Bharti Airtel announced the appointment of Rajiv Mathrani as Chief Brand Officer for its India operations. Rajiv will lead Airtel’s brand positing, strategic initiatives and associations in India. He takes over from Mohit Beotra, who has decided to move on from Airtel to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Rajiv will report to Srini Gopalan, Director – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel, India. Rajiv graduated in Production Engineering from University of Mumbai and is an MBA from XLRI.
Commenting on the appointment, Srini Gopalan said,
“I am delighted to welcome Rajiv on board and wish him all the best for driving one of India’s most loved brands –Airtel. His leadership and rich experience will significantly contribute to strengthening the bond that brand Airtel enjoys with its customers, and contribute to our endeavor of building a brand of the future. I also take the opportunity to thank Mohit for his valuable contribution in creating some of the iconic campaigns for us and wish him all the success as he pursues his dream”.
Rajiv joins Airtel from Pepsico where he led the snacks category and portfolio strategy for Lay’s, Kurkure, Uncle Chipps and Cheetos – and played a key role in driving strong business growth and defining master brands. Apart from Pepsico, Rajiv has held various leadership, marketing and sales roles earlier in India and other emerging markets across organizations like Marico Industries, Citibank and Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare. He has spurred business growth in large businesses by leading some of India’s most successful and acclaimed campaigns including the 2011 Grand Effie winner Pepsi ‘Change the Game’ Cricket World Cup campaign, and also activated the first edition of Pepsi IPL. In his previous roles, Rajiv spearheaded various category defining innovations like the launch of Paracute Advansed at Marico and Lay’s Maxx at PepsiCo.
