MAM
BBDO appoints Varun Mehta as senior creative director
MUMBAI: BBDO India has roped in Varun Mehta as its senior creative director – special projects.
Mehta returns to advertising after an 18-month-long sabbatical and will be based in Mumbai.
Says Josy Paul, “BBDO India will leverage Varun‘s strengths as a conceptualiser, copywriter, photographer, illustrator, QuarkXPressor and sculptor!”
Mehta started his career in advertising in 1999 as a copywriter with O&M (Ogilvy & Mather), where he worked for nearly three-and-a-half years. There he worked on various accounts including Orange, World Gold Council and Asian Paints.
After that, Mehta had a short spell of about eight months with McCann Erickson. He then moved on to TBWA India where he worked for about two years, and handled clients such as Samsonite, BPL Mobile and Indian Oil.
Mehta has also worked with Rediffusion DY&R and Mudra.
Paul further adds, “Like cricketer Harbhajan Singh, we expect Varun to throw a few ‘doosras‘, and create some surprising solutions for our client‘s brand problems. He will translate marketing objectives into creative strategies and help in production and marketing collateral.”
Brands
Hocco crosses Rs 530cr revenue in two years
Sauce.vc-led Rs 100cr raise values ice cream brand at Rs 2,500cr pre-money as quick commerce hits 20 per cent of sales.
MUMBAI: Hocco has just scooped a seriously sweet milestone crossing the Rs 530 crore revenue mark in just two full years of operations. The fast-growing Indian ice cream and indulgence brand announced it has raised Rs 100 crore in fresh capital led by Sauce.vc. The round values the company at Rs 2,500 crore pre-money and underscores investor confidence in its rapid scale and distinctive India-first approach.
Founder Ankit Chona said the brand’s success stems from solving real Indian challenges extreme summer heat, fragmented cold chains and culturally rooted tastes. “In India, product development doesn’t end in the lab. It only ends when it survives the street,” he noted. This philosophy has produced viral hits such as Aamchi mango ice cream, BIX cake-sponge sandwiches, the Oh cone and culturally relevant collaborations like Haldiram’s Barfi and festive Modak specials.
Hocco currently operates manufacturing facilities in Ahmedabad and Panipat with a production capacity of approximately 3 lakh litres per day, running near full capacity in peak season. The fresh capital will help expand this to around 4.5 lakh litres per day.
Quick commerce has emerged as a major growth engine, now contributing ~20 per cent of overall business and growing nearly 2x year-on-year. The channel has boosted product discovery, increased consumption frequency and helped extend ice cream beyond its traditional seasonal limits.
Sauce.vc founder Manu Chandra said, “At Sauce, we believe that when you chance upon an outlier business, you double down with stronger conviction. We see Hocco as just that.”
With a strong innovation pipeline, deeper distribution and continued focus on cultural relevance, Hocco is entering its third year aiming to capture even more mind space and market share. In a category long dominated by legacy players, this young brand is proving that the coolest way to win is to build for India’s realities, one scoop, one street and one satisfied craving at a time.
