Brands
Max Marketing marks 10 years of redefining film promotions in India
MUMBAI: India loves a blockbuster but in the last decade, it wasn’t just films making waves, it was the campaigns behind them. This August, Max Marketing & Innovations, the brainchild of Varun Gupta, marked 10 years of rewriting the rules of film promotion in India, turning over 150 releases into cultural moments. From concerts that made characters come alive to billboards that became landmarks, Max’s decade-long playbook is a masterclass in spectacle. For Kabir Singh, they staged a live concert; for Satya Prem Ki Katha, they turned a white heart emoji into a trending symbol of love and acceptance. In Ayodhya, they even unfurled a 50-ft poster at Ram Ki Paidi, creating a historic fusion of cinema and sacred space.
Actors and filmmakers have been unanimous in their applause. Ranveer Singh calls Max’s campaigns “spectacle-making,” Tabu says they’re “always fresh, always impactful,” while Vishal Bhardwaj insists that “promotion today is as much storytelling as the film itself and Max weaves that magic.” From Anil Kapoor to Sooraj Barjatya, Kabir Khan to JP Dutta, the chorus is the same: Max doesn’t just market films, it creates memories.
Their portfolio reads like a greatest hits playlist: RRR, Animal, Article 370, Major, Padman, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Hanuman, all stamped with the agency’s flair for scale and innovation. Beyond splashy stunts, Max has championed inclusivity too, with campaigns like the “Common Man’s Campaign” that put films on autos, buses, and metro hoardings, ensuring cinema met audiences in their daily grind.
Reflecting on the milestone, Gupta says: “From day one, our aim was to craft experiences, not campaigns. The next ten years are about pushing boundaries further, creating stories that outlast opening weekends.”
As Max steps into its second decade, the stage is set for an even bigger act where cinema, technology, and culture collide. If the last 10 years proved anything, it’s this: when Max is in the picture, the marketing itself is part of the show.
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.
