Publicis hires journalist for its rural initiative

The India unit of Xpanse Asia, the specialist small town and rural marketing network of Publicis Groupe, has appointed Ravi Balakrishnan as associate director-consumer context planning. Balakrishnan will report to the country head, India, Xpanse, Sandip Bansal and his primary role would be to unearth consumer insights for the agency's clients and their brands as well as development of insight-based activation platforms and programs.