Cheil India ropes in Sonal Narain as chief strategy officer

Sonal Narain has been brought on board by Cheil India as chief strategy officer. She will be based in Gurgaon. 

 

Currently, she is the head of planning at Ogilvy Singapore and also head of Ogilvy Change, a behavioral sciences practice under the Ogilvy & Mather group. She will be joining Cheil India on 29 June. 

 

Narain replaces Atishi Pradhan who left the agency in April 2015.

 

Shiv Sethuraman, group president, Cheil South West Asia, said, “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 and young organisation that’s shown steady growth in both size and reputation, Cheil seeks to up the ante and I'm hugely excited to be part of that.”