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Tag: Venkatesh Kini

  • New Coke leadership in India, S West Asia

    MUMBAI: The Coca-Cola Company and its Bottling Investments Group (BIG) announced today new leadership appointments for its India & South West Asia Business Unit and Hindustan Coca-Cola Bottling operations.

    “As outlined by our president and chief operating officer James Quincey a few weeks ago, The Coca-Cola Company is designing a new Operating Model to support the next stage of our transformation into a growth-oriented, consumer-centered, total beverage company,” said The Coca-Cola Company president of the Asia-Pacific Group John Murphy, “Key components of this new Operating Model are a revitalized organizational capability and better system alignment to ensure that optimum execution multiplies our marketing plans and investment.”

    BIG president Irial Finan, added: “India is the 6th largest market for The Coca-Cola Company in terms of volume. The Coca-Cola system operates approximately 60 factories, directly employs 25,000 people and sells our products through over 2.6 million retailers. Still, the Indian market has tremendous growth potential, and we believe the revitalized system leadership structure that we announce today will enable us to continue consolidating India as one of the most important growth engines for The Coca-Cola Company globally.”

    In bringing this new structure to life, the following senior leadership appointments in the India and South West Asia Business Unit of The Coca-Cola Company, and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd will become effective May 1: Venkatesh Kini, currently President, India, and Southwest Asia Business Unit, who has capably served the company for 19 years, has decided to leave the company and return to the United States to pursue other opportunities outside the Coca-Cola system. “Over the past four years, Venkatesh has had a significant impact on the growth and success of our business in this very important market, and laid the foundation for a winning team that will enable us to continue capturing the great opportunities that remain ahead,” said John Murphy. Venkatesh will remain with the Company until the end of July to ensure a smooth transition with his successor.

    T. “KK” Krishnakumar, who currently serves as the CEO and South West Asia Regional Director of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Limited, will replace Venkatesh as the president of the Company’s India and South West Asia Business Unit.

    Murphy added, “KK is uniquely qualified for this role, having successfully led BIG’s operations in India and South West Asia since 2009. He is a strategic, well-rounded leader, and has been a catalyst for expanding our portfolio and driving growth in every position he has previously held.” KK joined the Coca-Cola system in 2004 and has advanced through a series of leadership roles including Region Manager and Regional Vice President.

    Vamsi Mohan, who currently serves as the BIG’s region director for Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia, will, in turn, replace KK as south-west Asia regional director for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. Finan said: “Vamsi joined the Coca-Cola system in 1998 and has held various senior leadership roles in Operations, Market Execution, General Management and also served as Vice President – Sales for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. We’re fortunate and very glad to have him back in this market.”

    Christina Ruggiero, currently the chief procurement officer for the Coca-Cola System in North America, and President and CEO for Bottlers’ Sales & Services, LLC, will be reporting to Vamsi as the new CEO of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd. “Christina’s extensive experience aggregating and optimizing supplier and customer-related activities for the U.S. bottling franchise network will be instrumental in leading this next chapter for our bottling operations in India,” added Finan. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Christina was Vice President, Procurement, for Diageo plc, where she led procurement and supply chain teams globally, including teams in the United States, Africa, Europe, and Russia.

  • Brands need to stay relevant, contemporary: Experts

    Brands need to stay relevant, contemporary: Experts

    NEW DELHI: “Nonsense”. That was the terse reaction of Jaya Bachchan – actor and now a member of the Parliament – to a question by the ebullient ad wizard Suhel Seth on whether she agreed that brand ambassadors should be held responsible for the brands they represent.

    Later, asked to elucidate, she told indiantelevision that she had already said that it was “nonsense.”

    Speaking at a session on the business of brand-building at FICCI’s 89th Annual General Meeting, Bachchan said that individuals were brands too, and they added value to the products and services which they endorsed to bring authentication.

