MAM
Soumitra Karnik joins Dentsu India as NCD
MUMBAI: Dentsu India Group has appointed Soumitra Karnik as national creative director.
Karnik joins Dentsu India from his creative consultancy company.
Dentsu India executive chairman Rohit Ohri said, “Soumitra is a truly gifted creative and great leader. He will partner the creative leaders at Dentsu India and me to take our creative product to the next level. Soumitra believes in integrated communication solutions and as a key member of the India leadership team, I see him helping us effectively deliver this core Dentsu belief to our clients.”
On his new role Karnik said, “As far as my role is concerned, my first priority shall be to build a solid network of talented creative teams across Dentsu companies and to create a ‘boredom-less’ and fearless creative culture. I will also partner our clients in developing thought leadership and strategic superiority in their respective markets by the process of collaboration and co-creation.”
“We have pressed the ‘Refresh’ button at Dentsu and are pretty serious about being the very best, both for our clients as well as our own people. We want to be known as a place with a large heart where people with great minds work. And I can certainly promise a lot of action around us in the coming times,” Karnik added.
Karnik brings in over 20 years of experience. Prior to this he has worked with JWT, Delhi. In his over 11 years with JWT, he worked on brands like PepsiCo, Nestle, Hero Honda, Sony, GSK, Congress and Airtel. Among the campaigns he is known for creating include ‘Youngistaan’ for Pepsi, ‘Aamsutra’ for Slice, ‘Yaari ki Gaadi’ for Hero Honda and ‘Dil jo chahe paas laaye’ for Airtel to name a few.
He has also worked with small sized ad agency Pace, Percept, Lintas.
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
