Brands
betterU ropes in Chris Gayle as brand ambassador
MUMBAI: betterU, India’s largest online marketplace for education, has announced that Chris Gayle, cricketer from the Indian Premier League (IPL), has joined betterU’s Brand Ambassador programme in the company’s effort to continue to grow awareness and draw attention to the importance and personal value of skills development through betterU’s global education marketplace.
betterU’s vision is to provide all individuals across the country with the opportunities to learn and grow. This bold initiative is in line with prime minister Modi’s mandate to skill up 500 million people by 2022. To achieve such levels of mass education, betterU understands that there is a need for a collective collaboration between global educators, industry leaders, and government as well as influential individuals such as Chris Gayle. This also aligns with the recent addition of Satnam Singh, the first NBA player to ever get drafted from India, who joined betterU back in late 2016. Part of betterU’s ongoing strategy is to continue to create awareness to the value of life-time learning and the ongoing need for personal advancement of one’s skills.
Gayle and the CEO of betterU both came from backgrounds in which they struggled with access to quality education. Yet even through these limiting moments, their dedication, persistence and a passion to become more, resulted in both growing to become leaders in their respective fields. “When Chris and I met in Bangalore many months back, I realized the value he could bring to betterU because of his appreciation and understanding towards the value of education along with his love of India, made us immediate partners. Everyone has the right to education, but the realities are that not everyone has access to it, whether that be due to their physical location, affordability, connection to technology, or fear of the unknown. I am excited to welcome Chris to the betterU family, and for helping support betterU and India! I am also looking forward to building a life-time friendship” said Brad Loiselle, President and CEO, betterU Education Corp.
betterU and Gayle will be working on collaborative opportunities to promote the company’s content partners’ through betterU’s overall vision to support India. “I am excited to be working with Brad and betterU in the supporting of this great initiative. I have so many fans across the country that have supported me for so many years and I feel passionate about continuing to support them outside of Cricket. I love India, I love the people and I want to be part of making a global difference through opening education to all!” said Gayle.
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.
