MAM
Kritika Saxena elevated to head of marketing at TCS India
MUMBAI: Five years ago, Kritika Saxena swapped the television studio for the corporate boardroom. Today, she’s got the promotion that proves it was the right call.
Saxena has been elevated to head of marketing for India at Tata Consultancy Services, stepping up from her role leading corporate communications and public relations at the IT giant. It’s the kind of career move that validates a gamble many wouldn’t dare take.
“I have often been asked if it was worth it,” Saxena shared on LinkedIn, reflecting on her 2020 switch from journalism to corporate life. “After 5 years, I have so many moments, even daily, that I can find myself saying a whole hearted yes to that question.”
In her new role, Saxena will oversee all marketing efforts across India, working to amplify TCS’s brand presence throughout the region. She’ll also helm the company’s flagship experience centre in Mumbai, a showcase space that tells the TCS story to stakeholders and visitors from around the world. Additionally, she’ll head marketing for the Public Services India and Rest of World business vertical.
The promotion comes after a successful five-year stint building TCS’s communications profile. But Saxena’s path to this moment began much earlier, in the fast-paced world of broadcast journalism.
She spent over 12 years at CNBC-TV18, rising through the ranks from senior correspondent in 2008 to chief of bureau for Mumbai and South India by 2020. During that tenure, she broke stories, anchored interviews, analysed markets, and contributed to numerous flagship shows. Before that, she cut her teeth at BBC Worldwide, The Times of India, and various other media outlets.
The transition from newsroom to corporate suite isn’t always smooth, but Saxena found a common thread. “One lesson stands out for me that is common for marketing, communications and journalism: good storytelling is at the heart of everything,” she noted.
That philosophy clearly resonated. Last year, she played a key role in launching TCS’s ‘Accelerating India’ campaign, an initiative close to her heart that she’s thrilled to continue steering in her expanded role.
Saxena was quick to credit TCS’s culture of internal growth. “I’m forever amazed at how TCS encourages growth for everyone and gives the space for career elevation and expansion in its own vast boundaries,” she said, thanking colleagues Abhinav Kumar and Girish Ramachandran for the opportunity.
It’s a reminder that career pivots, however daunting, can lead somewhere special. For Saxena, the journalist who once reported on corporate India now shapes how one of its biggest names tells its own story. Not a bad plot twist at all.
Her journey proves what many suspect but few dare test: sometimes the best stories aren’t the ones you cover, but the ones you live.
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.
