Brands
Narayanan S appointed senior director – ecommerce at the Coca-Cola Company
anGURUGRAM: a has taken over as senior director – ecommerce at the Coca-Cola Company, marking a strategic leadership shift as the beverage giant sharpens its digital and direct-to-consumer focus in India.
The move follows a high-impact 5.5-year stint leading the on-premise business, where Narayanan S oversaw food services, cinemas, hotels and travel channels. The past two years proved especially decisive. Despite macro headwinds, the India system delivered record beverage revenue growth and earned global recognition within Coca-Cola’s international network.
Under his leadership, Coca-Cola cemented its dominance in food services and airports, deepening partnerships with McDonald’s, Rebel Foods, Jumbo King, INOX, Cinepolis, Taj, ITC and Leela Hotels. The portfolio also expanded aggressively, onboarding new alliances with Delhi Airport, Adani Airports, Popeyes, Subway, Burger King, LaPino’z Pizza, Eat Club, Domino’s, Burger Singh, Wow! Momo, Papa John’s and Biryani by Kilo.
Team building was another standout. What began in 2021 as a five-member unit has doubled to ten across two verticals, mirroring the scale and ambition of the on-premise business.
Narayanan S brings more than 13 years at Coca-Cola to the ecommerce role, with experience spanning modern trade, travel retail, organised wholesale, brand management and the company’s early B2B and B2C ecommerce initiatives. A marketeer at heart, he has previously led Minute Maid, steering multiple product launches and alternate revenue streams.
As Coca-Cola bets bigger on digital commerce, Narayanan S steps in carrying lessons in empathy, agility and execution under pressure. The brief is clear: build scale, unlock growth and keep winning — this time, one click at a time.
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.
