Starcom IP India hires Yuzdi Badhniwalla as General Manager

Starcom IP today announced appointment of Yuzdi Badhniwalla in a newly created position of General Manager for India. He will lead Starcom IP teams across India. He will report to Ravi Kiran (CEO South Asia, Starcom MediaVest Group) and Pushkar Sane (Chief Digital Officer, North & South Asia, Starcom MediaVest Group). This is a second senior level appointment in less than 30 days after Starcom IP moved Suyesh Shankar from Singapore to India as National Strategy Director.

Badhniwalla moves from Mauj.com, where he headed the consumer marketing & gaming Business. He brings over 10 years of experience spanning media & digital. He previously worked at rediff.com and Times Internet before getting himself a second MBA from the prestigious Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Commenting on Badhniwalla’s appointment, Pushkar Sane, Chief Digital Officer North & South Asia for Starcom MediaVest Group said: “We’re bringing in diverse talent spanning strategy, media, content, analytics, and technology as it will help us in winning the digital game in India. Yuzdi is a fantastic addition to our team as he brings unique experience in both content and media. I’m confident that under his leadership our digital operation in India will be scaled to greater heights.”

Added Yuzdi Badhniwalla, “I have been tracking Starcom IP’s progress over last couple of years, so when the opportunity emerged I needed minimal convincing. These are interesting times for the industry and I think we have a unique opportunity to finally get the fair share of advertising budgets for digital. I look forward to leading the team from front.”

India is one of the focus markets for Starcom MediaVest Group and it continues to invest aggressively in the digital space.

Starcom IP
Starcom IP is the digital marketing practice of Starcom MediaVest Group. It was formed in recognition of the reality that Internet calls for a new Protocol in approaching Marketing, Communications & Media. Starcom IP provides end to end services in the Digital Marketing space with a focus on key platforms like Search, Video, Social, and Mobile. It leverages several proprietary SMG tools like IntenTrack, Brand Sirens, Contact Destinations and VivaKi Nerve Center tools like Click2Sales, Marketing Navigator, Benchtools, and Listening Studio.

Some of the key Starcom IP clients in the region include Aircel, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Oracle, Samsung, and Western Union.

Starcom MediaVest Group
Ranked one of the largest brand communications groups in the world, Starcom MediaVest Group (www.smvgroup.com) encompasses an integrated network of highly specialized consumer contact companies. SMG's global organization includes strategic marketing communication architects who are highly specialized in media management, response media, internet and digital communications, as well as multicultural, entertainment, gaming, sports, sponsorship, event marketing and media. With nearly 6,000 employees in 110 offices worldwide, SMG delivers brand-building results for many of the world's leading companies. It is part of ViVaKi, the newly formed global entity within Paris-based Publicis Groupe.

Starcom MediaVest Group in India
Ranked consistently as one of India’s most admired media networks by Brand Equity, Starcom is one of the youngest, largest and most diversified media networks in the country. It has over 180 contact architects across its four full service offices and twenty other offices where its specialist units have an operation. It prides itself on its ‘people first’ approach at workplace and is known in the industry and in campuses as one of the best places to work in. It has one of the best retention rates amongst media agencies in India.

Using proprietary planning frameworks such as Passion Group Marketing, internationally proven tools such as TARDIIS, local research and superior analytical skills, the agency attempts to build lasting connections between its clients’ brands and their customers.

In February, 2007, the network announced a strategic merger of its mainstream media negotiation volume with that of sister network ZenithOptimedia, to form dedicated investment unit India Media Exchange, arguably the second largest buyer of media in the market.

In addition to communication strategy development and mainstream media negotiation, the network offers solutions in the area of out-of-home and ambient media [Navia], entertainment and embedded marketing [The Bridge], digital and wireless marketing [Starcom IP], sports and cause enabled marketing [Relay Worldwide], activation and media supported amplification [ACE] and small town and rural marketing [Xpanse], ambient assets, navigational signage, and retail branding [Enhance] and lifestyle marketing and communication [C].

Prominent Starcom Worldwide full service clients in India include Aircel, Bayer Healthcare, Bharat Matrimony, Cadila Healthcare, Color Plus Fashions, Continental Airlines, Diageo Radico, General Mills, Hatsun Agro, Heinz, Himalaya Healthcare, ING Vysya Life, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kotak Mahindra, Make My Trip, Oracle, SAB Miller, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Mobile, Sun Microsystems, Tata Housing, Western Union, World Gold Council, and WorldSpace Satellite Radio.