MAM
Infectious Advertising appoints Vinu V Krishna as creative head
Mumbai: Infectious Advertising, an integrated independent agency, on Wednesday announced the appointment of Vinu V Krishna as creative head with immediate effect. Krishna was previously associated with Nichemind as creative director.
Krishna comes with over 15 years of experience as a copywriter having worked extensively on print and digital for brands like The Week, Federal Bank, Google, Yahoo!, Manorama Group, and GMR. He has worked with leading ad agencies like JWT, DDB, and 1pointsize. He has won major awards at AdStars and Big Bang Awards – Bangalore Advertising Club.
“The hiring of Vinu would easily be one of the most long-drawn recruitments in the history of advertising,” Infectious Advertising, director & co-founders, Nisha Singhania and Ramanuj Shastry said in a joint statement. “We interviewed him in a pub in Bangalore in 2018 and told him we liked him, and he joined Infectious in 2021! But as they say – it’s better late than never. It took a pandemic and WFH to finally get a top Bangalore writer to join us.”
“Infectious has a legacy of doing cutting-edge work in the digital space since its inception. And the culture nurtured by Ramanuj and Nisha is conducive to do clutter-breaking work,” Krishna said. “Infectious is a place where creativity, technology and data all come together to solve real business problems.”
Brands
Nestlé weighs trimming ice cream footprint and Froneri stak
Swiss giant reviews options including stake cut in €15bn JV as it eyes higher-margin focus post-Unilever split.
MUMBAI: Nestlé is melting down its ice cream ambitions or at least scooping back a few spoonfuls amid a strategic review that could see it slim its stake in blockbuster joint venture Froneri. According to a Bloomberg report published 18 February 2026, the Swiss food and beverage powerhouse is mulling a reduced presence in the global ice cream segment. Options on the table include trimming its holding in Froneri, the joint venture with private equity firm PAI Partners that houses crowd-pleasers like Häagen-Dazs, Mövenpick, and Rowntree’s or even shifting some of Nestlé’s remaining wholly owned ice cream operations into the JV.
Discussions remain fluid, with no final decisions locked in and no guarantee of any transaction materialising. One scenario has PAI Partners boosting its ownership if Nestlé pulls back, while another could see the Swiss group offloading a portion of its stake to an existing investor like the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
Froneri itself got a hefty valuation boost in October (likely 2025), when Goldman Sachs and ADIA poured in fresh capital, pegging the business at around €15 billion (about $17.69 billion). The move turned heads in the sector, especially as Unilever spun off its ice cream arm last year into the now-independent Magnum Ice Cream Company freeing both giants to chase sunnier, higher-margin pastures.
Nestlé’s rethink, reportedly overseen by new CEO Philipp Navratil as he sifts through the company’s vast portfolio, mirrors broader industry trends: consumer giants are sharpening focus on core strengths amid shifting tastes and profitability pressures. Ice cream might be delicious, but it’s not always the creamiest part of the balance sheet.
Whether this ends in a stake sale, JV expansion, or just more pondering, the frozen dessert world could soon see another ownership shake-up. For now, Nestlé isn’t screaming “last orders” but it’s definitely checking the freezer temperature.
