MAM
Rediffusion-Y&R CEO Chauhan quits, Rajappa is new prez
MUMBAI: Rediffusion-Y&R has announced a key change in their senior management. Mahesh Chauhan, who was Group CEO, and has been with the Rediffusion Group for 8 years, has decided to move on. He is being replaced by D Rajappa as Rediffusion-Y&R president.
Rajappa has been a Rediffusion Group veteran, having served the group for over 15 years in various capacities. He started out as an account director in 1995 and went on to head the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. He later moved to Rediffusion Sri Lanka as president and CEO in 2003. In 2006, he returned to India as president of Everest Brand Solutions.
Rajappa has worked on many Indian and multi-national brands – Airtel, ACC, CNN IBN, Ericsson, Emami, GPI, LIC, Maruti Suzuki, Parle, Pepsi foods, Tata Housing, to name a few, and has been associated with memorable and result-oriented communication for them.
He was one among the five professionals from all over India to win the “Advertising Leader of Tomorrow” Award in 1997 conducted by Advertising Association of India and Home TV. In 2005, he completed the Global Advanced Management Program (GAMP) from ISB Kellogg School of Management, a two-phase residential program aimed at CEOs and entrepreneurs. He is today a visiting faculty at Amity School of Communication, IIMC and Indian Institute of Event Management.
Commenting on Rajappa’s appointment, Rediffusion-Y&R chairman and managing director Diwan Arun Nanda said, “Raja’s clarity of purpose and his integrity have always succeeded in attracting and retaining high talent. The relationships he forms are always meaningful and long term, with colleagues and clients.”
Said Rajappa about his new role, “I’m no stranger to the group, and I’m here because of the entrepreneurial freedom it offers talented people. I’ve had the opportunity to exercise this freedom in various capacities and this new function definitely offers me further scope to do so. Mr. Nanda has been a great role model. My immediate focus would be to inspire the talented team we have and grow the business and scale of Rediffusion.”
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.
