Brands
Peak expands international presence in NY’s Times Square
MUMBAI: The new year ushered in with good news for Peak. The Chinese sportswear brand became the first to make its presence at New York’s Times Square.
In line with its vision of creating an international brand, Peak unveiled its new advertisement featuring Tony Parker and Shane Battier dressed in traditional Chinese clothing sending their New Year’s greetings. The advertisement will greet the thousands of New Yorkers and tourists from around the world who pass through Times Square until the Chinese Lunar New Year on January 31, 2014.
Peak celebrated its 25th anniversary a day before the new campaign began airing. Peak founder Jingnan Xu said, “2014 will be the year for Peak to realise its international vision.”
After 25 years of diligent focus, Peak has accomplished a number of key fundamental goals including naming, trademark registration, enhancing quality standards, building brand image and the internationalisation of capital. Following its success in the NBA, Peak has expanded its presence and has become an official partner of FIBA, WTA and a number of other well-known international tournament organisers. The brand has signed sponsorship agreements with more than 10 NBA players including Tony Parker, Shane Battier and nearly 30 WTA players including Galina Voskoboeva.
Peak’s overseas market now covers more than 80 countries including the US, Germany and Australia, which accounts for 14.8 per cent of the total sales during the first half of 2013, making the brand leading sportswear company in China in terms of overseas sales.
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.
