Brands
Jyothy Labs launches fabric care and insecticide products
MUMBAI: Jyothy Labs, the Indian FMCG company, has expanded its product lineup with three new offerings across its fabric care and household insecticide categories, stepping up competition in these fiercely contested market segments.
The company has introduced Ujala Young & Fresh as the latest addition to its well-established Ujala fabric care range. The new product enters India’s competitive fabric care market, estimated at over Rs 20,000 crore, where Jyothy Labs has maintained a strong position despite intense rivalry from heavyweights such as Hindustan Unilever’s Surf Excel and Procter & Gamble’s Ariel. Ujala has historically dominated the fabric whitener segment while expanding into detergents in recent years.
In the household insecticide category, Jyothy Labs has launched two specialized variants of its Maxo Knockout Spray – one formulated specifically for mosquitoes and flies, and another targeting cockroaches. These products enter a market currently dominated by SC Johnson’s All Out and Reckitt Benckiser’s Mortein, with Godrej’s Hit brand also commanding significant market share. The household insecticide market in India has seen steady growth amid increasing health consciousness and vector-borne disease concerns.
The launches come as part of Jyothy Labs’ strategy to strengthen its presence in key household categories through product differentiation, as the company seeks to maintain its competitive edge in a sector where multinational corporations continue to increase their marketing investments.
The company, which also owns brands such as Margo, Exo, and Pril, aims to leverage its strong distribution network, particularly in rural areas, to challenge its larger competitors through targeted innovations in these essential household categories.
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.
