Gunjan to be director, strategic planning, Dentsu Marcom

Aiyana Gunjan has been appointed director, strategic planning, at Dentsu Marcom. She was earlier assistant vice-president, strategic planning, at Bates Enterprise. She has 13 years of experience, focusing primarily on consumer sensitive strategic thinking for brand development. As the head of her team, Gunjan will play a key role in strategic planning. She will report to Rajesh Aggarwal, executive director, Dentsu Marcom. The department was earlier headed by Aggarwal.

Gunjan started her career with O&M in 1993. Later, she moved to JWT and spent seven years there. She then joined Mudra and worked there for close to four years. Bates was her last assignment. Over the years, Gunjan has worked with brands such as Horlicks, Boost, the Nestle Maggi range, Dabur Vatika, Dabur Red, Hajmola, Pudin Hara, Bausch and Lomb, Ray-Ban, Swatch, Samsung, Yamaha, Mortein, GPI Four Square and Seagram’s.

In her last assignment at Bates Enterprise, Gunjan worked with two major brands, Nokia and Dabur. For Nokia, she conceptualised and developed the Brand Matrix, which is a function that helps the agency map the Indian male mindset as a cross tab between what drives them in life and how they relate to and use technology.

Says a senior executive from Dentsu Marcom, “Gunjan has been roped in to strengthen and build consumer insights and add value to client needs.”

Gunjan adds, “Initially, I shall be working for three brands, Sony Ericsson, Canon and Tata Tea. My key responsibility will be to initiate the planning function in the agency. My focus will also be on building a Dentsu knowledge base, where the future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious. The first such initiative has been the launch of Celesta, the first ever psychometric analysis of celebrity endorsement. Dentsu also plans to bring to India its proprietary international tool, Brand X, which is used for assessing brand health.”

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