Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – WPP’s media services company Mindshare has announced new leadership appointments namely Shankar Rajagopal as chief client officer for APAC; Ashish Thukral as managing director at Mindshare and m/SIX Vietnam; and Preeti Mascarenhas as head of strategy and product for APAC.
Rajagopal was previously the CEO of Mindshare and m/SIX Vietnam, and a media veteran with two decades of experience leading client accounts from Unilever to L’Oréal and HSBC, as well as helming business divisions in India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.
Commenting on his appointment, he said, “I am looking forward to my new role – the fourth within Mindshare – where I will focus on driving the business transformation agenda for our clients in the region. I am excited to lead the Mindshare Asia-Pacific Client Leader community and will partner our account leads to continue nurturing our client relationships as well as ensure seamless integration and sharing of best practices across all markets to ultimately benefit our clients.”
Meanwhile, Thukral brings with him extensive brand-side experience from Standard Chartered and Diageo. He has also led agency client accounts including Levi’s, Nike, Lenovo, Nestle, GSK; and was most recently, the Managing Partner for Unilever, leading the global strategy and content for Mindshare’s long-term client.
Lastly, Mascarenhas has returned to Mindshare where she previously spent eight years as the GSK APAC lead, handling numerous client accounts and winning new businesses across the CPG, FMCG, fintech and edutech sectors.
Rajagopal will be reporting to Helen McRae, CEO of Mindshare APAC, while Thukral will report to McRae as well and to Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of GroupM Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Mascarenhas, meanwhile, will report to Rohan Lightfoot, chief growth officer of Mindshare APAC.
Speaking on the new appointments, McRae said, “Shankar, Ashish and Preeti boast excellent track records driving Good Growth and award-winning innovation across APAC. These are some of our brightest talents whose intimate knowledge of the region and deep domain expertise set them apart as forerunners in the ad tech industry. I’m confident they will continue to deliver exemplary work for our clients in their new roles.”
