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.
Brands
Robin Thadathil named chief human resources officer at P&G India
Insider steps up as CHRO, bringing 16 years of global HR leadership
SINGAPORE: Procter & Gamble has named Robin Thadathil as its new chief human resources officer, effective 1 April, marking a smooth internal transition at one of the country’s largest FMCG players.
Thadathil succeeds PM Srinivas, stepping into the role after more than 16 years within the company. A seasoned insider, he has built a career that stretches across Asia and the United States, with a steady rise through some of P&G’s most complex HR assignments.
Most recently, he served as senior director human resources, based in Singapore, where he led HR for the company’s site and country cluster spanning Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Before that, he was human resources director for the club and Amazon teams and the Seattle site, overseeing a business worth over $8 billion and partnering closely with senior leadership.
His earlier stints include managing director human resources for supply chain and manufacturing plants in Indonesia, where he led large teams across hair care and fabric care operations, and regional HR leader for product supply in south east asia, managing talent and organisational strategy across multiple markets.
Thadathil’s journey at P&G began in Singapore, where he held roles such as associate manager, asia HR operations and HR business partner across Asean markets, steadily building expertise in talent management, compensation strategy and organisational design.
Educated at Nanyang Technological University, where he earned both his engineering degree and a master’s in international political economy, Thadathil brings a blend of analytical rigour and global perspective to his new role.
He takes on the role at a time when Procter & Gamble continues to strengthen its presence in India.
