Brands
IAMAI to promote new-age Indian brands
NEW DELHI: In a bid to promote new age Indian brands across segments such as food, consumer durables, electronics, fashion, FMCG, etc., IAMAI has set up a founders’ community of direct to consumer Indian brands. The unifying features of these brands are that they are digital-first, innovative, competitive, and manufacture or produce in India.
At present there are at least 100 odd such brands in the market and more are emerging every day. These brands are innovative since they cater to a younger and often first-time shopper catering to a niche demand. They are competitive as they have to compete for mindshare and shelf space with large incumbents with deep pockets. They are digital-first catering to the internet using socio-economic segments and taking advantage of the digital infrastructure that has been created in India. Finally, they invariably manufacture or produce goods in India.
The industry at present running with the “founders’ fuel” needs a collective identity to help it charter through complicated government policies and regulations; buy-in from stakeholders such as e-commerce platforms, logistics and payments industry; and also earn lasting customer trust. IAMAI is best suited to execute this three-pronged strategy.
With the help of 35 such brands, it is a small beginning of organising this potentially powerful business segment by formalising a committee. The committee is chaired by Aman Gupta, co-founder and CMO of boAt audio and co-chaired by Manish Chowdhary, co-founder of WOW Skin Science. boAt audio and WOW, Skin Science are multi-million-dollar brands and have established themselves as category leaders by championing the internet-driven business model.
“To ensure a brand continues to do well, it is almost imperative for businesses to enhance their direct to customer (D2C) channel. The model enables a brand to listen to the unfiltered voice of their customer and is a natural progression from shifting the online shoppers to buy from the brand's website and own the experience, data, and lifetime value of the customer. The committee will bring the ecosystem together, indulge in knowledge creation, and put forth the best practices in a mission to build internet-driven iconic brands” said chairman of the IAMAI D2C committee Aman Gupta.
Co-chairman, Manish Chowdhary said that the committee will jointly look towards building the consumers’ trust by engaging in better customer communication and other similar initiatives by D2C entities.
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.
