Current Hong Kong, Taiwan and South China CEO Paul Maher, and South Asia CEO Ravi Kiran will take charge of Northeast and Southeast Asia respectively.
Prior to Sriram’s ascension to the region-wide role three years ago, management responsibilities were split along similar lines. He confirmed that he will explore new business ideas after leaving the agency on 1 April. “I have always admired people who built businesses around an idea, and I want to go out and give that a try,” he said. “There is no better time for me to leave SMG - Ravi Kiran and Paul Maher can do everything the network needs to take it into the future.”
Kiran’s new role comes on the back of strong performance at Starcom’s India unit, which chalked up 13 business wins in 2007 and has also expanded its entertainment and content offering. “Ravi’s expertise in new consumer touchpoints, and his experience in building practices in these new disciplines, will be a key skill set for the network,” said Sriram. Maher’s promotion comes after several years with the agency.
Kiran said the challenge for Starcom remained in moving beyond a traditional executional business model.
“One of our challenges is to de-risk our proposition so that the clients give us the opportunity to demonstrate the value we can deliver.”
