Brands
RB India ropes in Vidya Balan as sanitation campaign ambassador
NEW DELHI: Actor Vidya Balan has been named as the brand ambassador of the ‘Changing Behaviour: Creating Sanitation Change Leaders’ campaign launched by RB (erstwhile Reckitt Benckiser) India as part of its nationwide initiative Dettol Banega Swachh India along Pehel and State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The project, which aims to make 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar free of open defecation was inaugurated by veteran actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha and former Cabinet Minsiter Jairam Ramesh in Patna and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow along with Balan, who unveiled the mnemonic of the programme.
Other dignitaries present at the event were Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh president and founder Swami Chidanand Saraswati and World Toilet Organization founder Professor Jack Sim.
Balan said, “For the past two years I have dedicated myself towards raising awareness around importance of hygiene and to stop open defecation. I am really proud to be a part of this campaign, which is taking a different route of engaging with stakeholders and creating change leaders at community level to bring about this behaviour change.”
Through the initiative, the programme will reach out and work closely with 500 PRI members, 500 natural and faith based leaders, 500 ASHAs / AWWs and two lakh mothers directly to drive a positive behaviour towards sanitation practices.
Various activities like training of Panchayati Raj Institutions members using toolkit, exposure tours, Sanitation Chaupal, Capacity Building of frontline health workers through game shows and folk shows for sensitising mothers. The progress will be monitored at each step to track the progress and achievements of change leaders will be recognized across these 100 villages in Bihar covering Bhagalpur district and another 100 villages in Uttar Pradesh covering Varanasi, Kannauj and Etawah districts.
RB South Asia regional director Nitish Kapoor said, “We are proud to partner with Pehel and the State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to launch this initiative, which primarily aims towards driving behaviour change across communities. While we have a dedicated initiative targeting school children, we believe it is equally important to educate and encourage communities to adopt healthier hygiene and sanitation practices to create a positive impact on the society they live in. By the end of this campaign, we aim to help these 200 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to become Open Defecation Free.”
Pehel CEO Anand Madhab added, “To make India achieve its goal of improving sanitation and put an end to open defecation, it is imperative to change mindsets, attitude and behaviour of people towards the issue. Before installing toilets in homes, we need to install toilets in the minds of people. PRI members are local leaders as well as role models in the community and since the key driver for the issue is perception, attitude and behaviour changes we are zeroing in on the most, influential catalysing agent present on ground. Moreover, the project is targeting caregivers (ASHAs/AWWs) and mothers as they play a central role in shaping up the children, the future. The project is the initial step towards changing people’s behaviour towards health, hygiene and sanitation and shall turn into a mega campaign in the near future.”
According to National Sample Survey Office and World Health Organisation, over 600 million Indians have no access to toilets. The proportion is worse in rural India – where 68 per cent of rural households don’t have their own toilets. In order to achieve Open Defecation Free status, the project ‘Changing Behaviour: Creating Sanitation Change Leaders’ will be implemented using a three pronged strategy of environment building; capacity development and changing behaviours.
Brands
Vodafone Idea elevates Vineeth Jayendranath as VP, marketing head Mumbai
Telecom marketer takes charge of Mumbai circle with growth and brand focus
MUMBAI: Vodafone Idea Limited has promoted Vineeth Jayendranath to vice president, marketing head for the Mumbai circle, marking a key milestone in his career as the telecom operator sharpens its regional strategy.
In his new role, Jayendranath will lead marketing efforts across prepaid and postpaid segments in one of the country’s most competitive telecom markets. His mandate includes driving revenue growth, strengthening brand positioning, and deepening customer engagement, while also managing profit and loss responsibilities for the circle.
Sharing the update, Vineeth Jayendranath said, “Excited to share, I am starting my new stint as Vice President, Marketing Head for Mumbai circle at Vodafone Idea Ltd. Would like to thank everyone who has supported me in this journey.”
Jayendranath brings over 12 years of experience spanning telecom and IT, with a strong focus on customer value management and data-led marketing. Since joining Vodafone Idea, he has held multiple leadership roles, most recently serving as general manager leading customer value management and prepaid business across Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.
During this period, he handled large subscriber bases and multi-billion rupee revenue portfolios, while rolling out hyper-personalised campaigns and a “segment of one” strategy to improve customer retention and upgrades. He also championed a digital-first approach, pushing adoption of data services and unlimited plans through targeted, insight-driven initiatives.
Earlier, he worked with Idea Cellular Ltd in strategy and business intelligence roles, and began his career at Infosys as a systems engineer. A brief stint at Hyundai Motor India Ltd during his internship added early exposure to marketing strategy.
An alumnus of SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Jayendranath has steadily built a reputation for combining analytics with marketing execution.
His elevation comes as telecom players double down on circle-level strategies to stay competitive, and Vodafone Idea appears to be betting on data-backed marketing to keep Mumbai firmly in its corner.
