Oppo hires former JWT Malaysia strategy head Bhaskar Thakur

Former head of strategy planning at?JWT Malaysia Bhaskar Thakur (pictured) has joined Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO as its new APAC marketing strategy director. Thakur has moved to Shenzhen, China for his new role with OPPO.

In a statement to A+M, an OPPO spokesperson said Thakur's role will focus on building the OPPO brand across APAC region through marketing activities in all key markets and identify marketing solutions to further strengthen OPPO?s brand in the region.

He last helmed the role of group strategy head at Ogilvy, JWT and Mirum in Malaysia. According to his LinkedIn, Thakur managed the global, regional and local remit for Shell, Nestle, Kellogg?s, HSBC and Wipro Unza respectively at JWT.

He first joined Ogilvy in 2010 as the senior planning director?for the beauty and personal care portfolio of India's healthcare company Dabur, along with Honda Cars. He then moved to JWT between 2011 and 2015, as the assistant vice president and strategy planning director.?While at JWT, he led?the strategy team on brands such as PepsiCo, Nestle, GSK and Nokia?among others.?

Thakur left JWT in 2015, and headed to?hospitality chain OYO as?the head of brand strategy.?With the Softbank-backed company, he managed?the brand's marketing function to drive growth and was focused on marketing, technology and consumer culture to further drive brand penetration.

In his early days, he was a strategy planner at Publicis and Havas. A+M has reached out to Thakur for comment.