    (The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs had, in its review of the Consumer Protection Bill pending in the Parliament, stated earlier this year that stringent provisions may be made to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities as misrepresentation of a product, especially a food product, should be taken very seriously considering the influence of celebrities and high net-worth individuals or companies. It said the existing laws are not deterrent enough to discourage manufacturers or publishers from using such personalities for misleading advertisements.)

    Meanwhile, it was generally agreed that brands need to stay relevant and contemporary to the consumers to succeed. Experts agreed that brands need to create an experience by creating an emotional connect with the end-user (consumer); lest they cease to exist.

    “Brand is an idea that is in the head today,” said SKA Advisors chairman and former Britannia Industries CEO Sunil Alagh said. “The idea needs to be consistent, and remain contemporary.”

    According to Alagh, brands were not companies or products, a view that Bachchan disagreed with. But, Alagh, giving an example, said the ‘Angry young man’ as an idea was more relevant as an idea, and not Amitabh Bachchan or any other actor.

    Alagh said that brands had various stakeholders of late, and, most importantly, consumers were lately getting more information and react about the brand on social media.  He added that the stakeholders looked for an experience with the brand in the contemporary scenario.

    Coca-Cola India and south-west Asia president Venkatesh Kini said that a brand was not just an idea but it had to be embodied in a product. “A brand is a product, package and logo,” Kini who leads the 130-year old brand in the region said, and added that a brand might or might not require a celebrity to authenticate its product.

    “Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and companies are now looking at co-creating and co-owning the brand,” Kini added.

    Seth said that the idea was known if it keeps changing and remained contemporary. Reacting to the issue of brand ambassadors, he said that brand suffered if something happens to the celebrity endorsing it.

    Also read

    Brand ambassadors equally responsible for misleading ads,can be penalised: Parliamentary Committee

  • Brands need to stay relevant, contemporary: Experts

    Brands need to stay relevant, contemporary: Experts

    NEW DELHI: “Nonsense”. That was the terse reaction of Jaya Bachchan – actor and now a member of the Parliament – to a question by the ebullient ad wizard Suhel Seth on whether she agreed that brand ambassadors should be held responsible for the brands they represent.

    Later, asked to elucidate, she told indiantelevision that she had already said that it was “nonsense.”

    Speaking at a session on the business of brand-building at FICCI’s 89th Annual General Meeting, Bachchan said that individuals were brands too, and they added value to the products and services which they endorsed to bring authentication.

    (The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Consumer Affairs had, in its review of the Consumer Protection Bill pending in the Parliament, stated earlier this year that stringent provisions may be made to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities as misrepresentation of a product, especially a food product, should be taken very seriously considering the influence of celebrities and high net-worth individuals or companies. It said the existing laws are not deterrent enough to discourage manufacturers or publishers from using such personalities for misleading advertisements.)

    Meanwhile, it was generally agreed that brands need to stay relevant and contemporary to the consumers to succeed. Experts agreed that brands need to create an experience by creating an emotional connect with the end-user (consumer); lest they cease to exist.

    “Brand is an idea that is in the head today,” said SKA Advisors chairman and former Britannia Industries CEO Sunil Alagh said. “The idea needs to be consistent, and remain contemporary.”

    According to Alagh, brands were not companies or products, a view that Bachchan disagreed with. But, Alagh, giving an example, said the ‘Angry young man’ as an idea was more relevant as an idea, and not Amitabh Bachchan or any other actor.

    Alagh said that brands had various stakeholders of late, and, most importantly, consumers were lately getting more information and react about the brand on social media.  He added that the stakeholders looked for an experience with the brand in the contemporary scenario.

    Coca-Cola India and south-west Asia president Venkatesh Kini said that a brand was not just an idea but it had to be embodied in a product. “A brand is a product, package and logo,” Kini who leads the 130-year old brand in the region said, and added that a brand might or might not require a celebrity to authenticate its product.

    “Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and companies are now looking at co-creating and co-owning the brand,” Kini added.

    Seth said that the idea was known if it keeps changing and remained contemporary. Reacting to the issue of brand ambassadors, he said that brand suffered if something happens to the celebrity endorsing it.

