O&M's Neo@Ogilvy forms JV with Smile Group, ropes in Sanjay Ramakrishnan as country head

Neo@Ogilvy, a global media agency and performance marketing network from advertising major Ogilvy & Mather, has formed a joint venture with Gurgaon-based Smile Group to strengthen its offerings in e-commerce and mobile segments.

The new entity has roped in Sanjay Ramakrishnan, former senior vice president (marketing) at online retail major Myntra, as the country head.

Launched in 2006, New York-based Neo@Ogilvy provides digital media solutions to brands across the globe. It has more than 800 employees across 40 offices.

Smile Group owns and operates various ventures in digital, consumer internet and media spaces. The group owns and operates Fashionandyou.com, an online shopping club. It has also partnered or built businesses with firms such as WPP Digital, Ogilvy, Yahoo!, ScanGroup (Africa), Airbnb and Techcrunch. In 2006, it formed a JV with Von group to launch SVG Media, which operates companies including Tyroo, Velocity, PlatformPlay, dgm, Precision Match and seventynine.

Ramakrishnan comes with more than 15 years of experience in digital media, e-commerce, mobile, telecom and consumer technology. Previously, he was general manager for India, Southeast Asia and MENA, at Vizury Interactive. In the past, he held various roles at Google, Intel, Geodesic and Worldspace, besides Myntra. "The aim is to recast Neo@Ogilvy as one of the most effective digital media companies in the country with a focus on performance marketing, mobile and e-commerce. End-to-end e-commerce solution is another unique offering that this JV brings to the table," said Ramakrishnan.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)