Arpita Menon joins STAR India to head media planning and buying

STAR India has roped in Arpita Menon to head the media planning and buying vertical for the network.

Based in Mumbai, Menon will report to Gayatri Yadav, EVP and head - marketing, Star India.

For the record, the network's planning and buying department was set up by Shams Kabir in February 2010. He quit STAR India as head, planning and presentation in February this year to launch his own agency called Cutthru Integrated.

Menon joins STAR from the media analytics company, Quantemplate where she was the managing partner.

Armed with an approximate 20 years of experience in media and advertising, Menon has worked across planning, media buying, and research and client management.

An IIM Bangalore graduate, Menon started her career with FCB Ulka as media supervisor. After spending four years with the agency, she joined Starcom in 1997 as media director. She also worked with 9:9 Media as VP while she was head, business intelligence cell and strategic (group) sales at ABP for about a year.

She was also VP, Lodestar Universal for six years. Besides these, she is also the author of the book, Media Buying and Planning - Principles & Practice in the Indian Context.