Monks India, the operating brand of Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital in India, has announced the appointment of former Chief Operating Officer of Grey Group (part of WPP)- Ketan Desai as the new Managing Director of Monks India, to lead the agency in a new era, solving the industry’s complexity challenge of speed, scale and spending.
He will be taking up the new role on February 3, and will report to Kenny Griffiths, Managing Director, APAC at Monks.
This development comes in the light of Robert Godinho deciding to part ways from Monks India after leading the agency for over five years to move on to a new challenge. He had founded WhiteBalance in 2009 and had taken the decision of merging the same with S4 Capital’s Monk to form Monk India in 2019.
He will stay on for a sufficient time to onboard Desai and ensure a smooth transition at Monks India before taking up his next challenge and putting an end to his 15 years long entrepreneurial journey.
That said, Desai joins Monks India at a pivotal time for the marketing industry, in which the economics have fundamentally changed thanks to rapid disruption by technology, and in times when marketers need partners that can remove complexity, orchestrating marketing that flows together with tech innovation.
Bringing with him over 20 years of agency leadership experience and driving scaled marketing solutions for India’s top clients, Desai will help accelerate the Monks model of combining AI-powered end-to-end services with orchestrating the best talent, untethering marketers from archaic models and into new opportunities for growth.
Additionally, this appointment at Monks India represents a strategic shift for the global, purely digital, data-driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital in India, answering marketers’ need for a new vision and ecosystem to help them solve the complexity of today’s industry.
Commenting on Desai’s appointment, Kenny Griffiths, Managing Director-APAC, Monks, said, “We are excited to have Ketan Desai join us at a pivotal time for Monks in India. His extensive strategic experience in connecting India’s local strengths with global scale, will accelerate plans to grow our India business and deliver on our model that helps clients navigate complexity and transforms the economics of marketing.”
To this, Bruno Lambertini, CEO- Marketing Services, Monks, added, “Ketan Desai’s addition to the Monk’s leadership team marks a defining moment for our India operations. India is an important market for us, not only driving local growth but also serving as a hub for the region. The growth we’ve been able to achieve has set the stage for this next chapter. As we move from initiation to scaling, Ketan’s expertise in delivering scaled marketing solutions for India’s top clients will be instrumental in seamlessly integrating our vision for marketing and technology, helping marketers simplify complexity, innovate, and overcome their business challenges.”
Reflecting on his decision to part ways from Monks India, Robert Godinho, the outgoing Monks India MD, said, “As an original founder whose company merged with S4’s Monks, I will always be invested in its growth and success. This journey has been exhilarating and enlightening, building the India hub with artists collaborating on global work. My proudest achievement has been building the domestic business over the past year. I’m proud to say that in 2024, we’ve successfully integrated and aligned the organization with our global vision.”
