Brands
Rage Coffee onboards Virat Kohli as brand ambassador & investor
Mumbai: Rage Coffee, a Delhi-based FMCG company that manufactures, markets, and distributes packaged coffee products has onboarded cricketer Virat Kohli as an investor and brand ambassador. With this association, the coffee brand said it seeks to entrench itself as a fan favourite in the market and create a pathway for customer acquisition.
“I’ve been using Rage Coffee products for some time, and I am excited to be a part of its growth journey. The team at Rage Coffee has shown high levels of business execution and stupendous growth over the last couple of years,” commented Virat Kohli. “Rage Coffee has developed some trailblazing products that conform with my innovative approach and align with my lifestyle. I see tremendous potential for the brand to become one of the most iconic coffee companies of our time.”
Previously, the digitally native coffee company had raised five million dollars of growth capital as part of its series-A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures in August 2021.
The brand is planning to expand its online presence and offline footprint pan-India and will utilise the fresh capital for marketing and distribution purposes, according to the statement. “Rage Coffee will use the funds to scale production, launch innovative new products and add senior management talent,” it added.
“Virat Kohli has set some unrivalled records in the top echelon of world cricket and is rightly known as the best batsman in the world,” said Rage Coffee founder and CEO Bharat Sethi, about roping in Virat Kohli as a brand ambassador and investor. “Apart from being a world-class athlete, Virat is also a fitness enthusiast who is committed to an attitude that fosters a healthy lifestyle and it seamlessly aligns with the ethos that Rage Coffee promotes. Our association with him sets us on a journey where we envision perfection through our constant efforts directed at being the best in our segment. Rage Coffee and Virat both share a mutual objective – to strive for excellence!”
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.
