MediaMonks India sees more senior leaders exit

A slew of senior level exits at MediaMonks India are shaking up the top management and functioning of an agency that was touted as one of the fastest growing in the nation just a year ago. The digital-first agency, owned by Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital, seems to be grappling to retain its senior management offlately.

Campaign India understands that in addition to the exit of former head of country Poran Malani in February this year, Rajnandini Ghosh, senior vice president for Delhi is also departing. Alongside her, Azazul Haque chief content officer is also said to be on his way out, as well as chief operations officer Kiran Ramamurthy, in accordance with a source close to the situation.

Campaign understands that Ghosh has officially put in her papers and will be leaving by mid-April. She’s being replaced by Megha Ahuja, who joins in from Ideate Labs, and has also worked with Leo Burnett in the past.

MediaMonks confirmed the development to Campaign in a statement, saying: “Yes there are leadership changes. Rajnandini Ghosh has resigned and her role has been taken over by the addition of Megha Ahuja.”

When contacted by Campaign, Ghosh corroborated the news, sharing: “I had a very good experience during my tenure at MediaMonks and worked on some good clientele—booking.com, HP, ONDC, Mondelez, and so on. I wish them the best!"

Sources close to the situation tell Campaign that Azazul Haque is currently serving his notice period at the company, and his last working day is anticipated to be March 31. However when asked, both MediaMonks and Haque denied his departure. Prior to joining the agency as chief content officer, Haque served as MullenLowe Lintas Group's chief creative officer, after having started his career with Lintas Group in 2001. He has over two decades of experience, and his career has seen him take up various roles at agencies such as McCann, Ogilvy, Bates, Publicis, Lowe, Mudra and Contract.

Also said to be exiting by a source close to the matter, but denied by both himself and MediaMonks when contacted by Campaign, is COO Kiran Ramamurthy. Ramamurthy joined MediaMonks in August 2019 following a seven-year stint at Ogilvy and Mather in Bangalore. He's also worked for companies including Nova Medical Centres, Lenovo and and Leo Burnett India.

Azazul Haque (left) and Kiran Ramamurthy (right)

Earlier this year, Robert Godinho was elevated at MediaMonks India to oversee operations as managing director for Content. As announced by the company in February, he was chosen for the mandate when Malani exited. Godinho owned creative studio WhiteBalance, which was taken over by MediaMonks in 2020. Ex-country manager for Data and Digital Media, Smita Salgaonkar also departed in November last year, to pursue an opportunity with Google Cloud.

S4 Capital-backed MediaMonks was launched in India in 2021, following the merger of MediaMonks and MightyHive. With a presence in 54 locations across 36 countries, the digital-first marketing, advertising and technology services company has seen exponential growth in the region, riding on heavy-duty clients such as Tata Tea, Amazon, Bajaj Auto, ONDC and Xiaomi.

More to come as the story develops.