MAM
HUL partners UNICEF to support India’s fight against COVID-19
MUMBAI: Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has announced a collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to undertake a mass communication campaign and inform and empower the general public against COVID-19. The campaign brings together the marketing expertise and scale of HUL and the technical knowledge of UNICEF to create engaging communication tools that can help people change behaviours and stay safe during this time of the pandemic.
HUL had also recently committed Rs 100 crore towards helping India fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the campaign, it is rolling out many initiatives to ensure citizens across the country have access to essential products such as soaps, sanitizers and toilet cleaners.
The mass media campaign, titled ‘#BreakTheChain’ / #VirusKiKadiTodo’, will have simple yet powerful five- and 15-second informative assets to empower the general public with prevention strategies to protect themselves against COVID-19. Based on three key themes, social distancing, handwashing and generosity, the campaign will generate these short informative assets across India through television, news portals and prominent social media channels.
Hindustan Unilever chairman and MD Sanjiv Mehta said, “The need of the hour is simple and effective communication across both urban and rural India to help fight COVID-19 and our partnership with UNICEF aims to do just that. Furthermore, we need to come together as a nation and be supportive of each other during this crisis. Our campaign will help address these challenges and at scale. Along with UNICEF, we are also committed to working with the government and making essentials like Lifebuoy soaps, hand sanitizers and Domex cleaners available across a wide geography which is the most critical need today.”
The campaign will also seek support from media organizations, macro and micro social media influencers, thought leaders and celebrities in spreading the message. The campaign communication assets will be disseminated through the extensive rural reach of both the organisations to reach the most vulnerable populations.
UNICEF India representative Dr Yasmin Ali Haque said, “COVID-19 disease has thrown up many challenges and among them is getting the right information to everyone, no matter where they live and whatever their situation, in the shortest time possible. Our partnership with Hindustan Unilever Limited is important as it leverages HUL’s communications strength as well as rural marketing outreach with UNICEF’s technical expertise and messaging. We hope that through this effort we are able to bridge the communication gaps by sharing information to contain the spread of the disease.”
During the engagement, HUL and UNICEF will also continue to explore other critical areas of collaboration that will help the country to combat the virus.
Video links:
MAM
Gurpreet Singh named President of DishTV Alumni Network
Former Dish TV executive to lead community building and collaboration.
MUMBAI: Back to the dish, but this time it’s about connections, not channels Gurpreet Singh is returning to familiar territory with a new mandate that swaps subscribers for relationships. Singh has been appointed President of the DishTV Alumni Network, a move aimed at strengthening ties among former employees and building a more engaged professional community around the Dish TV ecosystem. The initiative reflects a growing trend among large organisations to formalise alumni networks as platforms for collaboration, mentorship and business opportunities.
The appointment draws on Singh’s deep-rooted history with Dish TV, where he held multiple leadership roles over nearly a decade. As National Business Head between June 2019 and September 2020, he oversaw profit and loss as well as operations, managing revenues of Rs 6,000 crore and leading a team of around 1,250 employees across the country. His tenure included working alongside two regional business heads and 16 circle heads, underscoring the scale of operations he handled.
Prior to that, Singh served as Executive Vice President and National Head for Sales and Revenue from 2016 to 2019, and earlier as Senior Vice President and National Head for Sales and Revenue. He also briefly led international operations as Country Head for Sri Lanka, further expanding his exposure across markets.
His broader career spans leadership roles across telecom and consumer businesses, including a stint as Chief Operating Officer at Bharti Airtel’s Malawi operations, senior leadership roles at Reliance Communications, and earlier positions at Hindustan Sanitaryware and Kodak India, where he spent over a decade.
In his new role, Singh is expected to focus on reconnecting former employees, fostering collaboration, and building a structured alumni ecosystem that leverages shared experience and industry networks. As companies increasingly recognise the long-term value of their extended workforce, the DishTV Alumni Network appears set to turn nostalgia into a strategic asset, one connection at a time.
