Kinnect, part of Omnicom Advertising India, has appointed Shipra Chinchankar as National Planning Director. She will lead the agency’s planning function nationally and report to Chandni Shah, CEO of Kinnect & 22feet.
A planning leader with deep brand roots
Chinchankar brings more than 19 years of strategy and planning experience, having worked at erstwhile FCB Ulka, JWT and Lowe Lintas. Her experience spans brand architecture, market launches and business growth across categories, with brands including Amul, Tata Teleservices, TCS, Good Knight and Parag Milk Foods.
A 13-year stint at erstwhile Lowe Lintas took her across Unilever’s portfolio, including Surf Excel, Vim, Glow & Lovely and Knorr. Her career highlights include Surf Excel’s Ramzan and Holi campaigns, the launch of Hershey’s chocolate portfolio in India, the revitalisation of Complan and the launch of Prudential Health.
Why the planning role matters now
The appointment lands as Kinnect develops integrated, multi-platform brand solutions across brand building, commerce, content and technology. The agency is betting that stronger strategic thinking will help it turn that convergence into clearer, more decisive brand work.
At Kinnect, the planning role is being positioned as a bridge between classic brand-building principles and the speed of contemporary media. That dual remit reflects a broader agency push to strengthen strategic thinking nationally.
Chandni Shah said the agency sees strategy as central to its next chapter of growth, adding that “organisations that turn complexity into decisive strategic action will have the advantage.”
For marketing professionals, the move is a useful signal: agencies are pairing platform-native speed with legacy brand-planning depth to win more integrated mandates. The phrase “new-age media and multi-platform brand building” sits at the centre of the brief. For clients, that can mean clearer brand logic before creative execution, rather than content built only for the algorithm.
- Chinchankar will lead national planning and strengthen brand and business perspective across Kinnect’s work.
- Her 19-year career spans FCB Ulka, JWT and Lowe Lintas, with deep Unilever experience.
- The hire signals a sharper strategic approach as brand, commerce, content and technology converge.
What marketers should watch
Chinchankar described Kinnect as a natural next step after almost two decades in strategy. She said the opportunity is to bring experience in understanding people, brands and business into “the world of new-age media and multi-platform brand building.” Her stated goal is to combine strategic rigour with new-age creativity to create lasting value, not just momentary engagement.
That framing matters for agency leaders and clients alike. As media and commerce blur, planning-led narratives are likely to shape briefs, pitches and creative output. Expect Kinnect’s integrated campaigns to push for a sharper brand point of view and clearer business logic behind platform-native ideas.
Marketers reviewing agency partners could ask how planning depth shows up in the work: is the brand idea durable across platforms, and does the creative solve a business problem? Agency leaders can make similar hires matter by putting strategists in front of clients early, not only during creative reviews.
Source: MediaNews4U
