Mindshare Malaysia has appointed managing director of Group M Vietnam and Mindshare Vietnam leader Girish Menon to succeed Rahul Thappa effective next month.

According to Mindshare Asia-Pacific leader Ashutosh Srivastava, Rahul would be leaving the agency to pursue an MBA for a year at the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad in India. He leaves for India on March 20.

“When Rahul announced his intention to pursue his MBA, it was a difficult task to find a suitable replacement who could build on his good work. In Girish, we have just that person, with an intimate knowledge of the organisation, a track record of success in new markets, and a hunger to drive Mindshare to even greater heights in Malaysia,” said Ashutosh in a statement issued on March 8.

Girish has 17 years of experience within the Mindshare group – 3 1/2 of which were spent leading Mindshare’s Vietnam operations, where he consolidated the agency’s market leadership. Rahul, who has spent 6 1/2 years in Malaysia, said he was “very nostalgic” about leaving the country, where he has “a lot of friends and a wonderful professional experience”.

“It’s tough to leave a winning team but it’s best to quit when we’re winning. I’m happy to be going as I have always wanted to take on the challenge of an MBA, which will broaden my outlook of business and the media and marketing industry,” he said in a phone interview on March 8.

Rahul said he would continue to work in the media and marketing field after his MBA. Asked about the likelihood of his returning to Malaysia, he said he would love to but would "play [it] by ear". He described Girish as “an amazing people person with an huge wealth of knowledge” and said his team would be in good hands under Girish’s leadership.