40 Under 40 2021: Amrita Choudhary, Wavemaker

Amrita Choudhary

General manager
Wavemaker
India

An aficionado of driving, Amrita Choudhary bought an SUV to navigate India's pothole-ridden roads. Her travels have covered 15 states, and she hopes to conquer the Himalayas—as far as the roads will take her.

A similar approach applies in her work to help clients navigate challenges, achieve objectives, and chart a course to higher altitudes in the future.

Taking the wheel for a number of key clients during the merger of Maxus and MEC that created Wavemaker, Choudhary nurtured businesses across media strategy and planning. Five years later, her efforts have tripled the value of her portfolio. Her recent accomplishments are no less impressive: Millions of dollars of business with billings up 180% in the last year and a series of new-business wins and account retentions including Zydus Wellness, Kraft Heinz, Red Bull and Match Group (Tinder and OK Cupid).

Viewed as a creative enabler, Choudhary counts more than 17 prestigious media awards since 2019, including seven for Netflix’s 'MatchMaker' campaign during the last year. This data-led campaign comprehended data from Twitter, Swiggy and Spotify to serve consumers personalised Netflix recommendations based on their mood, which led to a double-digit increase in downloads for the streaming service.

As a leader, Choudhary has a reputation as an integrator. This applies internally, where she brings together cross-functional teams to give clients unified solutions—so much so that one client refers to her as "my unified ID". Her habit of bringing disparate players together for the good of all applies externally as well. An example was when she convinced Star TV to collaborate with L’Oréal on sales targets, resulting in a first-of-its-kind, KPI-linked deal which made the broadcaster accountable for driving incremental sales.

As for the road ahead, Choudhary has switched on the high beams to illuminate the obstacles brands may face. She's running cookie-dependency audits and knowledge sessions to bring clients up to date on the changing digital scenario.