Ravi Rao, CEO at Mindshare MENA, has been named as CEO of WPP’s GroupM MENA, replacing Filip Jabbour, who was appointed in 2015 when GroupM launched in the region.
Mr. Ravi Rao has 30 years’ market experience and 11 years within the GroupM network. He is tasked with driving the strategy and growth of GroupM and its media agencies in the region as the group focuses on helping clients grow their business via talent, scale and technology.
“An experienced leader, Mr. Ravi Rao will bring expertise and vision which can help drive further benefits for our clients in the MENA region,” said Dominic Grainger, GroupM EMEA CEO.”
“This new appointment demonstrates our ambition to strengthen our client offering building on the work led by Filip and the management team. We will continue to develop innovative market-leading solutions which drive additional value for our clients across areas such as brand safety, content and proprietary technology and tools. Ravi Rao is well placed to lead on these advances after building Mindshare into a strong, diversified agency helping clients drive growth.”
“Having spent a large part of my career at Mindshare, I am delighted to be taking on this new role,” said Mr. Ravi Rao. “Clients increasingly require services beyond media planning and buying, and I’m looking forward to creating more vibrant, next-generation solutions to delight our clients and grow their businesses. I’m excited about the future for GroupM MENA and look forward to working with the talented leaders to forge even stronger partnerships for our clients.”
Mr. Ravi Rao began his career, after business school in Mumbai, by launching the first P&G brand, Ariel in India. He has over 30 years of experience in media investment with 25 years working for a range of clients including Unilever, P&G and PepsiCo in South Asia and MENA. Delivering in-depth knowledge of local markets and enthusiasm for harnessing new data technology, Mr. Rao’s role of delivering outstanding results for clients is balanced with ensuring the best talent is in place in the region, as well as driving global and product innovations.
Jabbour and Rao will work closely together to manage a smooth transition over the coming weeks, with Rao taking the CEO post from June 2019. Mr. Rao’s replacement at Mindshare will be announced in due course.
For more information, visit https://www.groupm.com/.