    Also read

    Brand ambassadors equally responsible for misleading ads,can be penalised: Parliamentary Committee

  • CNBC- TV18 takes business heroes beyond the boardrooms with Weekender

    CNBC- TV18 takes business heroes beyond the boardrooms with Weekender

    MUMBAI:  Have you wondered what the corporate biggies do in their leisure time? CNBC-TV18 gives you a peek into the lives of India’s business heroes with the launch of their new show CNBC-TV18 Weekender. The show aims at taking the industry leaders out of their corporate environment and getting a sense of what intrigues, inspires and motivates them. Starting 15th April 2016 at 10:30 pm, this conversational show will take the viewers into the unexplored lives of business leaders.

     Speaking about the show, CNBC-TV18  managing editor Shereen Bhan  says “The CNBC-TV18 Weekender is our attempt to understand the mind and the motivation of young leaders. Business is so much more than numbers on a balance sheet. It is about foresight, perseverance, courage and risk taking. The show gives us an insight into how leaders nurture these qualities to make the right choices.”

    There is a lot that goes into making it big in the business world. While numbers and figures form an important part, it’s also about the vision and courage that an industry leader possesses. CNBC- TV18 Weekender explores the creative pursuits that these leaders enjoy which can range from taking a road trip to the Himalayas to spending a leisure day at the Sula Vineyards. The idea is to understand the driving force that keeps them motivated to do superior work. A glimpse into their perfect weekend is an added advantage that the show will offer.

    The first episode with feature the dynamic  Rare Enterprises trader Atul Suri.  The show will feature head honchos like Amit Burman, Ashish Dhawan, Peter Gordon, Harish Salve Kavin Bharti Mittal, Venkatesh Kini, Sajjan Jindal, Roland Folger and many more. CNBC-TV18 Weekender will be hosted by an assortment of interesting anchors like Mangalam Maloo, Ritu Singh, Kritika Saxena, Farah Bookwala, Nayantara Rai and Ronojoy Banerjee.

  • CNBC- TV18 takes business heroes beyond the boardrooms with Weekender

    CNBC- TV18 takes business heroes beyond the boardrooms with Weekender

    MUMBAI:  Have you wondered what the corporate biggies do in their leisure time? CNBC-TV18 gives you a peek into the lives of India’s business heroes with the launch of their new show CNBC-TV18 Weekender. The show aims at taking the industry leaders out of their corporate environment and getting a sense of what intrigues, inspires and motivates them. Starting 15th April 2016 at 10:30 pm, this conversational show will take the viewers into the unexplored lives of business leaders.

     Speaking about the show, CNBC-TV18  managing editor Shereen Bhan  says “The CNBC-TV18 Weekender is our attempt to understand the mind and the motivation of young leaders. Business is so much more than numbers on a balance sheet. It is about foresight, perseverance, courage and risk taking. The show gives us an insight into how leaders nurture these qualities to make the right choices.”

    There is a lot that goes into making it big in the business world. While numbers and figures form an important part, it’s also about the vision and courage that an industry leader possesses. CNBC- TV18 Weekender explores the creative pursuits that these leaders enjoy which can range from taking a road trip to the Himalayas to spending a leisure day at the Sula Vineyards. The idea is to understand the driving force that keeps them motivated to do superior work. A glimpse into their perfect weekend is an added advantage that the show will offer.

    The first episode with feature the dynamic  Rare Enterprises trader Atul Suri.  The show will feature head honchos like Amit Burman, Ashish Dhawan, Peter Gordon, Harish Salve Kavin Bharti Mittal, Venkatesh Kini, Sajjan Jindal, Roland Folger and many more. CNBC-TV18 Weekender will be hosted by an assortment of interesting anchors like Mangalam Maloo, Ritu Singh, Kritika Saxena, Farah Bookwala, Nayantara Rai and Ronojoy Banerjee.

