HUL's Sudhanshu Vats is Group CEO of Viacom18

Viacom18 Media today appointed Sudhanshu Vats as its Group chief executive, effective August. Vats will be reporting to the Viacom18 board and will be responsible for growth of all Viacom18 brands/businesses, comprising Colors, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Sonic, Vh1 and Viacom18 Motion Pictures in the country.

An HUL veteran, Vats has worked with Unilever in various capacities in the country and is currently vice-president for laundry, South Asia and global brand Radiant, called 'Rin' in India. Vats has spent over 19 years Unilever/HUL across sales, customer development, marketing and general management with P&L responsibility, working on many popular brands like Surf Excel, Rin, Vim, Wheel, Lifebuoy, Lux and Lipton. Announcing the appointment, Network18 Group founder Raghav Bahl said, "given Vats' rich experience, his ability to lead large businesses and his acute understanding of the Indian diaspora, he is well poised to lead Viacom18 into its next phase of growth." Network18 and TV18 Group chief executive Sai Kumar said, "We are confident of him driving each of the Viacom18 brands to its deserved place in the category." The 44-year-old Vats had also worked with Castrol for about two years, where he headed marketing and was instrumental in the Castrol Master Brand re-launch. (Note: Web18, which owns Moneycontrol.com and Indiaearnings.com, belongs to the Network 18 Group).