Brands
Sameer Wanchoo zips into VIP as chief marketing officer
MUMBAI: Earlier this month, Sameer Wanchoo packed his bags—and unpacked a bigger mandate. The seasoned marketer joined VIP Industries as chief marketing officer, taking over the brand cockpit of India’s luggage major from early December.
Wanchoo brings with him a long-haul career in consumer goods, honed across mass, premium and everything in between. Most recently, he spent over seven years at Eureka Forbes, where as CMO he helped sharpen growth engines across categories, channels and consumer cohorts.
Before that, he clocked stints at CavinKare—twice. First as VP marketing, overseeing personal care, foods and beverages, and earlier as GM marketing for hair care, where brands such as Chik, Nyle, Meera and Karthika kept their shine in a brutally competitive aisle. In between came a global toy turn at Mattel as category manager for infant and pre-school, and a retail baptism at Big Bazaar’s Food Bazaar in the west zone.
His early years read like a marketing boot camp: product management at Dabur (via Balsara Home Products), sales at ESPN Star Sports, and media planning at Starcom—before digital became dinner-table conversation.
At VIP, Wanchoo will be expected to do more than polish logos. The brief spans brand, product, digital, research, media and P&L—no small suitcase. With travel back on the boil and consumers trading up, the timing is propitious, the competition unforgiving.
From soap to suitcases, vacuums to voyages, Wanchoo has sold it all. Now he must make VIP travel faster, lighter and louder. No baggage allowed.
Brands
Radico Khaitan appoints Kunal Madan as chief marketing officer
Promotions signal focus on premium spirits, global expansion and homegrown leadership
UTTAR PRADESH: Radico Khaitan has elevated two long-serving insiders to its top leadership team, signalling a bold push into premium spirits and global markets. Kunal Madan steps in as chief marketing officer, while Sudhir Upadhyay takes charge as chief sales officer, both part of what managing director Abhishek Khaitan calls a consciously built next-generation leadership bench.
“At Radico Khaitan, our growth has always been powered by people,” Khaitan said. “True leadership is not imported, it is cultivated.” He added that empowering internal talent ensures continuity while keeping the company globally competitive and future-ready.
Madan, with over 20 years of experience across global sales and marketing, will drive brand architecture, marketing strategy, and the premiumisation agenda, including travel retail. Upadhyay, who has 25 years in the industry and was most recently national sales head, will oversee distribution expansion and execution across markets.
The leadership reshuffle comes amid Radico’s intensified focus on premium spirits, a segment driving higher margins and international growth. Last year, Ajay Kakkar was brought on to head the Premium On-Trade vertical, targeting modern and institutional channels to boost presence in high-growth segments.
Meanwhile, Amar Sinha stepped down as chief operating officer after contributing across multiple growth phases. Khaitan acknowledged Sinha’s role in supporting the company’s trajectory, while Sinha described his tenure as “an absolute privilege,” crediting Khaitan’s leadership for shaping the company’s strategic direction.
With a homegrown leadership bench and a clear premium agenda, Radico Khaitan is set to accelerate its global expansion while doubling down on brand elevation and market impact.
