MAM
Star India restructures ad sales functions
MUMBAI: Star in its endeavour to grow its advertising revenues has decided to refurbish its ad sales functioning. The network has decided to create specific ‘client service teams’ to build and promote their brands across its entire portfolio of channels.
The current practice follows multiple channel sales teams for a marketing campaign for every channel thereby one client having numerous touch points in the network. The new set-up will follow the network sales route, enabling Star’s top 55 clients to deal with one single client servicing team making it simpler and effective for clients.
Interestingly, Zee’s EVP network sales (and former Star hand) Joy Chakraborthy recently changed Zee’s ad sales strategum with dedicated teams tasked with interfacing with major media buyers like Group M and Madison.
The Star teams will look at sponsorship, product placement, branded programming, in addition to selling ad spots across the network.
Star India COO Sameer Nair said, ”With the C&S homes in India growing at an unprecedented rate to reach 61 million now, it is important for us to work even more closely with our clients to reach this expanded audience base. By taking a more strategic approach, I believe we will be able to create new growth opportunities for both our clients and ourselves.”
Star will also publish its rate card on the Internet from 1 July at www.star.co.in to make it more accessible to clients. Discounts will be offered to clients with volume buys and established spend patterns.
Adds Star India EVP Ad sales Kevin Vaz, “We are excited about the new initiatives which we believe will make Star one of the easiest and most effective companies to deal with in India.”
Under Vaz, Juhi Ravindranath will be handling the top 55 clients for the entire network. Ravindranath was earlier handling Star Plus.
For the remaining clients, Shailesh Bijlani, who was heading Star Movies and Star World, will handle Hindi cluster while Shanti Rao who was heading Star Utsav, will head the English cluster.
K Sriram who heads Vijay TV’s sales will continue to be the national head for all clients.
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.
