MAM
Gupshup hires marketing leader Salim Ali as chief marketing officer
Mumbai: Gupshup, the leading Conversation Cloud, announced the appointment of Salim Ali as chief marketing officer (CMO). Based in Silicon Valley, Salim will lead full stack marketing across the entire value chain, and across all routes to market. He comes with close to three decades of experience and will be supporting Gupshup’s global growth and expansion with an expansive suite of solutions that comprise the Gupshup Conversation Cloud.
Having led large and globally dispersed teams, Salim brings deep marketing experience, building and scaling business lines across large enterprises and startups. In his previous role, Salim was the chief marketing officer at WordPress VIP, where he was running all things marketing from amplifying the WordPress brand voice, product marketing, new demand to industry and customer marketing. Before WordPress VIP, he held senior roles at the likes of SAP, Avalara, and Veritas Technologies, managing global teams across North America, LatAm, UK/EU, MENA, and APJ Markets.
At Gupshup, he will be at the helm of crafting a compelling and inspiring brand and platform story for the company’s key audience cohorts, scaling global demand generation, and amplifying customer marketing efforts by building out and expanding key GTM capabilities. This includes industry marketing, value messaging, ROI-based storytelling, and marketing operations- necessary for global coverage and accelerated growth.
“I am excited to welcome Salim to Gupshup as we further strengthen our very capable marketing leadership. His established expertise in accelerating enterprise digital experiences across global markets will be instrumental in propelling our growth. I am confident that he’ll fit in well with our culture and help take marketing to the next level, driving great impact with customers and investors alike”, said Gupshup CEO & co-founder Beerud Sheth.
Ali said, “I’m thrilled to join Gupshup at this stage of global growth. It’s an exciting phase for us as brands across the globe are investing in direct, contextual and immediate conversation capabilities to accelerate marketing, sales and CS imperatives. The 45,000+ brands powered by Gupshup is a sneak peek into how 1:1 conversations at scale is the inevitable future.”
Salim holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, and an M.S in Computer Science from Louisiana State University. He is an ardent movie buff with equal love for Hollywood and Bollywood creations.
MAM
Hyphen launches sunscreen campaign featuring Kriti Sanon as SPF Police
Campaign drives SPF habit; Blinkit tie-up enables instant sunscreen delivery.
MUMBAI: No SPF, no mercy Kriti Sanon is out patrolling your skincare routine. Hyphen has rolled out a new campaign film starring its Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer Kriti Sanon, who steps into a playful alter ego as the brand’s “SPF Police”, turning sunscreen reminders into a full-blown public service announcement with a wink. The campaign kicked off with a cheeky social media tease suggesting Sanon had “stepped down” from her role, sparking chatter online before the brand revealed the twist: she hasn’t gone anywhere, she has simply taken on an additional avatar, one dedicated to ensuring people do not skip sunscreen.
The film leans into humour to drive home a serious point. In a slice-of-life setting, Sanon intercepts a gym-goer about to step out without sunscreen, promptly handing over Hyphen’s ‘All I Need Sunscreen’, which arrives instantly via Blinkit. The message is clear: forgetting SPF is no longer a valid excuse when it can be delivered in minutes.
Beyond the laughs, the campaign taps into a well-known gap in everyday skincare habits. Sunscreen, despite being one of the most recommended steps, is often the most ignored. By gamifying the reminder through an “SPF Police” persona, Hyphen aims to turn a routine into a reflex.
The multi-stage rollout from intrigue-led teasers to the final film has been designed to spark conversation while embedding the brand into daily behaviour. It also spotlights Hyphen’s quick commerce partnership with Blinkit, positioning accessibility as a key enabler of consistency.
Sanon, who remains closely involved in product development and brand strategy, noted that the idea stemmed from a simple insight: skincare works best when it is easy, habitual and hard to ignore. The campaign reflects that philosophy equal parts science, storytelling and a nudge you cannot quite escape.
The film is now live across Hyphen and Blinkit’s digital platforms, with further activations expected to extend the campaign’s reach and perhaps keep the SPF Police on duty a little longer.
