Starcom MediaVest Group has appointed Sandeep Lakhina as its Chief Operating Officer for Starcom Worldwide, South Asia. Lakhina will now be in charge of all Starcom Worldwide offices in markets such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
This is a newly created position for Starcom Worldwide and will be effective from April 1, 2009. Lakhina will contiue to report to Ravi Kiran, CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group, South Asia.
In a press statement issued yesterday, Ravi Kiran stated, “Creation of the new position of COO will help us consolidate the functioning of Starcom Worldwide across all four offices in India under a common operational leadership and help us deliver a stronger and more integrated product to our clients. In these challenging times, Sandeep has proved himself to be a true Starcomer over the past 15 months – focused on people and clients and all that we stand for as a network. He was the natural choice for the new role.”
The statement went on to say that, “In his new role, Lakhina will directly supervise a team of strong and loyal leaders, Tarun Nigam (Executive Director, India-North), Nikhil Rangnekar (Executive Director, India-West), Narendra Kumar Alambara (General Manager, Chennai), and Ashwini Kamat (General Manager, Bangalore), and will work closely with India Media Exchange as well as all specialist solutions of Starcom MediaVest Group, which will continue to report directly to Ravi Kiran.”
Lakhina joined Starcom Worldwide in January 2008 as MD, India – West & South. Prior to joining Starcom Worldwide, Lakhina headed the India operations of a UK-based digital marketing company. Other organisations he has worked for include the Coca-Cola Company and Deloitte Consulting.