MAM
Goafest Ad Conclave theme announced
MUMBAI: The theme of this year‘s Goafest Advertising Conclave is ‘Time to Listen‘ and it will highlight the shortcomings of media and creative agencies, as perceived by major advertisers.
The conclave is being sponsored by Discovery Channel and will see 200 industry leaders drawn from marketing, advertising and media. The Advertising Conclave will be held on 4 April at Zuri White Sands, Goa from 3.30 pm to7.30 pm.
Goafest Advertising Conclave chairman Srinivasan Swamy said, “Our Conclaves always focus on issues of relevance to us. In the past we have talked about how to grow the advertising industry, or on the changing agency structure or how advertising is more than creative and media etc. In the same vein, this year we will get advertisers to tell us how we can be more relevant to their needs. The theme ‘Time to Listen‘ captures this essence.”
Goafest Advertising Conclave will have some of India‘s biggest marketers identify the areas that agencies, both creative and media, need to focus on and make suggestions to get served better.
Hindustan Unilever MD and CEO Nitin Paranjpe will deliver the keynote address at the conclave. The other industry experts that have confirmed their presence at the conclave include Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal, SBI Capital Marketers MD Arundhati Bhattacharya, and Bennett Coleman president Arunabh Das Sharma.
SKA Advisors founder and chairman Sunil Alagh will moderate a lively panel discussion with the distinguished speakers.
Goafest 2013chairman Nakul Chopra said, “The original idea of the conclave as distinct from Goafest was a forum where industry leaders could contemplate the future of our industry and come together to cooperate in improving it. True to this spirit this year it is our endeavour to make the conclave a much more potent learning experience for the industry. There is no better way to improve our future than by listening to our own customers. With a stellar cast of speakers and a potent theme this year‘s Conclave promises to be thought provoking at the very least.”
For the record, Goafest 2013 will be in its 8th edition and for the 6th consecutive year AAAI and The Advertising Club will come together to deliver India‘s premier awards that celebrate creativity.
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.
