MUMBAI: Essence, a global data and measurement-driven agency and part of GroupM, today announced the appointments of Kingshuk Mitra and Monica Bhatia to bolster its APAC leadership team. Earlier this year, Essence announced it had nearly doubled its APAC office count after opening operations in Bengaluru, Jakarta, Melbourne and Mumbai. The company is working towards an explosive regional growth.

Mitra, former managing director of Maxus Philippines, has been named COO APAC, a newly created position. He has recently transitioned into his new role as Essence’s first COO of APAC, and will help APAC CEO Kyoko Matsushita, and wider regional leadership, to define and achieve the agency's strategic priorities. He will also partner with client services and wider agency disciplines to ensure the delivery of consistent work quality to Essence clients, and to drive day-to-day operational effectiveness. Mitra will be based out of Essence’s Singapore office and will report to global COO Rich Mooney.

“Essence has built its success on the back of operational excellence across verticals, which is an integral part of the agency's DNA,” said Mitra. “The role in itself is very exciting to me, as it involves creating the backbone of the operational structure across various projects. This is pivotal as it brings the various disciplines under one umbrella. I look forward to joining the visionary team at Essence and being part of its ambitious growth plans in APAC."

Bhatia has joined as vice president, client partner to lead the Google business in APAC. In her new role, Bhatia will oversee the account across six APAC markets, including its Singapore-based hub. Specifically, she will be accountable for building and nurturing strong, collaborative client relationships across the region and driving account strategy. Bhatia will report into president and global client director Dave Marsey. Bhatia previously served as head of digital at Maxus, where she was charged with building the agency’s digital product proposition across 14 markets in APAC. Additionally, she led regional digital duties for key clients such as L’Oreal, Jetstar and Unicharm. Bhatia will be based out of Singapore and brings a wealth of experience in providing integrated media solutions to companies across FMCG, airlines, banking and food and beverage categories.

“The media industry is changing so rapidly and in such a dynamic way,” said Bhatia. “It’s exciting to see how we can apply Essence’s data-led solutions to help clients achieve their marketing objectives. I’m excited to work with the best media practitioners in the industry who are committed to making advertising more valuable to the world.”

"I'm thrilled to have Monica and Kingshuk join Essence. Their extensive leadership experience will further shape our operational excellence and data-driven solutions, both of which have a critical impact on our clients and their consumers,” said Essence global CEO Christian Juhl. “We are grateful for GroupM's continued support, and appreciate the opportunity to leverage their talent mobility offerings from a cross-agency and geographic standpoint."

“Monica and Kingshuk are seasoned marketing leaders with extensive client and operations expertise, deep knowledge of the region as well as strong integrated media experience,” said Matsushita. “With their track record of success as digital leaders, they will be a tremendous asset as we continue to expand our footprint in APAC.”