VaynerMedia, the US-based company has announced its partnership with Step1 has been enhanced and has absorbed the latter to form VaynerMedia India.

This is the company's sixth office in Asia Pacific and thirteenth globally. 

VaynerMedia India will offer creative, strategy, media, and consulting, with social at the centre of it for clients in India.

Salman Moin, who was co-founder of The Social Booth till 2023, has been appointed country manager of VaynerMedia India. Moin will report to Tim Lindley, MD - APAC, VaynerMedia.

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO and co-founder, VaynerMedia, said, "India's deeply diverse cultural heritage combined with its rapidly growing economy and exploding social media landscape presents a truly unique and exciting opportunity for brands. The country's entrepreneurial spirit and diverse culture coupled with our team's passion, expertise, and VaynerMedia's attention-first philosophy –– now this is a recipe for explosiveness. I have zero doubt that Tim and Salman will lead the team to an incredibly exciting future, and I'm excited to show the Fortune 500 brands in the region how to actually build a brand in the new marketing world.”

Lindley said, “India’s entrepreneurial spirit, rapid economic growth, and thriving pop culture make it one of the most exciting markets in the world right now. It brings together deep-rooted tradition and fast-paced innovation –– the ideal conditions for dynamic brands to thrive. Modern brands the world over have leveraged the power of social media to disrupt goliath incumbents; Indian businesses leverage social media on a whole new level to disrupt global dynamics, making it the perfect place for us to deploy our ‘social at the centre’ marketing model.”

VaynerMedia was established in 2009. It entered APAC in 2019.