Facebook appoints Avinash Pant as marketing director for India operations

Facebook on Friday said it has appointed Avinash Pant as Marketing Director for its India operations.

The role of marketing director will be a new one at Facebook India, with the mandate to drive the company's consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, the company said in a statement.

Pant comes with 22 years of experience working with consumer brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, The Walt Disney Company, and most recently, Red Bull, it added.

In his last assignment as the India Marketing Director at Red Bull, he was responsible for building the brand in India, the statement said.

Pant, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, will report to Ajit Mohan, Facebook's Vice President and Managing Director, India.

The announcement comes a year after Facebook announced a new leadership structure in India bringing the company's functions under Ajit Mohan, reporting directly to its headquarters in Menlo Park.

Over the last year, the company has undertaken many India-focused initiatives, and also made its first minority investment in social-commerce venture Meesho.

"We've been working towards deepening our mission to build empowered communities... Consumer marketing is a new strategic area of focus for Facebook and one where we will dramatically increase our investment in communicating directly to consumers," Mohan said.