Pantaloons ex-CMO Zahid Shaikh joins Motivator to head its South Ops

Motivator has brought on board Zahid Shaikh, former CMO of Pantaloons, as Head of its South Operations. In this role, he will focus on three key areas – building a comprehensive product portfolio, drive growth and enhance capability in Data, CRM, retail, marcom effectiveness and business performance.

Shaikh joins Motivator from United Breweries, where he was responsible for Data Analytics to primarily optimise business results for the company. Prior to United Breweries, he was CMO, Pantaloons, where he transformed the brand, which was initially perceived as a male brand, to a unisex brand. He worked closely with Pantaloons stakeholders and Kishore Biyani’s Future Group to build a fashion image for the brand. Shaikh comes in with rich Marketing, Communication, Retail, CRM, Data and business experience.

Commenting on Shaikh’s appointment, V Narayanan, Chief Growth Officer, Motivator, said, “Over the last year, we have focused on bringing in the brightest and most diverse talent into Motivator with a vision to deliver solutions that drive clients, business performance and growth. We have created a team of partners who work closely with clients on not only their core media and advertising opportunities, but also delve deeper to understand and contribute positively by addressing their business challenges. Zahid, who comes with a wider business and marcom experience, is the fifth key hire over the last six months.”

Speaking on his new role, Shaikh said, “What excited me the most about this opportunity is Motivator’s client centricity and performance orientation. Enabled with a strong foundation from GroupM and access to domain expertise in media and marketing, Motivator has a proven record of accomplishment to drive our clients’ business in a unique way. I look forward to working with our brilliant team and roster of clients in the South.”