble as an assistant brand manager, and began handling the entire Tide business in India for the company.

CAREER MILESTONES

• Dhawan is credited with aggressively driving the growth of several P&G brands such as Pampers, Whisper and Vicks in India.
• She was closely associated with the launch of Olay Regenerist in India. In 2009, she was associated with the launch of refreshed line of shampoo brand, Pantene with new 2X Pro-V formula whose brand ambassador was Katrina Kaif.
• She was instrumental in capturing the mass-end of the category for personal grooming with the Rs 588-crore Gillette India Ltd (GIL), shedding its premium image with a more than 50% reduction in the price of its Mach 3 razors through a new variant under its franchise. It introduced a new Mach 3 razor at a price point of Rs 125 while its premium Mach 3 Turbo razors would continue to sell at Rs 315. Under her leadership, Head & Shoulders brand achieved the status of India’s health and wellness brand (as surveyed by Complete Wellbeing magazine).
• In 2009, she was involved with launching the ‘Shave India Movement’ Women Against Lazy Stubble (W.A.L.S), a group of young women looking to attract all like-minded women across India, who believe that it is about time MEN made a little effort to shave.
• She took Olay Total Effects to newer heights in India upon its launch which also had stars like Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Tisca Chopra and Ira Dubey and Karishma Kapoor.

Sundar Raman
Chief Executive Officer – Sports, Reliance Industries Limited

Sundar Raman is a Sports Administrator and Management professional with over two decades of formidable professional and leadership experience across Sports, Advertising, Sponsorship and Media Management. He was with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and was the Chief Operating Officer of the highly-successful Indian Premier League (IPL) from its inception in 2008 to 2015. He was also the Chief Executive of Champions League T20 (CLT20).

He joined Reliance Industries (RIL) to head the group's sports ambitions as its Chief Executive Officer in November 2015. He also serves as Director of Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) aimed at building a sustained grassroot sports eco system in India.

RIL is involved in multiple sports, including cricket, football, basketball, tennis and golf - directly or through joint ventures. Sundar Raman is responsible for consolidation and integration of RIL's sports portfolio, including its Foundation activities in sports. In addition to the existing sports properties of RIL, he will be driving newer avenues of growth in sports.

A graduate in applied sciences and a Post graduate in Advertising and Communications Management, Sundar Raman began his professional career in media and eventually took over as the Managing Director of Mindshare India, part of WPP Plc. He has more than a decade of work experience in strategic media thinking business working for brands such as Unilever, PepsiCo, GSK, Samsung and Amex.

During his stint heading up IPL, he was instrumental in growing the sport to a multi billion dollar property and created a new genre of content - Cricketainment - as it is called and has helped bring in new audience to the game of cricket. Media reports estimate the new audience to the game has grown-up by over 60%. He was also leading the Champions League T20 cricket, launched on the back of IPL success, involving the top domestic T20 teams from across the world. He was also a key member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) integrity work group and was involved in restructuring of ICC.

An enthusiastic golfer, A cricket buff, avid traveler and a fan of biographies, he also finds time to share thoughts with the next generation as a guest lecturer at graduation and management schools. He loves his time spent watching Television.

In his online avatar, Sundar is active on @ramansundar and in his non-corporate role, we like to believe that he has spiritual aspirations - his Twitter and Facebook photos have him smiling radiantly alongside the Dalai Lama.

Sunil Kataria
Business Head - India & SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited

Sunil Kataria is Business Head - India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). A graduate in Economics from Delhi University, Sunil is also an MBA in Marketing from the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad. Sunil joined GCPL in 2011 to oversee the sales and marketing organisation for the India and SAARC businesses. He has successfully led the merger of the sales and marketing organisations of GCPL and the erstwhile Godrej Sara Lee, combining the best of both companies and leveraging their complementary strengths to create a future ready platform to accelerate GCPL's growth and profit trajectory. Under his leadership, the GCPL sales and marketing organisation has become more world class with sharpened and enhanced capabilities. Sunil has diverse work experience across the FMCG and Consumer services sectors in Sales, Marketing and business roles. He had a long and highly successful stint of 12 years at Marico Industries. Post this, Sunil has also served as business head in two challenging service sectors: retail and telecom, leading large and complex business operations. Prior to joining the Godrej Group, Sunil was Chief Operating Officer at Idea Rajasthan Circle, where he headed business operations and was responsible for the P&L of the Rajasthan Circle. He also led a major turnaround of the Idea Rajasthan business, overcoming serious business constraints and a challenging period of price wars in the telecom industry to emerge as the largest gainer in revenue as well as subscriber shares. Sunil is currently serving as the chairman of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). He has built very strong relationships and equity with marketing bodies such as the CMO forum, FICCI FMCG committee and ASCI. He has also been recognised at a national level by being nominated for the "Marketer of the Year" 2014 award by the International Advertising Association (IAA) of India. Sunil has also been shortlisted as one of the "Top 10 influential CMOs of India – 2015" at the Indian Marketing Awards anchored by the exchange4media group. Sunil is a staunch believer and practitioner of the spirit of 'Possibility Thinking' and feels that this, coupled with a passion for flawless execution, is the biggest competitive advantage in today's world. An avid reader of books across genres, he also writes Hindi poetry in his spare time. He is a movie buff, who loves watching Hindi movies and Hollywood science fiction.

Vikram Sakhuja
Managing Director & Group CEO, Madison Media & OOH

Coming soon...

Vivek Sharma
Chief Marketing Officer, Pidilite Industries Ltd.

Coming soon...