Mumbai: Pilgrim, one of India’s fastest-growing D2C personal care brands, has onboarded Konark Gaur as chief marketing officer. In his new role, Gaur will spearhead marketing and commercial strategies to unlock the next phase of growth for the company.
Gaur, who comes in from Marico, brings with him almost two decades of experience in effectively building successful businesses in India and global markets. His expertise in scaling up businesses from the ground up will bolster Pilgrim’s journey to be a strong player in the personal care space.
Gaur’s striding career spans over 18 years having built strategy and innovation for leading Indian and global consumer brands for blue chip FMCG companies. Prior to increasing the food footprint of Marico as their business head, he worked with Sebamed as the chief marketing officer and led the brand to achieve 3X growth in a short span of time. In his expansive career, he has also worked with Nestle & General Mills leading business strategy, innovation and go-to-market execution. Additionally, he co-founded Jazz up Salon, a leading professional salon chain and hijinny.com, an internet start-up.
With Pilgrim eyeing 3x the current run rate in 2023, Gaur will closely lead the marketing efforts in introducing new categories in the beauty and personal care ranges. He will also be focusing on building a multidisciplinary team and plans to hire critical positions in the next 2 quarters.
Commenting on this development, Pilgrim co-founder and CEO Anurag Kedia said, “We are thrilled to have Gaur on board, whose expertise and proven success in building leading brands makes him the ideal partner to channel our business goals into a robust marketing strategy. 2023 will be a crucial year in our growth journey and with Gaur at the helm of our consumer-insight-driven marketing strategy, we are geared up to build a credible brand in the personal care industry.”
On his appointment, Gaur said, “Pilgrim is committed to providing Beauty Secrets from around the world to Indian consumers in an accessible way. Kedia and Gagandeep have built a truly differentiated brand and a relevant idea that meets the unmet desire of millennials to experience global beauty offerings affordably, at their doorstep. Pilgrim is curating and innovating “native” global experiences and not merely importing global ingredients. This is what excites me the most about the company, the founders and their vision. At this crucial juncture, I aim to scale awareness and growth across multiple channels that can help fast-track Pilgrim’s journey to being the most preferred and loved brand in the beauty and personal care industry.”
Pilgrim further aims to accelerate its momentum this year. In 2022, the brand onboarded Kalki Koechlin as the brand ambassador for their France-based Vinotherapie range. Furthermore, they entered two new categories in the personal care range—lip care and body care and have introduced three new international ranges from Spain, Australia, and the Amazon Rain Forest. The brand also plans to go on a hiring spree for positions in the first half of the year, amidst major layoff announcements in the startup ecosystem.
