I Am Really Excited About My New Asia Regional Role With MS&LGroup
Many of you are curious about what I have been doing since I moved on from 2020Social in mid-August.
I’m delighted to share that I have joined Publicis Groupe‘s public relations, events and social media network MSLGROUP in an exciting Asia regional role. I’ll continue to be based in New Delhi for now but frequently travel across Asia in a role that involves four sets of responsibilities –
1. I’ll be leading MSLGROUP’s digital and social media practice across Asia (including team members in India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur). I’ll be working with our staff across offices that have created social media programs for clients including Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Sunkist Growers, Volkswagen, STAR TV and others. I’ll be reporting to MSLGROUP Asia President Glenn Osaki, and working closely with MSLGROUP Asia Business Director Josh Shapiro and the Managing Directors of the various MSLGROUP Asia offices. I am especially excited about becoming even more intimate with the Chinese social media scene, which I have been following since my Yahoo! Fellow days.
2. I’ll be working with a team of MSLGROUP representatives from around the globe to guide the direction of our digital and social media offering. This includes MSLGROUP Chief Strategy Officer Pascal Beucler, my friend Stanislas Magniant in Europe, and several senior leaders from our North America team. Stan and I first connected in Washington DC two years back, around his work with Linkfluence on mapping political blogospheres around the world, and I am really looking forward to working with him, finally!
3. I’ll be actively collaborating with Publicis Groupe sister agencies such as VivaKi, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Worldwide on integrated marketing programs that are increasingly social at their core. I am especially excited about VivaKi’s new social media task force, led by VivaKi’s Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Rishad Tobaccowala, in which MS&LGroup plays a key role (see AdWeek, PRWeek).
4. Finally, I’ll be working with another global team at MSLGROUP to create an offering that helps global brands benefit from the intersection of social as in connecting people and social as in benefiting the society. This Social Squared approach is at the core of everything I have done over the last three years and I am really grateful for the opportunity to create an offering around it.
Some of you might have seen last week’s announcement that Publicis Groupe is acquiring 2020Social and 20:20 Media, which will become a part of MSLGROUP India, alongside Hanmer MSL. I am looking forward to working with my friends at 20:20 Media and 2020Social in my new role at MSLGROUP. Sometimes, life doesn’t unfold in the same manner, or in the same sequence, as you expect it to and, in this case, life has come full circle very quickly.
One of my first tasks at MSLGROUP will be to recruit senior social media specialists in India, China, Japan and Singapore, to strengthen our existing pool of staff, so do send me tips on social media professionals on the move.
Finally, I want to tell you that I am really grateful for all your support and encouragement over the years. I am starting a new phase of my life, and I’m particularly excited about being able to meet up with you more often on my travels across Asia. So, do stay in touch and do wish me luck!
Update: Official Press Release, Campaign Asia, Campaign India, Alootechie, Marketing Interactive, Indian Television, AdGully, Best Media Info.
If you would like to interview me for a story or invite me to speak at a conference, please e-mail me at gauravonomics@gmail.com, call me at +91-9999856940, or connect with me on Twitter.
