Brands
P&G pledges Rs 50 crore for vaccine doses, as Covid2019 batters India
Mumbai: As India struggles to combat the record spike in Covid2019 cases, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced on Monday that it will contribute towards the vaccination of over five lakh Indian citizens by pledging Rs 50 crore in partnership with government and local authorities in India.
For every P&G employee in India, the company will contribute towards the vaccination of 100 Indians, it said. The FMCG major said it will also cover the vaccination cost of its 5000+ employee force in India, and their eligible immediate family members.
With as many as 3,52,991 fresh Covid2019 cases and 2,812 deaths, India witnessed a new record high on Monday as the deadly second wave took a toll on the people. This is the fifth straight day that over three lakh cases have been recorded by the country.
P&G brands Whisper, Vicks, Pampers, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders and Pantene are partnering in this vaccination drive through their brand programs and will also continue to raise awareness on safety and hygiene in the country.
P&G Indian subcontinent CEO Madhusudan Gopalan said, “P&G is committed to playing an active role in India’s fight against Covid2019. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, through our #PGSurakshaIndia program, we have stepped up to support the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, our consumers and the communities. In the current situation and going forward, vaccines play a critical role in containing the spread of the virus.”
Contribution towards vaccines will be on top of P&G’s earmarked CSR funds for the current year. Under its #PGSurakshaIndia program, the company will also continue to donate products, in-house manufactured masks and sanitisers specially to aid frontline and essential workers who are tirelessly working to combat the spread of Covid2019.
The company said it will also continue to leverage its advertising and brand voice responsibly to increase awareness on health, safety and hygiene measures among consumers and the community.
It has so far donated more than 35 lakh health, hygiene and cleaning products (which include Whisper, Ariel, Tide, Vicks, Pampers etc) to the communities it operates in. P&G stepped up its manufacturing capabilities to produce masks and hand sanitisers to donate more than 15 lakh masks in the country’s fight against Covid2019.
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.
