Brands
Fevicol sticks its name on Mumbai metro station in branding coup
MUMBAI, 13 March 2025 – In a brilliantly adhesive marketing move, Pidilite Industries has slapped its iconic Fevicol brand onto Marol Naka Metro Station, permanently bonding itself to one of Mumbai’s busiest commuter hubs.
The station, now officially dubbed Fevicol Marol Naka, marks the first time the adhesive giant has glued its name to public infrastructure, creating an unmissable presence in a location that sees millions of Mumbaikars pass through its gates daily.
The rebrand coincides with what would have been the 101st birthday of Pidilite’s founder, the late Balvantray Kalyanji Parekh, whose first manufacturing facility stood a stone’s throw from the station – a connection that company bigwigs were keen to cement.
“At Pidilite, we believe in building lasting bonds,” said managing director Bharat Puri in what must surely rank as the most on-brand statement ever delivered. “This initiative brings immense pride to our employees who frequent this station daily.”
The station makeover, which reportedly cost Pidilite a packet that would make even Mumbai’s eye-watering property prices look reasonable, includes playful artwork featuring the brand’s legendary humorous advertisements that have stuck in the nation’s collective consciousness for decades.
For commuters accustomed to Mumbai’s famously packed trains, the irony of being sandwiched together in carriages sponsored by the country’s most famous adhesive won’t be lost.
Madison’s outdoor media specialists MOMS orchestrated the deal, with CEO Jayesh Yagnik noting that metro stations offer brands “an effective and meaningful targeted audience.”
Times OOH – which is the the sole concessionaire of Mumbai Metro Line1 – COO Rohit Chopra was quite cock-a-hoop about the station branding. Said he: “ Times OOH is committed to delivering impactful brand experiences through high-visibility transit media solutions. We are confident that this station will prove to be a valuable addition to the brand’s marketing initiatives.”
Industry insiders suggest this high-visibility gambit could trigger a rush of copycat deals, as brands scramble to paste their identities onto Mumbai’s expanding metro network before the best stations are taken. Chopra is surely going find himself busy fielding proposals.
For now, Fevicol has ensured that its relationship with Mumbai’s commuters will be exactly what its products promise: impossible to separate.
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.
