Anwer Khan to lead OMD Malaysia as Mayank Bhatnagar steps down

Anwer Khan (pictured left) has been appointed to lead OMD Malaysia. At the same time, Mayank Bhatnagar (pictured right), has stepped down from the role of managing director, A+M has learnt.

Khan joins OMD Malaysia from Initiative, where he was managing director, chief strategy officer, data, analytics, and MarTech lead. His appointment comes amid the ongoing integration of the global Omnicom-IPG merger, following Omnicom’s announcement of its restructure after completing its US$13.3 billion takeover on 1 December.

With over two decades of experience spanning marketing, business analytics, brand consultancy, media planning, and buying, Khan brings a blend of data fluency, creative problem-solving, and operational leadership. He has led cross-functional teams in Malaysia to drive marketing innovation, digital transformation, and consumer-centric design.

Don't miss: Darren Yuen to lead OMG Malaysia, reporting to Eileen Ooi

Prior to Initiative, Khan held senior roles including executive vice president at performance agency Reprise Digital, general manager at BPN Worldwide, and business director at Carat.

Meanwhile, Bhatnagar has been leading the agency's overall operations since November 2021, having been in the role for over four years.  Before that, he was in Mumbai leading Carat’s national digital integration as executive VP, head of west and south. Prior to that, he headed the DAN Mondelez unit dedicated in managing the Mondelez India account. Bhatnagar also held roles in Mindshare Malaysia, Lodestar Universal in Mumbai, Zenith Media Singapore, and Madison Media India. 

Bhatnagar's exit follows the departure of Winnie Chen-Head, former CEO of Omnicom Media Group (OMG) Malaysia, as the reins were handed over to Darren Yuen from IPG Mediabrands Malaysia.

Yuen is set to be the new CEO of OMG Malaysia, reporting to Eileen Ooi, who will now double hat as the executive integration lead for OMG Malaysia, alongside her new role as president of PHD APAC.

For the APAC region, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously reported that Omnicom Media APAC CEO Tony Harradine announced the agency's new leadership structure in an internal memo. He shared that overseeing the new vision will be the local market CEOs, a" leadership team that now includes perspectives from both Omnicom and IPG, combining these expertise and a shared vision for growth”.

Of all the local market leaders announced for APAC, the roles of CEO for Malaysia and Japan (Matt Ware) were taken over by IPG Mediabrands leads.

According to checks by A+M, the IPG team in Malaysia has already switched their email addresses to @mbww.com, with the word "(Omnicom)" behind their sender names.

This news also comes as Leigh Terry exits his role as CEO of IPG Mediabrands APAC as the Omnicom–IPG merger triggered a major leadership consolidation across the region.

Earlier this week, Omnicom announced that it would retire several long-established agency brands which will see the company will cut more than 4,000 jobs as part of the immediate post-merger integration.

Omnicom will formally debut the combined organisation and introduce the next generation of its Omni platform at CES 2026. Year-end earnings in February will outline integration progress and synergy expectations, followed by an Investor Day.

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James Hawkins departs IPG Mediabrands APAC as merger reshapes region
Leigh Terry exits IPG Mediabrands APAC amid Omnicom–IPG integration
Omnicom Media unveils new leadership structure for APAC