MAM
Clinique signs Radhika Apte as first brand ambassador for India
MUMBAI: Clinique, the skin care brand has introduced Bollywood actress Radhika Apte as its first brand ambassador for India. Known for her real, natural and authentic approach to beauty, Apte exemplifies Clinique’s philosophy of empowering, inspiring and delivering happiness to women by celebrating natural beauty through great skin.
“Since its inception, Clinique has paved the way for the beauty industry in delivering innovative, high-performance skincare ahead of its time, while uploading its foundation of inspiring confidence and embracing natural beauty at the heart of everything it does”, says Estée Lauder Companies India general manager Rohan Vaziralli. “Similarly, Radhika is a trailblazer in her line of work – through the roles she portrays to empowering women to focus on inner beauty. She is fresh, dynamic, young, strong minded, natural and genuine, making her the perfect expression of Clinique. We’re delighted to welcome Radhika to the Clinique India family and am confident she will inspire millennial consumers in India and around the world.”
“What better way to start this year than with Clinique!”, says Radhika Apte. “Skin care has always been an integral part of my beauty regime alongside drinking water, staying fit and sleeping well. I’ve long admired Clinique and strongly believe in its philosophy of great skin equals happiness. Joining this family is extremely special as it’s the first time Clinique India has had a brand face, so it’s a privileged opportunity and I hope to inspire women to be real, natural and authentic in everything they do, without forgetting that beauty lies in simply being happy!”
Clinique India aims to increase brand awareness, deepen consumer engagement and drive education on the importance of good skincare habits through a series of campaigns featuring Apte in 2019. Audiences will see her appear in her first campaign for a new revolutionary moisturizer, Clinique iD™ in March 2019 followed by its cult hydrator, Moisture Surge™ in May 2019. Apte's campaigns will play across digital media, social media and in-store in India and around the world.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
