40 Under 40 2022: Lalit ‘Cherry’ Kanavivatchai, Publicis Groupe

Lalit ‘Cherry’ Kanavivatchai

Chief strategy officer
Publicis Groupe
Thailand

Lalit Kanavivatchai, or Cherry, as she's fondly called across the agency, is somewhat of a marketing acrobat—diving through and balancing a variety of roles in the last ten years. The once strategic planning manager has ascended to the C-suite as the chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe Thailand. Kanavivatchai is now, as Amrita Randhawa, Publicis CEO in Singapore and SEA puts it, “a rare addition to this list, her bright mind and impact beyond her years coupled with the desire to raise those around her into the spotlight make her an amazing contributor”. 

Churning out hit after hit in an illustrious career, Kanavivatchai’s innate vision of the local and regional landscape and her solid credentials were key to winning the agency’s biggest pitches of 2022: PepsiCo and L’Oréal (performance), amounting to US$60 million in total billings. One might also chalk up the retention of the MundiPharma account to her astute leadership, strategic approach, and keen consumer insights, amounting to big dividends as the client then increased budget spend by 700%. 

Kanavivatchai deservedly earned a promotion within seven months of joining the agency. Identified as a ‘change agent’ internally, she assessed organisational gaps and conducted sessions to help management develop practical solutions with the help of global and regional resources to elevate the potential of the Groupe.

To add to her seemingly endless list of victories, earlier in her career at Mindshare, Kanavivatchai was one of the three key people in Thailand selected to join WPP’s AI Program for data and tech learning. 

In a glowing testimonial, Randhawa sings praises about her generosity of spirit, constant desire to uplift, elevate and let those around her shine. Surely Kanavivatchai’s continual mentoring efforts throughout her career to create more strategic thinkers like her can attest to this.