Brands
Marketing maven Nikhil Gupta climbs the ladder at Accenture
MUMBAI: Nikhil Gupta has landed himself a plum new role as marketing manager at Accenture, capping off what must feel like a victory lap around the corporate track. The marketing maestro, who has been grinding away at the consulting behemoth for the better part of a decade, will now orchestrate campaigns across Europe and beyond from his base in Gurugram.
Gupta’s ascent through Accenture’s ranks tells the tale of shrewd corporate climbing. He spent 11 months as associate manager for opportunity-centric marketing in EMEA before snagging his latest gig in June. Prior to that, he cut his teeth as a platforms and processes strategist, helping wrangle a team of over 100 marketing mavens into shape.
The promotion caps a career that began in the trenches of digital marketing back in 2011. Gupta previously wielded his creative powers at McCann Worldgroup, where he spent two years evangelising Google’s digital platforms to chief marketing officers across India. He also did stints at boutique agencies ToThe New, Olive Global and Blue Digital Media before joining Accenture’s marketing machine in 2016.
Now ensconced in his corner office (or hybrid workspace, more likely), Gupta will be crafting “innovative, integrated strategic marketing campaigns” for Accenture’s most complex and transformational deals. Not bad for someone who started out as a digital marketer in Delhi’s agency scene over a decade ago.
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.
