News: Babita Baruah moves to WPP's Global Blue Team as Managing Partner

Leadership

Babita Baruah moves to WPP's Global Blue Team as Managing Partner

Varun Channa has been appointed in Baruah's place as senior vice president & managing partner, PO1.
Babita Baruah moves to WPP's Global Blue Team as Managing Partner

Babita Baruah, a veteran of ad agency JWT has been roped in to lead WPP’s Global Blue Team, a dedicated unit for Ford business, as Managing Partner. She was the Senior Vice President and Managing Partner, PO1, an independent business unit for PepsiCo in JWT.

JWT had announced senior management changes in recent months, right after its Head Sanjeev Bhargava’s resignation. Babita got independent charge of JWT’s business unit – Power of One (PO1) – that handles a large number of PepsiCo’s flagship brands. Babita worked with JWT, a WPP-owned agency for 20 years and has worked in their Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata offices. 

Babita Baruah confirmed to People Matters about her new move, however, we are awaiting response from her about the responsibilities of what the role constitutes. 

An MBA from Gauhati University, she has worked on brands from Unilever, Godrej, Kotak, Aditya Birla Capital, Kingfisher Airlines, Diageo, Kelloggs, Wills, Bata, Emami, World Gold Council, De Beers, Nestle and Nokia.

Tarun Rai, CEO JWT South Asia said about Baruah, "Babita has had a remarkable career with us. She has worked across many JWT offices and has brought the same energy and commitment to all her various roles. Her stint as head of our PepsiCo business has been exceptional. She has always led from the front and is a fantastic leader. I am extremely proud that she is moving on to another senior role within the group. I wish her all the very best." 

Varun Channa has been appointed in Baruah's place as senior vice president & managing partner, PO1. He moves in from Mindshare, Kuala Lumpur where he was working as the managing director and prior to that with Danone.

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Topics: Leadership, Appointments, C-Suite

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