MAM
Retail giant DMart poaches Unilever bigwig for top job
MUMBAI: Supermarket giant Avenue Supermarts (DMart) has nabbed Unilever veteran Anshul Asawa as its CEO-designate after a nearly three-decade love affair with the global consumer goods behemoth.
The poaching of Asawa, who was barely 11 months into his stint as general manager for Greater Asia and head of Unilever Thailand, marks a seismic shift for one of India’s most profitable retail operations as it gears up for its next phase of bare-knuckle expansion.
Asawa brings a bulging CV to the budget retailer, having cut his teeth across a veritable smorgasbord of roles at Unilever spanning marketing, sales, digital commerce and general management across multiple continents.
Most recently, the IIT Roorkee and IIM Lucknow alumnus had been calling the shots in Bangkok, but his three-year stint in London saw him spearhead Unilever’s global digital and e-commerce strategy—experience that will prove invaluable as DMart looks to beef up its online presence against well-funded rivals.
The retail maverick, who describes his purpose as “Make every stroke count,” made waves during his time in the Netherlands as VP marketing for home care across Europe, where he delivered a cracking innovation programme and led the strategic assault of laundry products into central and eastern Europe.
But perhaps most relevant to his new Indian supermarket gig was Asawa’s transformative stint as general manager for east branch and rural channels at Hindustan Unilever between 2007 and 2010. During this period, he masterminded a rural expansion that tripled coverage and added a staggering one million outlets in just two years—the sort of aggressive scalability that has DMart’s shareholders positively frothing at the mouth.
His leadership of the Shakti programme, which improved the livelihoods of thousands of rural women entrepreneurs while expanding market reach, also demonstrates the kind of purpose-driven approach that might help DMart burnish its credentials beyond its no-frills, pile-it-high-sell-it-cheap reputation.
Industry insiders suggest Asawa’s appointment signals Avenue Supermarts’ intention to accelerate both its bricks-and-mortar expansion and its somewhat lacklustre e-commerce presence through DMart Ready, which has struggled to match the tech prowess of deep-pocketed competitors like Blinkit and Zepto.
The appointment represents a passing of the baton from DMart’s legendary founder Radhakishan Damani, whose notoriously sharp focus on costs and shrewd real estate strategy transformed a single Mumbai store in 2002 into a retail juggernaut with over 300 outlets and a market cap that makes most traditional retailers green with envy.
As Asawa prepares to take the helm of one of India’s most enviable retail success stories, his first challenge will be navigating the tricky transition from a founder-led operation to a professionally managed powerhouse without losing the secret sauce that made DMart the darling of value-conscious shoppers and growth-hungry investors alike.
MAM
Lego brings Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Vinicius together
Campaign clocks 314 million views ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 buzz.
MUMBAI: Four legends, one frame and not a single tackle in sight. Lego has pulled off a crossover few thought possible, uniting Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior in a single campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 only this time, they’re building dreams brick by brick.
Titled “Everyone wants a piece”, the campaign features the quartet assembling a Lego version of the World Cup trophy, before placing miniature versions of themselves atop it, a playful nod to football’s ultimate prize. Shared widely across social media, the ad carries a pointed disclaimer: it is not AI-generated, a subtle but telling signal in an era where even reality is often questioned.
The numbers tell their own story. The campaign has already crossed 314 million views on Instagram across the players’ accounts, with fans hailing it as a rare, almost nostalgic moment particularly for the reunion of Messi and Ronaldo, whose last shared campaign ahead of the 2022 World Cup became one of the platform’s most-liked posts.
Beyond the film, Lego is extending the play with exclusive, player-themed sets tied to each of the four stars, part of a broader football-led programme designed to ride the global momentum building towards 2026. The idea, as echoed by the players themselves, leans into the parallels between football and play experimentation, creativity, failure, and triumph.
Messi described the sets as a way to bring on-pitch moments into an imaginative, hands-on world, while Ronaldo called the transformation into a Lego figure a rare honour, blending sport with storytelling. Vinícius, meanwhile, struck a more personal note, recalling childhood moments of building with Lego and framing creativity as a universal language that transcends borders.
The timing is no accident. With the 2026 World Cup set to run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and featuring an expanded 48-team format, global anticipation is already building. Argentina, led by Messi, will enter as defending champions, adding another layer of intrigue.
For Lego, the campaign does more than celebrate football, it taps into its mythology. Because when icons become figurines and rivalries turn into play, the beautiful game finds a new kind of pitch. one built, quite literally, by hand.
