Sonal Narain joins Cheil India as chief strategy officer based out of their Gurgaon office

Cheil India has appointed Sonal Narain as Chief Strategy Officer, based in their Gurgaon office, the regional headquarters for South-West Asia.

Narain (pictured left), who currently serves as Head of Planning at Ogilvy Singapore and is also Head of Ogilvy Change (the firm’s Behavioural Sciences practice) is someone who is, by her own admission, ‘obsessed by effectiveness in communication’.

At Ogilvy, she has been driving an organisation-wide agenda for effectiveness that has resulted in over 20 wins at all major awards at local, regional and international shows. She was also awarded Planner of the Year 2014 in Singapore.

Narain has worked on brands such as The Economist, Milo, Kimberly Clarke, SoyJoy, Kotex, Huggies, Economic Development Board of Singapore, and the Singapore Sports Council.

Remarking on the appointment, Shiv Sethuraman, Group President of Cheil South-West Asia said (pictured left), “Sonal understands the intersection between media, technology and popular culture and has done impressive work in areas far beyond the limits of conventional advertising. That is what makes her the perfect choice to lead Cheil India’s Planning and Strategy function. We’re aiming to transition into an agency that is ahead of the curve and Sonal will be a big part of that. She understands technology but at the core, it’s her understanding of human behaviour and her focus on effectiveness that set her apart.”

Narain added, “The opportunity to marry human insight with technology and create fundamental change only comes along once in a while and few agencies are as well placed to take advantage of this as Cheil India is. As a dynamic & young organisation that’s shown steady growth in both size & reputation, Cheil seeks to up the ante and I’m hugely excited to be part of that.”