Brands
BlaBlaCar extends service to Brazil
MUMBAI: BlaBlaCar has expanded its service in Brazil. It is the company’s first market in South America following the launch in Mexico earlier this year.
With BlaBlaCar’s Brazilian team, based in Sao Paulo, Brazilians will have access to affordable, city-to-city, social travel options that optimize the capacity of the country’s 50 cars.
The local team is currently working on marketing and communication to help build the service’s Brazilian community of drivers and passengers looking to share the costs of long-distance travel.
BlaBlaCar COO and co-founder Nicolas Brusson said, “We’re thrilled to be launching BlaBlaCar in Brazil today and by the prospect of making city-to-city ridesharing second nature for Brazil’s 205 million inhabitants, many of whom are in need of affordable transport. BlaBlaCar is well-versed in launching and rapidly building communities in new markets, and we look forward to bringing this knowledge to Brazil with the help of a stellar local team.”
BlaBlaCar founder and CEO Frederic Mazzella added, “Today’s launch in Brazil, our second country in Latin America after Mexico, brings us one step closer to our goal of bringing a cost-effective transport alternative to all those that need it worldwide. Ridesharing is seeing phenomenal adoption on a global scale and is not only fundamentally changing the way we use our cars but is also impacting the way we relate to one another.”
“BlaBlaCar has a powerful track record of bringing ridesharing to new markets around the world, as well as pioneering features designed for improved safety, convenience and trust. We are excited to be offering Brazilians up and down the country the chance to make their long-distance journeys more enjoyable and cost-effective by sharing,” said BlaBlaCar Brazil country manager Ricardo Leite.
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.
