Xaxis Malaysia names new managing director

GroupM’s influencer marketing solution INCA and digital media arm Xaxis Malaysia and has named Aravind Menon managing director. He will be reporting into both Arshan Saha, Xaxis CEO Asia Pacific, and Chanchal Chakrabarty, GroupM CEO, Malaysia. As part of his remit, Menon will manage and lead Xaxis' and INCA Malaysia’s strategy and operations. This includes spearheading future digital development as well as client transformational initiatives and mentoring new talent.

Menon, who brings 18 years of experience to the role, was previously the head of supply and product development in GroupM’s trading team, where he led the group’s digital investment strategy across key partners and created high value supply and trading strategies for clients. In 2020 Menon became secretary of the Malaysian Digital Association, a council representing Malaysian corporations including digital publishers, platforms, advertising agencies, creative agencies, and digital service providers.

In his new role, Menon will leverage his experience at GroupM to further advance Xaxis’ innovative programmatic solutions, including digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising and proprietary Artificial Intelligence technology. He has previously worked with Astro and Mobme Asia.

Arshan Saha, Xaxis CEO, Asia Pacific said Menon’s “deep expertise combined with GroupM’s cutting-edge AI in programmatic and creativity will bring incredible value to the operations in Malaysia”.

Chanchal Chakrabarty, GroupM CEO, Malaysia, added, “Xaxis represents the silver bullet in AI and programmatic, and the Malaysian market is ripe with opportunity to target audiences digitally. I have confidence that Menon’s leadership will further elevate our team towards our global goal of making advertising work better for people.”

Menon said, “I am excited to grow Xaxis and INCA’s business in Malaysia. The agencies have been producing some of the most exciting programmatic and influencer marketing solutions for years now and there is clearly phenomenal room for growth in the Malaysian market. I look forward to building and scaling the agencies to even greater heights and delivering exception value for our clients.”