Razorfish appoints Manan Mehta in head of business – India and senior vice president roles

Razorfish has announced the appointment of Manan Mehta as head of business – India and senior vice president. Mehta joins Razorfish from Taproot where he was managing partner and was the founding member of Taproot India. Razorfish will be based out of Mumbai and will work with clients across the India region. His mandate will be to introduce and establish Razorfish in India and put together an A-team to run client operations.

Says Mehta: “The opportunity to impact client’s business by combining cutting edge technology with creativity has compelled me to take up this assignment with Razorfish. In India, businesses at large have started acknowledging the active role that digital and technology can play in building their brands, and are gearing up to embrace this new world order. In fact, there are organizations that have started institutionalizing social thinking across departments.

“I have always admired Razorfish’s work, and today I am really excited to be part of the team.”

Says Kanika Mathur, managing director, Razorfish: “Manan is an enterprising young professional with solid fundamentals about business and brands. His experience in the field of advertising and communication will be a huge asset for Razorfish in providing focus and driving growth for us in India.”

A few days back Publicis had announced the entry of the Razorfish brand in India with the acquisition of Neev Technologies which would now operate as Razorfish Neev.

Says Saurabh Chandra, CEO, Razorfish Neev: “Manan spearheading Razorfish’s India business focus is going to be a great asset for us. His understanding of what brands want and need to succeed in India is superlative. Together with Razorfish Neev’s technical strengths this is a winning combination.”

Mehta is a post graduate from Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai (XIC). He has worked with Brand David (then RMG DAVID) in Delhi and Mumbai. Then he moved to Leo Burnett, Mumbai. While at Leo Burnett apart from handling key brands as brand partner, he was also assigned additional responsibilities of Leo Entertainment as business head and Arc worldwide as retail director. From Leo Burnett he moved to set up Taproot India as a founding member in the capacity of managing partner. He has worked on numerous brands across various categories such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7UP from PepsiCo’s stable. Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Minute Maid and Maaza from Coca-Cola regional business, Airtel, SET WET, Hair & Care, Tata Capital, Myntra.com, Times Of India, Mumbai Mirror, GQ, Conde Nast, Reliance Mutual Fund, Reliance Capital, Sony Entertainment Television, Reliance Mobile, Cox & Kings and LG.