Dentsu India has promoted Anita Kotwani to be its new South Asia CEO for Media, effective immediately. She replaces Divya Karani, former CEO media, South Asia, Dentsu, who had been with the agency since 2011 but has stepped down to pursue personal interests.
In her expanded role, Kotwani will lead the network’s media businesses across South Asia, including Carat, iProspect, Dentsu X, Posterscope, and its media investment arm, Amplifi. Prior to this, she was CEO of Carat India.
This announcement comes after Harsha Razdan’s appointment as the new CEO of Dentsu South Asia.
“The media opportunity in India is growing exponentially,” said Dentsu’s APAC CEO Rob Gilby. “Anita’s background, coupled with Harsha’s complimentary experience is building a powerful force in our business to drive growth for our clients in this exciting market.”
Gilby thanked Karani for scaling the business over her decade of leadership.
Karani said, “I am proud of what I have accomplished with dentsu. Having worked closely with Anita – a valuable member of my leadership team, I know there is no better candidate for me to hand the reins to lead the media business to new heights. While it’s always a bittersweet moment to leave your ‘baby’, it is time for me to move on and pursue new opportunities.”
Noted Kotwani: “I have learned a tremendous amount from Divya and am honoured to be given this baton to carry on the marathon. You don’t just replace three decades of experience overnight – I intend to take this on with my utmost commitment and will look to continually challenge myself and my wonderful team of media specialists to always stay at the forefront of the industry to deliver the world’s best-integrated media strategies.”
