Mindshare MENA appoints Ravi Rao as chief client officer

Mindshare, the flagship media agency of GroupM, has announced that Ravi Rao, leader - South Asia, will take on a new role as chief client officer, Mindshare MENA (Middle East and North Africa). He will be based in Dubai.

Recall that Rao joined Mindshare, South Asia in 2008 and took over as leader for the market in 2012. Under his guidance, Mindshare remains the largest media and marketing agency in India. Rao is familiar with the MENA market; he has been a part of JWT Dubai in the past, and has worked with Mindshare's MENA team (during its inception in 1999). He has also worked with OMD Dubai in the past.

Rao is the chairman of the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and has represented Mindshare and GroupM on several industry platforms.

On this move, he says, "I am excited to take this new role within the Mindshare family. The market has exhibited good growth over the past few years and I look forward to strengthening our position in the MENA region."

CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia, says, "Ravi has helped consolidate Mindshare's position in the market over the past few years. He has led the transformation efforts of the agency in the recent past. This has helped Mindshare create cutting-edge products for its clients, grow its digital business and retain its leadership position. He has made a significant contribution to our network and industry..."

Samir Ayoub, CEO, Mindshare MENA, adds, "...Ravi is well respected with a good reputation in our region. Given his vast experience, we are confident that he will play a vital role in the success stories of Mindshare MENA".

For the record, GroupM's Mindshare is a global media and marketing services network with billings in excess of $27.8 billion (source: RECMA). The network consists of 114 offices in 82 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Mindshare is part of WPP, leading communications service group with $84.2bn in billings (source: RECMA).