Brands
Marketing maven Nikhil Gupta climbs the ladder at Accenture
MUMBAI: Nikhil Gupta has landed himself a plum new role as marketing manager at Accenture, capping off what must feel like a victory lap around the corporate track. The marketing maestro, who has been grinding away at the consulting behemoth for the better part of a decade, will now orchestrate campaigns across Europe and beyond from his base in Gurugram.
Gupta’s ascent through Accenture’s ranks tells the tale of shrewd corporate climbing. He spent 11 months as associate manager for opportunity-centric marketing in EMEA before snagging his latest gig in June. Prior to that, he cut his teeth as a platforms and processes strategist, helping wrangle a team of over 100 marketing mavens into shape.
The promotion caps a career that began in the trenches of digital marketing back in 2011. Gupta previously wielded his creative powers at McCann Worldgroup, where he spent two years evangelising Google’s digital platforms to chief marketing officers across India. He also did stints at boutique agencies ToThe New, Olive Global and Blue Digital Media before joining Accenture’s marketing machine in 2016.
Now ensconced in his corner office (or hybrid workspace, more likely), Gupta will be crafting “innovative, integrated strategic marketing campaigns” for Accenture’s most complex and transformational deals. Not bad for someone who started out as a digital marketer in Delhi’s agency scene over a decade ago.
Brands
Samsung India mobile chief quits after 18 years
Raju Antony Pullan’s exit leaves a gaping hole at the top as Chinese rivals tighten their grip
GURGAON: Raju Antony Pullan has had enough. The senior vice-president and head of Samsung India’s mobile phone business has put in his papers after 18 years at the Korean giant, a tenure long enough to have watched the company stride to the top of India’s smartphone market and then stumble, badly, as Chinese upstarts muscled in.
Pullan, who ran sales, marketing and every last function of the smartphone business, tendered his resignation on Thursday and is currently serving out his notice period. Samsung has not named a successor. It has a second line of leadership waiting in the wings, Aditya Babbar and Hiren Rathod among them, but no decision has been made on who steps up.
The timing is awkward. Samsung has been haemorrhaging market share to Chinese brands and now clings to a top-two position only in the premium segment, where it scraps it out with Apple. Losing the man who stewarded the mobile business through its best and worst years hardly helps steady the ship.
A company that once owned India’s smartphone market is now fighting to stay relevant in it. Pullan’s departure is less a footnote than a flashing red light.
