Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI) has elected Shailesh Gupta, Wholetime Director, Jagran Prakashan as the Chairman. Vikram Sakhuja was announced as Vice Chairman. Vikram takes over the mantle from Shashank Srivastava.
The decision was taken at the MRUC India’s 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, September 12, 2024.
New members have also been appointed to the Board of Governors, viz:
- Jayant Mammen Mathew, Director, MM TV Ltd.
- Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
- Pratap Govind Pawar, Chairman, Sakal Media Pvt. Ltd.
- Tejas Apte, Head of DMC and Media- South Asia, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
- Vikram Sakhuja, Partner, Group CEO- Media & OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Shailesh Gupta stated, “The past four years have presented us with unique challenges, but with perseverance and collaboration, we are now ready to resume the IRS Study. The commitment of our Technical Committee and Board members has ensured that we can move forward with a cost-effective solution, without compromising on the quality of the study. We deeply appreciate the unwavering support from our members during these trying times, and we are confident that together, we will soon realize our shared vision.”
Vikram on his appointment stated, “It is a privilege and an honour to be elected as Vice Chairman of MRUC. I am grateful to the MRUC Board for this opportunity. We have a wonderful MRUC Secretariat and a committed and talented Technical Committee. We are committed to bringing back IRS as the Country’s definitive and most credible establishment survey in the coming months.”
Shailesh Gupta, the Wholetime Director of Jagran Prakashan Limited, is one of the most respected names in the Indian Media Industry. Over the last 25 years, Shailesh has provided a new dimension to Jagran’s marketing strategy, and has been at the heart of driving transformational change at the Jagran group. He’s also hold positions as Director, Music Broadcast Limited, and Director, Midday Infomedia Ltd.
Shailesh is associated with several industry bodies in media.
- President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), 2019-20.
- Elected as the youngest member of the Managing Committee of the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the year 2004-05
- Chairman, Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), 2012-13
- Vice Chairman of Media Research User’s Council (MRUC), Sep 2021. MRUC is one of the most prominent media research bodies in India formed with the sole purpose of organizing accurate, timely and efficient media research in the country, across all forms of media.
- Nominated by the Indian Newspaper Society to the board of the World Association of Newspapers, Paris.
He has also been conferred with the “Most Talented CMO of India” by the World Marketing Congress in 2014, awarded the “Youngest Entrepreneur Of The Year” by Rotary Club, India, and was the recipient of the “Excellence Award for Communication and Mass Entertainment” By Merchants’ Chamber of U.P.
Vikram Sakhuja, Partner, Group CEO – Media & OOH, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd., is a respected member of India’s marketing and media fraternity.
He is currently the Partner & Group CEO of Madison Media. Across his 38 year career, he has been the Global CEO of Maxus WW, a GroupM company; the CEO of GroupM South Asia and CEO of Mindshare South Asia. He has also held senior marketing, media and market research positions in P&G, Coca-Cola and Star TV.
Vikram has served on several industry body boards/ committees including ASCI, ABC, RSCI, BARC, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, AAAI committees with ISA, INS and IBDF. He is the current Chairman of the Technical Committee for both IRS and BARC, Board member of ABC, Co-chair of IBDF-AAAI subcommittee on payments and Ad Club past President and Board member. He has consistently been voted one of the most influential persons in Indian Media by the Economic Times.
He is an engineer from IIT Delhi and MBA from IIM Calcutta. He is married to Simmi – a fitness trainer, and has two daughters Tara and Diya.
