Nitin Mantri
Regional Executive Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, WE and Group CEO, Avian WE
Regional Executive Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, WE and Group CEO, Avian WE
Nitin Mantri is a dynamic leader in the world of communications. He is the Group CEO of Avian WE and President of International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO). He is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and Co-Chair of PRCA Asia Pacific and PRCA Ethics Council. He was the president of the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) from 2015 to 2020.
Nitin joined Avian WE (then known as Avian Media) as its CEO in 2006. The firm was then two years old and operated out of an apartment in Delhi with 10 employees and a handful of clients. In a few years, Nitin set the template for year-on-year growth. Today Avian has close to 400 employees across five offices in India. Its key clients include Amazon, Deloitte, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Pernod Ricard, Philips, Reckitt, Samsung, Sony India, Rockefeller Foundation, Microsoft and VMware.
Nitin’s experience of over two decades in diverse sectors and his ability to mitigate crisis and train the C-suite in managing the media helped Avian win clients for life. Nitin and his business partner also founded Chase India, now a subsidiary of Avian WE, in 2011 to work on public policy mandates for Indian and multinational companies. Before joining Avian, Nitin worked at Brodeur/Pleon (now Ketchum), a Europe-based public relations and communications consultancy that belongs to the Omnicom Group in London. He was responsible for Pleon’s UK operations and headed the corporate and technology B2B practices. Nitin began his communications career at Genesis PR (now BCW) after completing his MBA at the Birla Institute of Management Technology.
Nitin has a keen interest in the development of the public relations industry. During his tenure as the PRCAI president, he focused on improving the public perception of the profession in India. As president of ICCO, Nitin is making the global PR industry relevant to different markets and potential talent.
Nitin regularly speaks at the AMEC Global Summit, ICCO Global Summit and Sabre Awards. He teaches and charts course syllabuses at prominent mass communications colleges in India to increase awareness about the profession at the grass-roots level. He is on the advisory board of the School of Communications and Reputation (SCoRe), an institute dedicated to the development of education and research in reputation management.
In recognition of his notable contribution to Avian WE, ICCO and the industry, Nitin was recognized with the Provoke News Individual Achievement SABRE Award at the Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards in September 2021. In 2015, he had received the Global PR Leader of the Year Award at the ICCO Global Awards.
Nitin lives in New Delhi with his wife and two children.
Awards
Hall of Fame Inductee, ICCO Global, Dec. 1, 2022
Individual Achievement SABRE Award, PRovoke, Aug. 30, 2021
Speakerships & Events
Latest WE Brands in Motion Report on India Brands and Consumers, Speaker, Spectra, Nov. 25, 2022
ICCO Global Summit 2021: Embracing the Future, Keynote Speaker, ICCO, Nov. 17th, 2021
A New Perspective on Leadership Webcast, Speaker & Author, PRWeek, May 20, 2021
PRCA International Summit to Focus on PR Without Borders, Speaker, PRovoke, March 11, 2021
Rethinking the Purpose and Meaning of Leadership Webinar, Speaker, PRWeek, April 21, 2021
Asia-Pacific Insights, Challenges & Opportunities Panel, Panelist, ICCO Summit 2020, Nov. 4, 2020
Purpose Driven Work Puts Humanity First & Brand Benefits Second, Speaker, PRovokeGlobal, Oct. 23, 2020
The Way Forward: Communicating with Humanity, Speaker, PRovokeGlobal, Oct. 23, 2020
Pitch Perfect: How PR Companies Are Adapting to the New Normal, Interviewee, The Hindu, Aug. 21, 2020
Rebuilding Your Brand Post COVID-19, Speaker, ICCO PR, July 8, 2020
Preparing for the "New Normal" as Communicators, Speaker, PRCA International Summit, May 20, 2020
Winning in India - Going Beyond the Metros for Growth in India, Speaker, Mumbrella360 Asia, Nov. 7, 2019
Articles
The Evolving Tenets of Public Health Communication, afaqs, Nov. 21, 2022
The New Age Leader: Leading from the Heart, ET Brand Equity, Aug. 27, 2021
Communication, the Best Shot for Vaccination, The Hindu BusinessLine, May 7, 2021
Blogs
How Comms Reaches Audiences in a Chaotic World, June 23, 2022
4 Trends Defining the Future of PR in 2022, Feb. 7, 2022
Time to Get Inoculated Against Misinformation, April 20, 2021
Thrive: 2021's Business Imperative, Feb. 4, 2021
Powering Through Crisis With Purpose, Sept. 2, 2020
Building a Purpose-Led Brand in India, Dec. 7, 2018
