Moves and Wins: Week of 09 June

Hashtag Orange names Ankush Bhandarkar as media director

Integrated marketing agency Hashtag Orange has appointed Ankush Bhandarkar as director – media, based out of its Mumbai office. Bhandarkar brings over a decade of digital marketing experience. He previously served as associate media director at FoxyMoron, handling brands like AO Smith and Vedant Fashions. His prior roles include assistant manager at iProspect, where he worked on accounts such as HDFC Bank and PNB MetLife, and integrated media planner at Madison Media, where he managed media planning for Pidilite. In his new role, Bhandarkar will focus on enhancing client outcomes through data-backed strategies and optimised media investments. He will also lead and grow the media team, aligning its capabilities with the agency’s long-term goals. Hashtag Orange, a full-service digital-first agency, offers branding, marketing, and technology solutions. It is active in preventive healthcare communication and aims to influence the health and wellness sector through strategic campaigns.

PRCAI elects new leadership team

The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) has appointed Kunal Kishore, group CEO and co-founder of Value 360 Communications, as its new president for the 2025–2027 term. Kishore, who served as vice president for four years, replaces Atul Sharma of Ruder Finn India. The announcement was made at PRCAI’s 24th Annual General Meeting following elections that saw both contested and unanimous appointments to the managing committee (MANCOM) and executive committee (EXCOM). Alongside Kishore, Neha Mehrotra of Avian WE was named vice president and Santanu Gogoi of First Partners was appointed to a newly defined role of associate vice president, replacing the earlier designation of secretary. The new MANCOM will work closely with PRCAI CEO Deeptie Sethi to drive an inclusive and impact-focused agenda. Five national chairs were also appointed to the EXCOM, including a newly created role. These include Nandita Lakshmanan (growth and standardisation), Dolly Tayal (marketing communications and global networks), Abhishek Gulyani (talent and academia connect), Vivek Rana (learning and thought leadership), and Rishi Seth (public affairs and advocacy). Recent initiatives by PRCAI include PRana 2024, India’s first story convention; a scale-up accelerator for emerging firms; a client-consultancy partnership charter; certification workshops training over 2,500 professionals; a mediation service; and guidelines for responsible communication during national crises. Founded in 2001, PRCAI is a representative body for the Indian public relations industry with over 170 members.

Probo appoints Spardha Pandey as communications head

Opinion trading platform Probo has appointed Spardha Pandey as its head of public relations and communications. In this role, Pandey will lead Probo’s internal and external communications, global PR strategies, and stakeholder engagement efforts. Pandey brings experience across journalism and corporate communications, having worked with Gensol Group, Meta, Hewlett Packard, and Paytm. She has also served as a journalist with Times Internet, India Today Group, and Hindustan Times. Her background includes crisis communications, brand storytelling, and digital transformation campaigns. At Probo, she is expected to guide the platform’s narrative as it expands within the skill-based gaming and knowledge-based participation sector. Pandey holds a master’s degree in Mass Communication and has completed certifications in digital marketing. Her work has been recognised with awards such as the IPRCCA Gold for ‘Crisis Management’ and IAMAI’s India Digital Award. Headquartered in Gurugram, Probo enables users to trade on real-time outcomes across categories such as sports, current affairs, and entertainment. With over 3.4 crore users, the platform is backed by Sequoia Capital, Elevation Capital and Fundamentum.