Hindustan Pencils names Aishwarya Shinod head of marketing

MUMBAI: Hindustan Pencils has appointed Aishwarya Shinod as head of marketing, tapping a seasoned FMCG leader to steer brand transformation across its flagship stationery labels, Apsara and Nataraj.

Shinod will lead brand, marketing and consumer strategy for the company’s portfolio, with a brief to sharpen cultural relevance and deepen emotional connect with younger consumers while preserving the brands’ legacy appeal.

She brings nearly two decades of experience in building consumer brands, with senior roles at Unilever, Nestlé, Kellogg’s and Freudenberg Gala Household Products. Her expertise spans brand strategy, integrated marketing, innovation and purpose-led storytelling, underpinned by a strong consumer-first approach.

In previous roles, Shinod led several high-profile brand transformations, including the repositioning of Pepsodent across South Asia at Unilever and the ”Why Just Clean Home’ campaign at Gala, which helped double the brand’s topline over four years. She has also served on industry juries such as the Effies, Emvies and Indian Content Marketing Awards.

Commenting on her appointment, Shinod said joining Hindustan Pencils was an opportunity to reimagine brands that are deeply embedded in Indian school memories and make them relevant for the next generation through insight-led marketing.

Founded in 1958, Hindustan Pencils is India’s largest primary school stationery manufacturer, producing about 8.5 million pencils a day alongside sharpeners, erasers, scales and pens from its manufacturing units. The company said the appointment underlines its focus on building future-ready brands anchored in nostalgia but aligned with changing consumer expectations.