Brands
Pallavi Singh exits Vida World after shaping EV growth story
MUMBAI: Pallavi Singh is moving on from Vida World, closing a chapter that saw her play a central role in shaping the company’s customer experience and revenue engine at a time when India’s electric vehicle space was finding its feet and its confidence.
Singh joined Vida World in April 2022 as head of customer experience and revenue, with a mandate that went far beyond dashboards and processes. Over nearly four years, she worked on building a consumer-first EV ecosystem, blending technology, digital services and go-to-market strategy to make the brand relevant, usable and commercially viable in a crowded and noisy category.
Her brief was clear but complex. Make electric mobility feel intuitive, desirable and scalable. Under her leadership, Vida focused on experience-led frameworks that connected product, platform and customer touchpoints, while ensuring revenue was not an afterthought but a natural outcome of good design and smart execution.
Before Vida, Singh had already built a reputation as a marketer who enjoys doing the hard things first. As marketing director at BMW India, she created the brand’s first-ever D2C and online sales platform globally, the BMW contactless experience, a move that rewired how luxury cars could be sold in India. She also led the launch of eight product lines and rolled out integrated digital journeys from first click to final delivery.
Earlier, as founding CMO of MG Motor India, Singh was part of the core team that introduced the brand to the country. From shaping MG’s positioning to onboarding dealers through a digital-first approach and even signing Benedict Cumberbatch as brand ambassador, she helped turn a new entrant into a familiar name.
Her longest innings came at Harley-Davidson India, where she rose to become director of marketing and one of the youngest global marketing heads in the company. She helped localise the American legend for Indian riders, built communities through platforms like India Bike Week, and championed inclusivity with initiatives such as Ladies of Harley.
With a career that spans motorcycles, luxury cars and electric mobility, Singh’s exit from Vida World marks the end of a high-impact phase. Where she heads next is not yet known, but if past patterns hold, it is unlikely to be dull or conventional.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