  • Coca Cola and NDTV’s ‘Support My School’ campaign raises Rs 20 crore

    Coca Cola and NDTV’s ‘Support My School’ campaign raises Rs 20 crore

    MUMBAI: NDTV, Coca-Cola and UN-Habitat once again came together with campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly to support the 6 hour telethon that went live across all channels on the NDTV network on 29 November.

     

    The campaign, which was started in 2011 once again received an overwhelming response from people across different walks of life and generated over 20 Crores to support 400 schools. The target of revitalizing 1000 schools which the campaign set for 2017 was achieved in 1 day itself. The telethon saw the foundation being laid for the first school under the Support My School Campaign in Shillong. School dedications & celebrity visits were organized in other cities like Gwalior, Jaipur, and Pondicherry amongst others.

     

    Hosts NDTV,  Group CEO Vikram Chnadra, Coca Cola India, SW Asia, president,  Venkatesh Kini and campaign ambassador Sourav Ganguly took centre-stage to reach out to millions of viewers to generate maximum funds for the cause. Ranveer Singh extended his support to the campaign.

     

    Delighted with the tremendous response received for the initiative NDTV Group CEO  Vikram Chandra said, “This multi partner campaign has seen tremendous response from across the country and is growing at a rate which will soon help us reach our next goal. We would like to thank our viewers for the amazing support they have been extending and urge everyone to keep coming forward and help Sourav and NDTV Support My School.”

     

    Speaking about the campaign Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia president Venkatesh Kini said, “Support My School has grown from being an initiative to a campaign that has more than 50 partners in 23 states across India impacting nearly 200,000 children in 600 schools. All of this has been possible with the support of our strategic partners and NGOs, who implemented it at the grass-root level and made the dream come true for many children.”

    Campaign ambassador, Sourav Ganguly said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be associated with such a cause that not only impacts several lives but has a vision of building India’s future. We need more initiatives like Support My School, which has helped in holistic growth of children in many schools across the nation”

     

    The day saw participation from policy makers like Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel Uttarakhand CM, Harish Rawat  and Bollywood personalities like Raju Hirani, Sonali Bendre, Sports personalities like Sunil Gavaskar, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi along with renowned industrialists such as Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy HSBC chairperson Naina Lal Kidwai, JPMorgan Kalpana Morparia and more.

     

    During the event Sourav Ganguly engaged with students and viewers during ‘Sourav ki Pathshala’, where he gave some valuable tips and demonstrated a few strokes. Budding cricketers from the Sehwag Sports Academy got tips from Dada himself. During the 6 hours event he repeatedly appealed for donations.

  • Aligned with 2020 vision, Coca Cola launches Zero

    Aligned with 2020 vision, Coca Cola launches Zero

    MUMBAI: Continuing the expansion of the its product portfolio, the beverage giant Coca Cola India unveiled yet another strategic bet in its journey to achieve its 2020 vision, by launching Coca Cola Zero.

     

    With its launch in the national capital, the Coca Cola Zero brand is now available in all the top six markets of the Coca-Cola Company, the others being USA, Mexico, China, Brazil and Japan.

     

    The sugar free soft drink was launched by Farhan Akhtar, Olympian luger Shiva Keshavan, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and fashion photographer Atul Kasbekar.

     

    In another first for the Company, the entire launch event was broadcast live on www.coca-colaindia.com and fans of Coca Cola Zero joined the launch conversation on twitter and facebook with the #cokezero.

     

    Speaking at the launch Coca Cola India and south west Asia president Venkatesh Kini said, “As we move towards the halfway mark of the decade, it is important we add offerings to our portfolio even as we nurture the existing brands.” After October 5, Coca Cola Zero will be available across the top 100 towns in India in 180,000 outlets.

     

    “Coca-Cola Zero comes at a time when Coca Cola classic has established itself and the new product therefore, complements the company’s sparkling portfolio,” he added.

     

    Coca Cola India marketing VP Debabrata Mukherjee said, “To ensure that consumers get their first taste of Coca Cola Zero, we will be sampling more than 1.5 million packs of the product in the next four months. We also have a strong communication plan which includes digital media, television and print campaigns.”

