Brands
JioBlackRock Investment Advisers appoints Madhurita Sengupta as CMO
MUMBAI: JioBlackRock Investment Advisers has brought in a familiar marketing heavyweight to sharpen its pitch to India’s investors. Madhurita Sengupta has been appointed chief marketing officer at the wealth and advisory firm, a 50:50 joint venture between Jio Financial Services and global asset management giant BlackRock.
Sengupta will steer brand strategy, customer engagement and the digital marketing agenda as the firm builds a new, investor-first platform aimed at India’s fast-growing retail and affluent audience. Simply put, she will be the voice and feel of how JioBlackRock speaks to investors who are increasingly curious, cautious and digitally savvy.
Her appointment comes at a time when the joint venture is stepping up its ambition to make investing more accessible, transparent and centred on real customer needs, rather than jargon-heavy advice.
Sengupta brings with her nearly two decades of experience across banking, telecom and technology. Before taking on the CMO role in March 2025, she worked on special projects at Jio Financial Services. Prior to that, she led digital sales for Amazon Web Services across India and Saarc, a role that blended technology, growth and sharp customer insight.
Her earlier stints include senior leadership roles at DBS Bank, where she drove digital sales, growth marketing and customer engagement, as well as marketing positions at Vodafone and HSBC. Across these roles, she has built a reputation for combining brand storytelling with performance-led digital strategy.
An XLRI Jamshedpur alumna with a background in engineering from Jadavpur University, Sengupta’s career arc reflects a rare mix of analytical rigour and creative flair.
For JioBlackRock, the message is clear. As investing becomes more mainstream and competitive, winning hearts may matter as much as winning wallets. Sengupta’s brief is to make that conversation simpler, smarter and a lot more human.
Brands
DeVANS sparks buzz with self-chilling beer can April Fools campaign
Godfather stunt racks up 7 million impressions, blending humour with hype
NEW DELHI: DeVANS Modern Breweries has stirred up the marketing pot with a playful yet high-impact campaign teasing a futuristic “self-chilling beer can” under its flagship Godfather label.
What began as a seemingly bold product innovation quickly turned into one of the most talked-about brand moments online, before being revealed as an April Fools’ Day prank. The reveal, however, did little to cool the buzz.
The campaign clocked over 7 million organic impressions across platforms including LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and X, with users debating whether the concept was a genuine breakthrough or clever marketing theatre. Thousands of shares and comments turned the idea into a full-blown conversation, drawing in both consumers and industry insiders.
The hook was simple but effective. A self-chilling can positioned as an on-the-go convenience product tapped into the imagination of younger, urban audiences. Add the timing around April Fools’ Day, and the campaign struck the perfect balance between curiosity and scepticism, keeping audiences guessing.
Marketing experts have pointed to the campaign as a case study in leveraging cultural moments. By leaving just enough ambiguity, the brand invited audiences to participate rather than simply observe, turning passive viewers into active contributors to the narrative.
“Godfather has always been an iconic brand, but iconicity must evolve to stay meaningful,” said DeVANS Modern Breweries chairman and managing director Prem Dewan. “The ‘Self-Chilling Can’ was our way of showing up in a cultural moment with confidence and a sense of humour.”
Beyond the numbers, the campaign signals a broader repositioning for Godfather. Long seen as a legacy beer brand, it is now leaning into youth culture, digital-first storytelling and topical engagement to stay relevant in a crowded alcobev market.
In a space where attention is fleeting, DeVANS has shown that sometimes the coolest idea is the one that keeps people guessing.
