Viacom18, India’s fastest growing media and entertainment network, appointed Vivek Mohan Sharma as head of Branded Content. Sharma will be reporting to Viacom 18 head of Network Sales Mahesh Shetty.
In his new role, Sharma will be responsible for leading branded content and solutions at the network level. Individually, he will be responsible for driving branded solutions for Viacom18’s Hindi mass entertainment, regional entertainment and kids TV clusters leveraging its broadcast and social reach. In addition to this, he will also work with existing teams at youth, music and English entertainment as well as the network’s digital play VOOT to bring in synergies and dial up advertiser funded content-driven growth.
Welcoming Sharma to the team, Viacom 18 head of Network Sales Mahesh Shetty, said, “We are living in a world full of too many choices which however have increasingly minimal differentiation amongst them. Branded content has the potential to bring forth this differentiation and connect with audiences in a more engaging and emotional capacity. With his versatile experience in leadership roles across industries, Vivek is best poised to bring collaborations across our brand offerings and create unique propositions for our clients that are relevant and result-oriented.”
On his new role at Viacom18 Sharma said, “Brands today are looking at creating moments and mindshare that stays with the audience for long. Branded content acts as the bridge, bringing in solutions that truly connect the brand with its consumers in an engaging and effective manner. I look forward to driving value, innovation and overall growth in my new role at Viacom18.”
Sharma is an industry leader with close to two decades of experience in business management, revenue and marketing planning across media, telecom and banking sectors, Sharma with his deep industry insights has led leadership roles at Mirchi, Idea Cellular, Deutsche Bank and ICICI Bank in the past.
Prior to joining Viacom18, Sharma worked as head of digital business and worked towards transforming Mirchi to a dominant digital content and solutions brand.