     

    The company sells a variety of both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks in India, including Coca Cola, Thums Up, Sprite, Maaza and Minute Maid.

     

    The Coca Cola system is innovating with new channels to build preference and anticipation for the beverage prior to the national, on ground, roll out. Initially, the new product will be available on the growing online portal Amazon India as well as modern retail outlets, starting with the Reliance Retail chain. Besides, it would also be first made available to various partners like low cost carrier IndiGo, quick service restaurant chain Subway and INOX Leisure. Coca Cola’s own portal www.Coke2Home.com will also be listing Coca Cola Zero after 15 days of launch at Amazon.

     

    Talking about Coca Cola’s latest innovation, INOX Leisure CEO Alok Tandon said,” The entire movie experience in multiplexes like INOX seems to have graduated to another level. The choice of snacks, beverage options, pre-screening and post screening experience has seen a sea change over the years.”

     

    “I guess the one thing that has remained constant though, is Coca Cola as a part of the movie going experience. We are happy to know that consumers can now choose the zero sugar option also along with the regular Coca Cola,” he added.

     

    Coca-Cola Zero is one of the $17 billion brands of The Coca Cola Company in revenue terms and is one of the fastest to this milestone. It was first launched in 2005 and is now available in 149 countries including India.

     

    Elaborating on the product attributes, Mukherjee reckoned, “Coca Cola Zero is a part of our global Red-Silver-Black model on Coca Cola Trademark. It has done well in matured as well as emerging markets, across the globe. We expect that Coca Cola Zero will hit all the right notes with consumers in India.”

     

    In 2012, Coca Cola, along with its partners, had announced to more than double investments in India to US $5 billion (about Rs 28,000 crore) by 2020.

     

    Talking about their 2020 vision Kini said, “Atlanta-based beverages giant remained committed towards the US $5 billion investment in the country till 2020 and was happy to say that they were on track for the investment.”

     

    Coca Cola Zero will be available in 300 ml slim cans, 400 ml PET bottles and 600 ml PET at the same price points as regular Coca Cola. For instance in Delhi, the MRP of a 300 ml can will be Rs 30 while that of a  600 ml PET will be Rs 35.

  • Coca-Cola India announces top level organisational changes

    Coca-Cola India announces top level organisational changes

    MUMBAI: Coca-Cola India has announced some key senior leadership changes, aligned with its long term plans of becoming one of the Coca-Cola company’s top five markets (in volume terms) by 2020. The Company is already committed to an investment of $ five billion to further capture growth opportunities in the Indian packaged beverage market.

    Announcing the senior leadership changes, deputy business unit president, India and South West Asia Venkatesh Kini said, “As we move into the next phase of our journey in India, we have a solid foundation and the necessary momentum in our business. We now need to have the scale and resources to capture latent growth. Building our talent pipeline and developing people capability is one of our key pillars for success. The new senior level management changes is a step in that direction. The entire team will work closely with our bottling partners to achieve our Vision 2020 goals in India.”

    The following are the key organisational changes effective 1 October, 2013. All these senior leaders of the company will report to Kini. There are no changes in the organisational structure at Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, led by its CEO T. Krishnakumar.

    Vikas Chawla, currently VP operations, is moving to Athens, taking over as the franchise operations head in South East Europe where he will lead operations for 12 European countries. This is yet another endorsement of the quality of talent in India. He adds to the list of 47 managers that the BU has exported to the global TCCC system.

     For a deeper focus on operations and aligned to achieving the business targets for 2020, Coca-Cola India will have two operation leaders going forward.

    Sumanta Datta, currently VP – customer and commercial leadership, will take over as vice president, Company Bottling Operations (including Delhi region and national key accounts). He will work closelywith the team at Hindustan Coca-Cola to deliver the volume and profitability targets for Coca-Cola India. Datta has been with the Coca-Cola system since 1995 in a variety of roles in marketing, operations, customer & commercial leadership, strategy in India as well as China. In his most recent role he has helped drive exponential growth in the national key accounts business.

