Brands
Tristuv Kumar joins Zenith to steer global brands Eli Lilly and California Almonds
Media strategist moves from Mindshare’s Ponds portfolio to lead planning for two marquee global accounts
Tristuv Kumar is trading FMCG shelves for global boardrooms. The media strategist has joined Zenith as planning & strategy lead, global brands, taking charge of two starkly different but equally high-profile accounts: pharma giant Eli Lilly and the California Almond Board, both landing on his desk out of Gurugram.
At Zenith, Kumar will run business, marketing, strategy, planning, content and AI-led capabilities for both brands in the India market, working alongside global Publicis Alchemy teams on Eli Lilly to blend agency and brand-led thinking, while partnering with Leo Burnett on a 360-degree push to lift almond consumption across the country.
The move caps a career built over 10 years across FMCG, BFSI, edtech, IT, telecom, hospitality, realty, entertainment and consumer electronics, with Kumar having managed over 80 brands and a cumulative spend north of Rs 1,800 crore. Before Zenith, he spent one year and nine months at Mindshare as director, client leadership, running full-funnel media for HUL’s Ponds portfolio, spanning 29 brands across face wash, face cream, body lotion and talc, the highest-revenue segment in HUL’s skincare business.
Earlier still, Kumar spent one year and eight months at EssenceMediacom as group head, digital planning, handling a budget of over Rs 300 crore for vivo, steering 11 phone series launches and landmark campaigns that included an eight-times return on ad spend on vivo’s first D2C push and a shortlist at Emvies and GoaFest for the “Explore the Unexplored” campaign.
His earlier innings included stints at M&C Saatchi February, where he worked with Nestle and Accor’s ibis Hotels, and Crows Nest in Kolkata, handling Bandhan Bank, Nuvoco Vistas and Zee Bangla, alongside an ongoing sideline running future-skilling workshops for XLRI, IIM and Unilever’s future leaders programme.
With a decade of brand-building behind him and two global heavyweights now in his portfolio, Kumar’s next chapter looks set to be his biggest yet. Bigger mandates, sharper strategy, the growth story continues.
