MAM
Kalyan Silks awards media duties to DDB MudraMax
MUMBAI: Wholesale textile showroom Kalyan Silks has assigned its media mandate to DDB MudraMax.
The size of the account is pegged at Rs 250 million. The agency‘s Bangalore office will handle the account.
Kalyan Silks chairman and managing director T.S. Pattabhiraman said, “We are very happy to associate with DDB MudraMax as they are a well reputed agency and extremely trustworthy. Their client relationship is commendable. Most of the clients they are associated with have been so for a long time, which acts as a clear indication for their efficiency. We hope to have a mutual and fruitful association.”
DDB MudraMax AVP and head Gopi Nair said, “We are immensely pleased to work with Kalyan Silks, who are one of the top players in the fast growing retail industry. Our team is committed to show the same consistency and results that has kept most of our clients delighted.”
Kalyan Silks was launched in 1909 in Thrissur, Kerala. Over the years, the retailer has opened showrooms in other cities in the state like Cochin, Palakkad, Calicut, Kannur and Kottayam. Kalyan Silks launched its first store overseas in Karama, Dubai in 2011. Its present turnover is about Rs 6 billion per annum.
The brand has plans of overseas expansion which include opening showrooms in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and in the Gulf region. On the domestic front, the showroom will begin operations this year at Thiruvalla, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
DDB MudraMax (Engagement & Experience) provides multi-specialty expertise to help build brands and comprises 14 strategic business units under four disciplines – media, OOH, retail and experiential. Its clients include the likes of ACC, Aircel, Amway, Ashok Leyland, Asian Paints, Birla Sun Life, Hindustan Times, ITC, Johnson & Johnson, Kotak, L&T, LIC, Nirmal Lifestyle, Paragon, Pepsi, Reebok, Samsung, Standard Chartered Bank, Star, Tata, Titan, TTK Prestige, Uninor and Volkswagen.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
