MAM
Pepsi Lipton alliance launches Lipton Iced tea in bottles
BANGALORE: Last year, two giants Pepsi and Hindustan Lever got hitched to each other in order to exploit their respective strengths to market, sell and distribute a humble product such as tea in India. More specifically, the Lipton ready-to-drink (RTD) range of teas and tea-based beverages.
Since then, select markets in India have been seeded with Lipton Ice tea in cans, tetrapaks. Today, the duo announced that the Pepsi Lipton Alliance would be rolling out the cooling beverage in 500 ml PET bottles and 250 ml glasses. The roll out will cover 17 cities in the next few weeks.
The target audience initially would be the 500 million strong urban and later semi-urban Indian youth followed by the rural areas, which as per the alliance’s studies indicate are more health conscious and are open to trying new offerings, to experiment
At the press conference to announce the launch, Pepsi India Holdings chairman Rajeev Bakshi defined three categories of space for the Iced teas product – the fun product, the good for you product and the better for you product. He pointed out that “Litpon Iced tea is being positioned in the ‘better for you’ space model for the youth and not as another variant of tea or ‘chai’.”
The launch is being strongly supported by exciting TV advertising, outdoor communication and on-the-ground promotions, adds a company release.
Both the companies are tightlipped about ad spends. All that Bakshi, while speaking to Indiantelvison.com, was willing to commit was that the budget would , “initially be more than is a norm in the industry, say at least as much as the budget during the launch of Mountain Dew.”
The total carbonated soft drinks market in terms of consumer spends is
Rs 60 billion. The alliance hopes to garner between five to ten percent of
this market over the next five years.
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
