MUMBAI: Coca-Cola general manager marketing Madhvi Pahwa will be joining Group M as director training, South Asia in mid-January 2006.

She will be based in Delhi and will have additional responsibility for consumer insights, focusing on Maxus and MEC clients.
 
An alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad, Pahwa joined P&G and worked as a brand manager for a couple of years before moving to Coke. During her nine year stint with Coke, she has handled several key assignments, spanning marketing, research, media and business planning. She also played a key role in shaping the media product at Coke, a responsibility she currently handles, along with managing brand Coke, Diet Coke and Fanta.

 
 
Group M South Asia CEO Ashutosh Srivastava said, "We look forward to Madhvi coming on board, and help us improve our overall capability and client focus. We have an ambitious training program for our region and were looking for the right person to help roll it out."

Group M India recently launched its training programme for the coming year, christened M-GuruKool, under the Aspire program that runs across the region. In an industry where talent management is becoming the key differentiator between agencies, this project is seen as an important step in grooming talent and helping lift the quality of service.