EssenceMediacom’s Sonali Malaviya quits the WPP-owned media agency

Sonali Malaviya had stints across Roy Morgan Research, PHD, MindShare, Twitter, Colorbar etc.

By  Kashmeera Sambamurthy| Nov 22, 2024 11:43 AM
As the managing director of Essence, Sonali Malaviya led Essence during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully transitioned to a fully remote work environment. She surpassed business growth expectations by 25 percent. She retained all existing clients and acquired new business.

Sonali Malaviya, who led GroupM's EssenceMediacom as chief strategy and transformation officer, has stepped down from her position, according to industry sources who spoke to Storyboard18.

During her stint at the WPP group company, Malaviya oversaw strategy, data and technology, digital transformation, commerce and performance, creative futures, and insights and analytics. One of her key achievements was a comprehensive data strategy framework for Coca-Cola India to enhance customer data management and engagement. She established data partnerships to foster deeper consumer relationships and built an addressability framework to help clients segment and target audiences effectively.

She led digital transformation for P&G, Vivo, Airtel, Mars, and Del and developed addressable audience(s) strategies for Mars, Uber, and Coca-Cola. She uilized advanced analytics to determine media effectiveness for Uber and Rapido.

Malaviya began her career at Mediacom and then went on to work across Roy Morgan Research, PHD, MindShare, Twitter, Colorbar and Essence.

As the managing director of Essence, she led Essence during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully transitioned to a fully remote work environment. She surpassed business growth expectations by 25 percent. She retained all existing clients and acquired new business.

On January 31, 2023, GroupM launched EssenceMediacom, which was formed from merging Essence and Mediacom. The new entity combines Essence’s expertise in performance, data, analytics and creative technology with MediaCom’s multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise. EssenceMediacom is part of GroupM, WPP’s media investment group.

First Published onNov 22, 2024 11:33 AM

SPOTLIGHT

Special CoverageCalling India’s Boldest Brand Makers: Entries Open for the Storyboard18 Awards for Creativity

From purpose-driven work and narrative-rich brand films to AI-enabled ideas and creator-led collaborations, the awards reflect the full spectrum of modern creativity.

Read More

“Confusion creates opportunity for agile players,” Sir Martin Sorrell on industry consolidation

Looking ahead to the close of 2025 and into 2026, Sorrell sees technology platforms as the clear winners. He described them as “nation states in their own right”, with market capitalisations that exceed the GDPs of many countries.