Semiotics Consultant - Space Doctors, London

Consulting - 2021

Led the India semiotics piece for the following projects:

- understanding sustainability narratives in India for P&G corporate brand.

- understanding cultural fit, brand codes for COTY in India

Strategy Lead - DY Works

Consulting - 2021

Led the brand repositioning project for Oberoi’s exclusive by invite only business club - Belvedere.

- understanding the changing themes of luxury and exclusivity.

- leading the stakeholder audits and business members interviews across Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

- identifying gaps, needs, challenges, opportunities.

Strategy Lead - W+K, India

Consulting 2019 -2020

Strategy Lead for the India piece as a part of the global new business pitch for VISA. Analysed the category, consumer, competition and conducted a creative evaluation research to bounce off creative spaces with consumers. Wieden + Kennedy won the global creative business.

Strategy Lead for the launch of an electric scooter brand in Europe, and later globally (user persona development for Amsterdam & London customers), global positioning development + creative briefing.

Led brand strategy for a brand positioning & creative campaign development project for Bumble. Conducted in-depth category, consumer, competition, user research, social media audits and analyses that led to the brand positioning.

Strategy Consultant - VCCP, London

Consulting - July 2020 - Aug 2020

Led the Strategy piece for the new business pitch for the launch of a premium variant handset from Oppo in India. Helped craft the India story, brief along with creative concept evaluation research with Indian consumers. Successfully won the pitch for VCCP London.

Strategy Lead - Toaster, India

Consulting - January 2020 - June 2020

Led creative strategy on the YouTube B2B project that led to the creative concepts, digital ideas and launch communications for the largest on ground event - YouTube Brandcast. Worked closely with the APAC & India teams.

Led brand strategy for a new product launch within Google Pay, mining locally relevant insights that fit the global positioning strategy. Worked closely with the US, UK & India teams.

Partner & Strategy Director - Hue & Why, India

2017 onwards

Co-founded Hue & Why, a brand strategy and design studio with a passion for colour semiotics. Led brand conceptualisation, brand repositioning and brand refresh projects for emerging and established brands. Led stakeholder workshops and brand projects. See more on hueandwhy.com.

Conducted 15+ brand workshops (open for all) across top metros in India attended by corporate teams, students, designers, marketers and entrepreneurs. Started a yearly pro bono branding project initiative to help those who cannot afford quality branding, but pursuing meaningful initiatives (especially during the pandemic times).

Regional Planning Lead for Pantene - Grey, Singapore

2015 - 2017

Planning lead for Pantene/P&G for the AAIMEA region, reporting directly to the Global Planning Director in NY. Some key projects:

Optimisation of celebrity usage to arrive at an unexpected framework using both Global & Local celebrities + KOLs for Pantene across platforms/regions.

Interpreting the global Brand PoV (Strong is Beautiful) across countries (pop culture analysis + research).

Tackling the unique issue of reaching hijab wearing women - without showing hair in any communication. Teamed up with Tech/Digital/Creative teams to develop a tech solution (The E-Jab) to create buzz and effectively talk about the heightened hair tensions hijab wearing women face and Pantene’s solution for the same (in progress still).

Oil Replacement Launch Strategy. Signing on Priyanka Chopra (for her global aspirational quotient) & Lilly Singh (for her social media appeal & trending ‘Shit Indian Moms Say’ content) to position the product as better than the traditional oiling ritual that mothers insist on. 

Led all consumer research from the agency in collaboration with CMK & BBIC teams from the client team. Identifying growth opportunities in Indonesia + Creating an insights bank module.

Identifying growth opportunities in Indonesia + Creating an insights bank module + innovation workshops with Jakarta team.

Planning Director - Ogilvy, Bangalore, India

2013 - 2015

Handled the Titan portfolio (no. 1 Indian watch brand)

Titan Raga (market leader in women’s watches in India) repositioning to resonate with a changing TG. #HerLifeHerChoices. From being about a relationship with the man to a relationship with the self. The campaigns focused on the woman’s point of view on her career and on marriage (these were the first in a women empowerment conversations wave in India). These campaigns were consistently featured as the top campaigns of the year, were part of conversations around women empowerment and generated social media buzz for the brand.

Effies Integrated Gold + Tata Awards Integrated Gold + WARC Asian Strategy Merit

Planning lead on Titan Diwali campaign (positioning watches as a gift that does not take time away from your loved ones unlike other gadgets), Titan Eye Plus (repositioning spectacles from being an image compensator to an image magnifier), Titan Celestial and more.

Led Client Workshops on Ogilvy Big Ideal & Fusion Models.

Planning Manager - JWT, Bangalore, India

2011 - 2013

Brand strategy for the nationwide launch of Gum On chewing gum, from ITC (one of the leading FMCG companies in India). Concept writing, concept tests, naming + variant architecture, positioning strategy.

Regional launch of Times Of India (no.1 newspaper brand in the country) in the only state where it was not present - Kerala.

Won the pitch and worked on the nationwide brand launch of Titan Skinn (Titan’s entry into the affordable perfumes market in the country).

Facilitated the Brand Sparks Workshop with multiple clients to arrive at the brand positioning and creative direction.

Research on South Indian consumers as a separate TG segment.

Group Head Planning - Ogilvy, Bangalore, India

2007 - 2011

Planner on ITC Bingo!, Sunfeast Pasta Treat, Yippee! Noodles, Yahoo!, Allen Solly, Mantri Builders and more.

Consumer Trends Report on Femme 2.0 (Urban Women) and on Youth (using an innovative visual technique as research aid)

Brand Associate - Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India

2006 - 2007

Worked on the McDonald’s account. Responsible for Happy Meals Program and Local Store Markets programme.

Consumer Insights Docket on What Makes a Kid Tick?