Brands
Cashify onboards Rajkummar Rao as brand ambassador
Mumbai: Re-commerce marketplace Cashify on Tuesday announced that it has brought on board Rajkummar Rao as its first brand ambassador. The actor has signed a multi-year contract with the company and he will promote the products across digital media platforms through campaigns and promotional activities exclusively for the smartphone buyback category.
The association with the actor comes at a time when the company is on a business expansion spree from online to offline, after having recently raised $15 million from Olympus Capital and has acquired UniShop to diversify its omni category services to users.
The company said the partnership is expected to give a strong face to the brand’s philosophy as Rao personifies the brand ethos, which is reliability, responsiveness, approachability, and dynamic personality.
“Rao is an exemplar of a self-made actor, someone who is extremely versatile in his choice of work and roles, delivering credible, authentic content for audiences. His story is an inspiration to the ‘aam aadmi’ of India and resonates with the spirit of our brand and aims to engender the same level of trust and dependability in our products and services,” said Cashify CEO and co-founder Mandeep Manocha.
Manocha said at Cashify all refurbished devices go through multiple checks before making it to the end-user who gets a six-month warranty benefit as well. “We as a brand are constantly pushing the boundaries, as we aspire to be relevant and truly connect with our customers, much like the renowned actor,” he added.
Speaking about the brand association, Rao said, “With the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of a distributed workforce and distance learning became a reality. Work, studies, and shopping all shifted to digital and have pushed users to buy second-hand gadgets but there were people who could not afford it. Cashify efforts in democratising technology by making it accessible to all by its various campaigns are commendable. As a brand ambassador, I seek for brands that I relate to and can be impactful for, and this partnership makes me fulfill that very purpose.”
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.
