IPG Mediabrands India bets on dual leadership amid global flux

At a time when global holding companies are under pressure to consolidate, differentiate, and digitise their offerings, IPG Mediabrands India has rolled out a leadership structure that breaks convention—and, potentially, new ground. In an uncommon move for an advertising network, the group has appointed two leaders at the helm: Shashi Sinha as executive chairman and Amardeep Singh as CEO.

The announcement comes on the heels of escalating speculation around Omnicom’s $13 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), a merger that could give birth to the world’s largest advertising network by revenue.

While details about how the deal will play out are being worked out, the operational playbook is already evolving, particularly in high-growth markets like India. With over 1,500 professionals across 21 offices, and a portfolio that includes Lodestar UM, Initiative, Interactive Avenues, Rapport, Magna Global and others, IPG Mediabrands India has both scale and stakes in this transformation.

“We are building around people, not roles,” Sinha tells Campaign, underscoring the ethos of this dual leadership structure. “Amar (Singh) and I have worked together for over 18 years. We’ve not demarcated who does what. It’s a relationship built on trust—and our clients are already seeing the benefit of getting two hands-on leaders in the mix.”

Stability in transition: Institutional vision meets digital velocity

While Sinha is stepping into a more strategic chair as executive chairman, Singh, the founder of Interactive Avenues, will oversee the broader IPG Mediabrands India operations as CEO. The arrangement is designed to provide both continuity and acceleration: Sinha continues to provide institutional cover and deep client counsel, while Singh injects digital-first thinking into a legacy-heavy portfolio.

“My priority is to ensure Amardeep settles into the CEO role while I continue supporting client relationships. But our larger focus is clear: build institutional capability around Axciom, our data product, which has the potential to be a game changer,” Sinha explains.

Amardeep Singh, CEO, IPG Mediabrands India.

This institutional focus is timely. India is increasingly central to boardroom conversations across networks. As APAC shows consistent organic growth, India’s media and marketing ecosystem is shifting from being a cost-efficient execution hub to a strategic centre of excellence in digital, data, and content-led innovation.

Singh is no stranger to this shift. “While I’ve spent the last 25 years in digital, my roots go back to Times Group,” he notes. “Over the last decade, Lodestar UM, Initiative, Rapport and Interactive Avenues have been integrated to offer fully holistic solutions.”

Between merger anxiety and performance ambition

Of course, there’s the elephant in the boardroom: the Omnicom-IPG merger. IPG posted a $94.4 million loss in Q1 2025, compared to a $160.6 million pre-tax profit in Q1 2024. The decline stems partly from $203.3 million in restructuring costs, including severance and office lease exits, as it centralises production, analytics, HR, finance, and IT.

While both leaders in India refrain from speculation about the merger—Sinha confirms “we have no visibility on how it will pan out”—they’re not naïve about the implications. For clients, there’s potential anxiety around agency overlap. For talent, there’s uncertainty about organisational direction.

“Our response is simple: focus on clients and people, and continue business as usual,” says Sinha. “We’re large in India, we have longstanding relationships, and our performance-led mindset is winning trust.”

Still, transition planning is on the radar. “These things will be decided globally, but adapted to market realities like client portfolio and competitive landscape,” adds Singh. “India is our largest media market outside of the US. So far, it’s business as usual—but we’re sharpening our service stack across performance, data, and tech.”

Turning tools into transformation

As marketers move away from vanity metrics to value-centric outcomes, agency partners are being evaluated not just for media buying muscle but for their ability to generate measurable business impact. Singh’s roadmap reflects this.

“We’ve launched services across CRM, e-com, content, influencer marketing, social listening and analytics. Acxiom went fully operational in India last year and is already showing results. Content studios like MBCS are working on long-form formats—take our six-part web series for Mahindra Sab Cultures on Disney+ Hotstar as an example,” he elaborated.

What ties all this together is the go-to-market logic. “Our approach is consumer-first, not media-first,” he says. “Each medium plays a role in the journey. Our job is to orchestrate it using data, performance marketing, and commerce solutions.”

The evolving service stack: from media to full-funnel mandates

Globally, media agencies are under pressure to shoulder more of the revenue load as creative billings stagnate. This trend is palpable in India too, especially in an era of full-funnel mandates where clients expect always-on campaigns, integrated services, and platform-agnostic thinking.

“While many large media groups focus on best pricing, we are building performance-linked models. We’ve literally told clients: pay us on results,” says Sinha. “Some of these models are already live.”

(left-right): Amardeep Singh, Savita Mathai, Shashi Sinha, Shantanu Sirohi and Manoj Vinchoo. Image source: Linkedin

Singh adds that their commerce offering is not a new shiny toy but an eight-year-old engine. “We launched our e-com unit in 2017. It’s now scaled up with specialist teams working on marketplace management, performance optimisation, and social commerce.”

Another signal of maturity is talent continuity. “Look at our leadership,” Singh points out. “Vaishali (Verma) at Initiative, Aditi (Mishra) at Lodestar UM, Shantanu (Sirohi) at Interactive Avenues, Sanjeev (Goyle) at Rapport, Hema (Malik) our CIO, Manoj (Vinchoo) our CFO, and Savita (Mathai) our chief talent officer—they’ve all grown within the system. That kind of stability is rare.”

Sinha is also vocal about India’s contribution to such innovation. “At BARC, for instance, our meter technology was showcased at the recent US-India joint forum. It's world-class at India prices,” he says. “There’s no reason India can’t be a product innovation hub in this global network.”

The intent is not to turn India into a back office, but into a front-facing powerhouse. “We are large, profitable, and performative,” says Singh. “Whether the merger happens or not, our eyes are on business outcomes.”

A transitional moment, not an existential one

While both leaders are cautious about speculating on the merger, they are pragmatic about preparation. Brand overlaps and consolidation are inevitable. Will Lodestar UM, Initiative, and Interactive Avenues survive as distinct labels under a unified structure? The jury is still out.

“Brand architecture decisions will depend on global direction,” Singh clarifies. “But locally, our GTM strategy is clear: integrated solutions, outcome-led pricing, and tech-enabled services.”

Behind the scenes, business continuity planning is underway. Singh notes that “clients want to know we’ll still be here, doing the same thing, with better tools.” The messaging to stakeholders—both internal and external—is one of steadiness with scalability.

The IPG-Omnicom buzz may dominate headlines, but inside IPG Mediabrands India, the narrative is more operational than existential. A stable leadership team, clear performance mandate, and diversified service stack have given the group the muscle to navigate change—whether it comes from Wall Street or WPP.

For now, Sinha and Singh are running the long race. “Three years of dual leadership may be a rarity,” says Sinha, “but it’s exactly what this moment demands.”

If their execution matches their vision, IPG Mediabrands India may not just survive the merger era—it could help define what post-merger excellence looks like in the modern marketing economy.