Sulina Menon, CEO, North/East, Carat India, puts in her papers

Sulina Menon, CEO, North/East, Carat India, has put in her papers. Menon is currently serving her notice period.

At the moment, the news of her quitting is still a part of boardroom whispers; an official announcement is due.

When agencyfaqs! contacted Charles Berley Jenarius, CEO, Carat Media Services, for his official statement, Jenarius said he could not confirm the development, as he had been way at his hometown Kerala.

Menon could not be contacted.

However, sources connected to the development stand by their words.

For industry observers, Menon's resignation does not come as a surprise at all. Apart from Ozone Pharmaceuticals and Chateau Indage, Carat has not gained any major piece of business in the recent past and its future too, according to these sources, seem uncertain.

Carat has had a difficult 2003. During this period, not only did it lose three big accounts -- Asian Paints, Cadbury and Airtel, the agency's first CEO Meenakshi Madhvani had also put in her papers to start her own media audit outfit, Spatial Access.

However, things began looking up by December 2003 when Aegis Media, the holding company of Carat globally, announced its intention of expanding its business in India. Thereafter, Carat Media, headed by Menon, and Carat Integra with its CEO Shripad Kulkarni merged to form a single entity - Carat India. The objective was to "translate the merger into real benefits for its clients".

The new entity, Carat India, was a joint venture between majority shareholder Aegis, and Harindra and Shailendra Singh of the Percept group of companies. Under the new arrangement, Sulina Menon was made CEO, Carat, North/East, while Kulkarni became CEO, Carat, South/West.

Subsequently, Jenarius stepped in as the CEO of Carat in June 2004; Menon and Kulkarni started reporting to him.

In 1997, Menon had joined a team of five challenge seekers at Carat, and together changed the fortunes of the agency, bagging big business such as Airtel, Asian Paints and Cadbury.

In an earlier interview with agencyfaqs!, Menon had said, "It was tough when we started out. We were a start-up and we didn't have offices or clients. What was in plenty was the credibility of the team, passion and commitment to make a difference.”

The start-up team at Carat, besides Menon, had Meenakshi Madhvani and PV Narayanamoorthy, regional director - strategic resources, Carat Asia Pacific as the national resources. In fact, Menon had set up the office in Delhi.

Menon began her career in 1986 as a trainee at OBM (now O&M) and has been an integral part of the evolution of the media industry in India having worked on both sides of the fence - as a general manager, sales and marketing, North, at ZEE, and as a media planner with Tara Sinha Associates (now McCann-Erickson) and Contract Advertising.

The excitement of selling a new concept – that of the first media independent in the country – made her chuck up her cushy job at ZEE TV, the then ruler of the C&S market in India.

Now, whether she is headed to set up another office, or take a sabbatical would be known in the coming weeks.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!