Brands
Shilpa Dureja Puri elevated as director marketing – new computing & wearables at Samsung Electronics India
GURGAON: Shilpa Dureja Puri has been elevated as director marketing, new computing and wearables at Samsung Electronics India, signalling the company’s confidence in a leader steeped in digital, premium and ecosystem storytelling.
She now leads marketing for tablets, laptops, watches, buds, rings and accessories, shaping the next phase of connected consumer experiences and driving growth in categories that straddle work, play and everyday digital life.
Within Samsung, Dureja Puri has climbed steadily. She has handled director marketing roles across luxury, flagship and ecosystem portfolios, served as gm marketing for luxury and flagship mobiles, and earlier as general manager digital from Gurugram, sharpening the brand’s premium and online muscle.
Her grounding in technology marketing was forged at Microsoft, where she held director roles in digital and experiential marketing and earlier led digital marketing across content, search, analytics and demand generation. She worked on governance, privacy and large-scale digital transformation, and drove partner and education marketing programmes across India.
Before that came agency and global exposure. As vice president at Publicis Modem, part of Publicis Groupe, she ran India operations, managed P&L and built digital strategy for clients including HP and Beam Global. She also served as marketing director, India at Dada S.p.A, working on web and mobile community services across markets.
Her early career blended media, marketing and academia. She taught as senior guest faculty at National Institute of Fashion Technology, University of Delhi and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, covering new media, journalism and communication skills.
In media and publishing, she worked with HT Media Ltd on the relaunch of Hindustan Times’ digital properties and brand activations, including a luxury conference at Taj Mahal Palace & Towers. At Times Internet Limited, she handled editorial and product roles across lifestyle and city guides. As a freelance journalist, she wrote for The Times of India, The Asian Age, The Statesman and Femina, among others.
Recognition has followed. She has been named among the 100 Smartest Digital Marketing Leaders by World Digital Marketing Congress and CMO Asia. An alumna of International Management Institute New Delhi, she also completed the Modern Marketing programme at Kellogg School of Management, finishing with distinction.
For Samsung, the logic is clear. As screens, wearables and services converge, marketing must stitch them into one story. Dureja Puri’s brief is to make that story sell. The race now is for mindshare, wallet share and a place in the consumer’s daily routine. Samsung has picked its narrator.
Brands
Devyani International Ltd plans three-subsidiary merger to streamline operations
QSR operator moves to streamline structure and unlock operational synergies
Devyani International is tightening its corporate kitchen. The quick-service restaurant operator has approved a scheme to merge three subsidiaries—Sky Gate Hospitality, Blackvelvet Hospitality and Say Chefs Eatery—into the parent company in a bid to simplify its structure and sharpen operational efficiency.
The decision was cleared at a board meeting on March 10 and disclosed in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. The merger will take effect from April 1, 2025, subject to statutory approvals.
All three transferor companies are direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, meaning no fresh shares will be issued and the shareholding pattern of Devyani International will remain unchanged once the scheme is completed.
The subsidiaries together operate more than 100 outlets—including dine-in restaurants and cloud kitchens, spread across over 40 cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.
Devyani International, the largest franchisee of Yum Brands in India, said the consolidation is aimed at generating operational synergies, optimising resource utilisation and reducing layers within the corporate structure.
Financially, the move brings together businesses of varying scale. As of March 31, 2025, Devyani International reported a net worth of Rs 10,381.02 million and turnover of Rs 33,493.33 million. Sky Gate Hospitality posted a net worth of Rs 761.14 million with turnover of Rs 2,657.57 million, while Blackvelvet Hospitality and Say Chefs Eatery reported smaller operations and negative net worth.
The merger will consolidate these operations under a single corporate umbrella as the company sharpens its focus on scale and efficiency.
Devyani International currently runs more than 2,000 outlets across over 280 cities in India, Nigeria, Nepal and Thailand. Its portfolio includes franchise rights for brands such as Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee, Tea Live, New York Fries and Sanook Kitchen, alongside its own food brands.
With the paperwork underway and approvals pending, Devyani is essentially clearing the corporate clutter—turning three subsidiaries into one tighter, leaner operation. In the QSR world, even the back office needs a spring clean.
