GroupM Vietnam names Nitin Kumar chief investment officer

GroupM Vietnam has elevated media agency veteran Nitin Kumar (pictured) to the chief investment officer. In his new role, he will lead the delivery of GroupM's Responsible Investment Framework in Vietnam, which entails building a diverse, sustainable and high-quality media ecosystem that its clients can invest in confidently now and in the future. 

He will report to both Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of GroupM Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Anita Munro, GroupM’s chief investment officer for Southeast and North Asia, who also chairs the APAC Investment Committee. Succeeding Huyen Trinh, Kumar is set to assume the position on 1 July and will be based in Ho Chi Minh. 

"I am thrilled to join GroupM Vietnam whose roster of local and global advertisers makes for an eyewatering portfolio. Together with my investment team, I look forward to leaning into our local and regional partners to create a differentiated advantage for brands," he said. Kumar explained that they will help GroupM's clients unlock even more premium content, data, and first-look rights, as well as offer beta testing and priority access to premium inventories. 

Kumar was most recently the principal partner of products at GroupM Indonesia for a year and three months, where he delivered campaigns and achieved set commercial targets for existing speciality products, according to his LinkedIn. Prior to being principal partner of products, he assumed the role of group manager at MediaCom for over three years, where he dialled up client relationships and ensured client satisfaction across international clients such as P&G, Wipro, BAT, among others, his LinkedIn also said. In addition, he led trading mandates across all MediaCom clients, generating sustainable trading income and dialling up the adoption of GroupM performance products across clients, among other responsibilities. 

From client leadership to trading, investment, general management and most recently product development, he has accumulated a wealth of experience across key remits at media investment company including significant tenures at GroupM agencies - Wavemaker and Mediacom. Additionally, he has spent more than one and a half decades immersed in the media and marketing industry. During his previous stints, Kumar also worked with brands such as P&G, Heinz, Coca-Cola, Wipro, Airtel, Del Monte and other brands across India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

“Kumar's all-round expertise in media strategy, planning, negotiations, trading and product development makes him a highly valuable leader to drive our investment vision and roadmap for Vietnam," Shekhar said. He added that Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia with latent potential, and he is confident that with Kumar's entrepreneurial skills and commercial acumen, he will be able to lead the team to extract maximum value for the agency's clients in a rapidly evolving digital media ecosystem. 

Munro said: “GroupM Vietnam has built a strong investment legacy that will be further advanced with Nitin at the helm. As he focuses on enhancing the partnerships in-market and augmenting our investment capabilities across all channels, our clients will be able to enjoy far-reaching value.” 

Meanwhile, GroupM also made an appointment in May this year, where they named Girish Menon as chief operating officer, global terms at GroupM Nexus. In his now current role, he oversees the unit's offshore delivery hubs in India, Latin America, and Poland, according to his LinkedIn. 

Menon was previously VP, client development APAC, GroupM Services for three years. During his stint there, he ensured the team had the required leadership and resources in the local markets to leverage its global infrastructure and serve the needs of GroupM's account teams and their clients. Prior to that, he was VP, client development, APAC, [m]PLATFORM, responsible for setting up local market client engagement capability.

Related articles: 
Girish Menon takes on global role at GroupM Nexus
GroupM Thailand names CEO reporting to Himanshu Shekhar who expands remit
GroupM names SEA and North Asia chief investment officer
GroupM expands Himanshu Shekhar’s remit to include Vietnam