Ken Mandel parts ways with Publicis Media APAC

Ken Mandel is leaving Publicis Media Asia Pacific after taking on the role in January 2017 to launch Publicis Commerce in partnership with Interactive Solutions. Replacing him would be Navaneeta Das, who is taking on the role head of product and client development.She first joined the company in August. She was previously with Carat as international client president for two years. She also has client side experience, having worked with J&J for over four years.Meanwhile, Mandel was brought in to build and lead the new business capability around commerce and innovation at Publicis Media Asia Pacific. He reported to Gerry Boyle, CEO Publicis Media Asia Pacific.“After founding the commerce practice for Publicis Media in 2016, Mandel has made the difficult decision to pursue new opportunities in a related industry. He will be taking a short break to work on some personal venture projects and we wish him all the best in his new endeavours,” said Gerry Boyle, CEO, Asia Pacific, Publicis Media.Prior to the role, Mandel was Starcom’s president of global network solutions Asia Pacific. He was also managing director over at Hootsuite for over a year, and managing director at Sales Force for approximately a year.In a statement to Marketing, Mandel said, "It was an interesting and rewarding ride to be the founder and president of Publicis Media's foray into eCommerce and deliver a diversified capability beyond traditional media. I leave knowing that the team I built will increasingly give Publicis a leg up on competitors and continue to future proof the business."He added that during his gardening leave, he will be working on some venture projects in Southeast Asia "that would have been challenging to oversee in his current capacity"."Jam Ventures which I founded in 2011 has a couple of portfolio companies come to fruition which require more direct focus to help ensure successful outcomes.  I’ll make an announcement about what’s next at the appropriate time," he said.