DDB Mudra Group appoints Ignite Mudra's Gour Gupta as executive director and CEO

The DDB Mudra Group has announced the appointment of industry veteran and out-of-home (OOH) specialist Gour Gupta, currently the head of Ignite Media, as executive director, DDB Mudra Group and chief executive officer (CEO), DDB MudraMax (OOH, events and experiential).

There have been a few other appointments as well. Vineet Gupta, managing director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide, has joined the agency as chief digital officer, and Aditya Kanthy, national planning director, DDB Mudra Group, has been elevated as chief strategy officer at the agency.

In his new role, Vineet Gupta, in addition to his existing position as managing director, 22feet Tribal Worldwide, will report directly to Madhukar Kamath, Group chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD), DDB Mudra Group.

Kanthy, too, will report to Kamath.

Commenting on the development, Kamath says, "In our endeavour to partner with our clients towards profitable growth, we have observed that every aspect of the DDB Mudra Group's work, from brand building to promotions design, from developing media strategies to event management, is being transformed. The new appointments recognise the strategic importance of data and digital technologies for our business. Gupta and Kanthy will work with Sathyamurthy Namakkal, president, DDB MudraMax Media, and my other senior colleagues to build the organisation for a future where business results, data, and digital are at the heart of creativity, strategy, and execution."

Commenting on (Gour) Gupta's appointment, Kamath says, "(Gour) Gupta started his agency career with Mudra. I am thrilled to welcome him as the executive director of the DDB Mudra Group and the CEO of our OOH, events and experiential businesses. With the entrepreneurial zeal and experience in the OOH business and with the proven expertise of Sanjay Shukla in the events and experiential space, DDB MudraMax will be a formidable agency to reckon with. Welcome (Gour) Gupta."

Talking about his new appointments, (Gour) Gupta says, "The DDB Mudra Group is a well-diversified marketing services Group. The growth plans for the OOH, events, and experiential businesses are both interesting and challenging. In (Sanjay) Shukla, the president of DDB MudraMax, I have a very able ally. I look forward to lead a very strong and committed team that is already in place. This is one journey that I will cherish."

A Jadavpur University graduate, (Gour) Gupta brings with him over two decades of industry experience. He helped set up Kinetic (erstwhile Portland, WPP's out-of-home (OOH) agency), and went on to become its country head. He then co-founded Platinum OOH with Sam Balsara.

A St Stephen's College and MICA alumnus, Kanthy has spent 15 years with the DDB Mudra Group. He started his career as an account executive and went on to become national planning head.

Talking about his new role, Kanthy says, "Digital technologies are transforming every aspect of our clients' businesses from brand building to buying. I look forward to help build the DDB Mudra Group for the future, where data and digital are at the heart of creativity and strategy. We're already seeing glimpses of this in the composition, structure and work of our teams that are partnering with brands such as J&J, Royal Enfield, VW, Future Group, SAP, and USL. As a Group, we are constantly exploring new ways of working together and learning new skills. It's a massive opportunity and we're ready to take it."

Commenting on his new role, (Vineet) Gupta adds, "Data and digital offer tremendous growth opportunities for our own business and for our clients. I look forward to collaborate with teams across the DDB Mudra Group to help identify and strategically scale these opportunities. The DDB Mudra Group is well-poised to offer a strong and differentiated point of view."

(Vineet) Gupta brings with him close to a decade of experience in the marketing and media space. Before establishing 22feet Tribal Worldwide, he was the India marketing lead for Microsoft Advertising. He has also been associated with Star TV and Café Coffee Day during his earlier stints.

The DDB Mudra Group, a part of the Omnicom/DDB Worldwide Group, is an integrated marketing communications and services network. Its services include advertising, media planning and buying, digital and data-driven marketing, technology, health and lifestyle, OOH, retail design and visual merchandising, experiential marketing (promotions, events, rural), trade marketing, youth marketing, localisation of pre-media services, content creation, strategy, and design consultancy.