    Bhupendra Suri, currently director, franchise operations, is being elevated as vice president – Franchise Bottling Operations. He will work with the 11 franchise bottlers in India and provide leadership and strategic direction to them. Suri has spent 17 years in India in a variety of functional and general management roles, with the company as well as the bottling operations.

    Andriy Avramenko, currently VP – juice, will take over as vice president strategy and still beverages. Avramenko has had diverse experiences within Coca-Cola in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, business integration, supply chain and finance. Avramenko has been instrumental in putting the juice brands on a path of sustainable profitable growth in India and SWA over the past two years.

    Debabrata Mukherjee, currently vice president, strategy and still beverages, will take on the role of vice president, marketing and commercial. The marketing and commercial roles are being brought together under one head, for a deeper and combined focus on commercial and shopper marketing as well as product commercialisation.

    Mukherjee is a veteran of the Coca-Cola system, who joined the company in 1998. He has done a series of marketing and general management roles. He was the head of marketing for the company in Korea before coming back to India in 2011.

    Anupama Ahluwalia, currently VP marketing, will take up a short term leadership assignment with Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages to get direct experience within our bottling system. Upon completion of the assignment, Ahluwalia will then return to Coca-Cola India. He has led the marketing function for over two years, leading the creation of the iconic crazy for happiness campaign for Coca-Cola, achieved record market shares for the brand and led the company into the forefront of digital marketing by launching the social media center.

  • Venkatesh Kini elevated to Coca-Cola India SVP

    MUMBAI: Venkatesh Kini, currently VP-marketing – Global Juice, has been appointed as the senior vice president for India region.

    To ensure complete and end-to-end focus on the business, all the three core pillars of business growth — Franchise Leadership, Consumer Marketing and Customer and Commercial Leadership — will report to Kini.

    Additionally, Neeraj Garg, currently VP providing franchise leadership support to Company Owned Bottling Operations (CBO) in India will assume the responsibility of SWA region and Juice business.

    Both these executives will report to Coca-Cola India and SWA Business Unit , president Atul Singh.

    The changes in the designation are a part of realignment of the company‘s operating structure.

    Coca-Cola India and South West Asia Business Unit comprising key markets – India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives has announced a new operating structure in keeping with its business priorities.

    Effective 1 October, the Business Unit will organise around two major operating regions: India region and South West Asia (SWA) region constituting of the potential markets of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives.

    “India is one of the key growth markets for The Coca-Cola Company and the Business Unit‘s role is critical to the Company achieving its 2020 Vision. We have been growing for the last 24 quarters and the India market is now amongst the top 7 markets for the Company. As we move into the next phase of our journey, we have a solid foundation and necessary momentum in our business. This is the time to take the next step in our evolution. We now need to have the scale and resources to capture latent growth across the Business Unit. Also, keeping in mind the market realities, we need to be more responsive and have a sharper and deeper focus on our business. The new structure lends us stability and robustness and positions us well to capture the latent growth in our markets” Singh said.

    “Kini and Neeraj are proven business leaders and I look forward to partnering with them and the rest of my leadership team, Company owned bottling partner (Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd) and the franchise bottlers as we continue our journey towards our 2020 Vision”, Singh added.

    This announcement does not impact Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, the Company owned bottling operations in India.

    Kini is serving the company since over 14 years now. He has more than 20 years of experience in India and US, in marketing, sales and general management roles.

    Vikas Chawla who will assume the responsibility of VP- operations, providing franchise leadership support to the company owned bottling operations (CBO) and to all the franchise bottlers in India, will report to Kini.

    The Emerging Markets business led by Sanjiv Gupta and Commercial Beverages business led by Shourov Mukherjee, will also report to Kini. To continue focus on retailer training and capability building, through the Parivartan program and other similar initiatives, the Coca-Cola University led by R. C. Datta too will report to Kini.