Brands
Trent Ltd’s Ad Spend at Rs 8.56 crore in Q3-2014
BENGALURU: The Tata group’s department store operator Trent Limited spent the second highest amount of Rs.8.56 crores in Q3-2014 amongst the preceding seven quarters towards advertising and sales promotion (Ad Spend). Earlier, during Q3-2013 the company had an ad Spend of Rs 10.16 crore, the highest across seven quarters from Q1-2013 to Q3-2014. (Note : Rs 1 crore = Rs.100 Lakhs = Rs 10 million = Rs.100,00,000).
Trent Limited was established in 1998 as a part of the Tata group. It operates the retail store chain Westside. In 2004 the company ventured into the hypermarket business with Star Bazaar. Also, Trent Ltd acquired a 76 per cent stake in the books and music retail store chain Landmark.
In terms of percentage of Operating Income (Op Inc), Trent Ltd Ad Spend shows a downward linear trend. In Q3-2014, Ad Spend was 3.30 per cent of Op Inc., while in the year ago quarter it was 3.94 per cent (the highest in terms of value and percentage of Op Inc over the seven quarters under consideration). Trent Ltd., lowest quarterly Ad Spend was in Q4-2013 at Rs 4.02 crores.
However, despite the downward linear trend in Ad Spend in terms of percentage of Op Inc, in value or rupee terms, the linear trend is upwards because of the increase in Op Inc. Please refer to Figures A and B.
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The company’s PAT too is moving upwards linearly, both in terms of percentage of Op Inc as well as in rupee or value terms. The company reported the highest PAT across the seven quarters under consideration in Q3-2014 at Rs 23.49 crore, while the lowest PAT across the seven quarters was in Q2-2013 at a shade under Rs 9 crore. (Refer Figure B below)
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As mentioned above, the company’s Op Inc has been moving linearly upwards, with the quarter ended December 2013 reporting the highest figure at Rs 282.43 crore, while the lowest Op Inc reported during the seven quarters under consideration was in Q1-2013 at Rs 218.71 crore. Correspondingly, the company’s Total Expenses (Tot Exp) figure is also following a linear upwards trend and Tot Exp has been highest at Rs 268.95 crore in Q2-2014 and the lowest in Q1-2013 at Rs 214.44 crore. Please refer to Figure C below.
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Figure D shows the Q-o-q change in Op Inc, PAT and Ad Spend. The change in Q1-2013 is in relation to Q4-2012.
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Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
