HomeShop18 appoints Airtel's Vikrant Khanna as chief marketing officer

HomeShop18 has appointed Vikrant Khanna as the chief marketing officer (CMO) for its TV, web and mobile business. In his new role, Khanna will lead marketing and communications, customer relationship management, business-to-business sales and alliances at the company.

"Homeshop18's business model of enabling TV, laptop and mobile screens with transaction capabilities, aligned respectively to each layer of the consumer pyramid, has strategic significance for a diverse market like India and we intend to fully leverage this opportunity," said Khanna.

Khanna has around 19 years of experience in marketing and business roles and earlier worked with brands such as Satyam Infoway, Dabur India, Godrej Pillsbury, and ICI Paints. Prior to joining HomeShop18, he was vice-president (consumer engagement and digital) at Bharti Airtel Ltd, a company which he had joined in April 2007. At Airtel, he was also part of its popular campaigns such as the one with the tagline Har ek friend zaroori hota hain. He holds a PGDBM degree in Marketing from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, and a BA degree in History from Hansraj College, Delhi.

Commenting on Khanna's appointment, Sundeep Malhotra, founder and CEO of HomeShop18, said, "Khanna will work towards building stronger consumer orientation across various touch points and shape a solid consumer franchise."

Khanna's appointment comes after Rashmi Berry stepped down as the CMO of HomeShop18 in March this year. She joined the firm in July 2012 and left the company within a year of taking up the post.

TV18 Shopping Network Ltd, the teleshopping and e-commerce arm of Network18 that runs under the HomeShop18 brand, was started in 2011. It claims to have a portfolio of over 14 million SKUs across multiple categories, monthly reach of 8.1 million unique visitors and logistics reach of over 3,000 locations across the country. The company raised fresh capital to the tune of $30 million (Rs 163 crore) from OCP Asia and Network18 (in April this year) in its pre-IPO round of funding. OCP Asia and Network18 put in $15 million each and the transaction valued HomeShop18 at $330 million (Rs 1,790 crore).

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)