Sources have told exchange4media that the top leadership of Media.Monks India has fallen like a pack of cards. Azazul Haque, Chief Content Officer and Kiran Ramamurthy, Chief Operating Officer of the agency have reportedly put in their papers. This comes close on the heels of the departure of the India Director – Poran Malani who played a pivotal role in establishing Media.Monks in India. The reason behind the exits is not known. Media Monks is a digital-first, unitary, advertising brand operated by Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital.
Both Haque and Kiran have officially refuted the development on being contacted by exchange4media.
The agency has recently promoted Robert Godinho as managing director of content for India. He was earlier heading the company’s India Production hub after Godinho’s creative studio WhiteBalance was merged with Media Monks (now Media.Monks) here in 2020. Godinho will be reporting to Matthew Godfrey, VP, Head of Content, Media.Monks who joined in October 2023.
Robert Godinho, Managing Director of Content for India, Media.Monks says, "On the leadership changes, we have announced that Poran Malani, Country Head, S4 Capital has quit. The only other senior leader who has left is Rajnandini Ghosh, Sr VP of MM. Her role has been taken over by the addition of Megha Ahuja. There are no other changes to report."
Media.Monks under the leadership of Azazul Haque and Kiran Ramamurthy had witnessed an unprecedented boom, crossing the Rs 100cr. mark in revenue in less than four years of its inception in India. Media.Monks had a unique model in India which covered all bases in the value chain of advertising, having begun the journey from the opposite end of the spectrum. Despite starting out as a content factory cum production house, Media.Monks India today has around 60% of its revenue coming from agency business and only 20% from production. Almost 35% of the billings have moved towards retained business as opposed to project-based ones. Some of their top clients include Amazon, Tata Tea, HP, Xiaomi, ONDC, Bajaj etc.