MRUCI Elects Shailesh Gupta as Chairman & Shashank Srivastava as Vice Chairman

Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI) held its 29^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, September 26, 2023.

Mr Shailesh Gupta, Wholetime Director, Jagran Prakashan Ltd. and Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director – Sales & Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., have been unanimously elected as MRUCI’s Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. The announcement was made at MRUCI’s Board meeting which was held shortly after its AGM. 

Mr. Shailesh Gupta takes over the mantle from Mr Shashidhar Sinha, CEO- India, Mediabrands, who served as MRUCI’s Chairman for two consecutive terms i.e. from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. 

While handing over the mantle, Mr. Sinha stated, “I am happy that IRS is being revived after a gap because of Covid” 

Mr. Shailesh Gupta in his vote of thanks stated, “I’d like to thank Mr. Shashi Sinha for leading MRUCI and taking several strides forward in reviving the IRS. It will be my endeavour to help create a robust 3^rdparty research that helps all constituents and collectively takes the industry forward.” 

Two new members have also been appointed to the Board of Governors, viz:

1. Mr. Rajeev Beotra, Executive Director, HT Media Ltd.
2. Ms. Anupriya Acharya, CEO, South Asia, Publicis Groupe

Mr. 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), 201920.
• Elected as the youngest member of the Managing Committee of the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the year 200405
• Chairman, Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), 201213
• 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. 

Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer at Maruti Suzuki, is a business leader par excellence and is widely recognized as one of the most influential marketeers in India, having led and steered the Marketing & Sales function at Maruti Suzuki through its most challenging phases of covid pandemic and supply chain disruption.

In a career spanning more than 3 decades at Maruti Suzuki, Mr. Srivastava has worked in both domestic and international marketing, and has witnessed the evolution of Indian automotive industry from its nascent days to today’s hyper competitive phase.

An alumnus of the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad, in his current role, he is transforming Marketing & Sales function at Maruti Suzuki, and preparing it for the disruptive mobility ecosystem ahead. His digital transformation initiatives include making MSIL the 1^st automotive OEM globally to take vehicle bookings on Metaverse.

He is a member of various industry bodies such as:

• CII National Committee on Marketing
• Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI)
• Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA)
• Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)
• Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC)
• Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI)

For his contributions to automotive industry at large, Mr. Srivastava has been widely recognized with a slew of awards:

• Automotive Leader of the Year
• Business Leader and CMO of the year
• CMO Award for ‘disruptive marketing excellence’
• Business World India’s most influential Marketing Leaders 2023
• Impact Digital Top 100
• Financial Express Visionary Leadership
• ET Auto Retail Personality award

An avid social media user and influencer, Mr. Srivastava can be followed on the handle @shashankdrives on Twitter and Instagram.