MAM
Rediffusion Y&R stages management reshuffle
MUMBAI: The communications agency, Rediffusion – Y & R, has made top level management changes in its Mumbai and Southern operations.
Group executive vice president – Eastern region Amitava Sinha has been appointed as chief operating officer – East and South, while business head of Mumbai, Neville Medhora, has been promoted as vice president – Mumbai.
Following the exit of Meenakshi Achan, the agency will now have N Padmakumar leading the creative forces at Rediffusion as the agency‘s national creative director.
Sinha’s elevation is a key strategic change leading to the restructuring of the operations of Rediffusion – Y & R in South and East.
Sinha joined Rediffusion Y& R in October 2003 as head of the Kolkata operations and subsequently assumed a group role.
In his career spanning over 25 years, Sinha has worked on various brands including Gold Flake, Wills, Scissors, Eveready, Harpic, Cherry Blossom, Bata, Tata Steel, Berger Paints, Spencer‘s, Ananda Bazar Patrika and IFB.
Said Sinha, “I have been a part of the growth story for East at Rediffusion. I am very excited about the opportunities that the Southern market presents with respect to the multitude of brands that we can work on. I am confident of leveraging the synergies of our talent pool across offices through enhanced collaboration while working very closely with Rajappa.”
Medhora joined Rediffusion Y&R around three years ago. Prior to joining Rediffusion, he was at TBWA, Delhi, as GM – client servicing and has also worked with Saatchi and Saatchi as group account director.
Over the last 15 years, he has worked on brands such as Nano, Taj Group of Hotels, Kingfisher Airlines, Rasna, Orra, Sugarfree, Bombay Realty, Bank of India, Kaya, Adidas, Pedigree, Michelin, Moser Baer, National Geographic and the History Channel.
Medhora added, “Rediffusion – Y&R Mumbai has an eclectic mix of clientele where some great work has been delivered. I will continue to focus on the mandate of driving growth, quality of work and collaborating across offices to deliver world-class communication solutions for our client brands.”
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.
