Diageo India CEO Hina Nagarajan: Consumers are not necessarily drinking more, but they are drinking better

She also shared that living her purpose has defined the way she brings her best self to work. This is a formula for success she said. It’s how you deliver a win-win situation.

There’s been a structural shift in consumer choices and behavior over the last few years. Consumers are drinking better, they are living in the physical and the digital world now and really experimenting, said Hina Nagarajan, MD and CEO of Diageo India. In an exclusive interview with Storyboard18’s editor Delshad Irani, Nagarajan shared her views on the alcobev major’s premiumisation and M&A strategies, key consumer trends, advertising, women in leadership, ESG agenda and more.

From CMO to CEO: Unilever’s global CMO Priya Nair in the running for Hindustan Unilever’s CEO position?

Unilever's global CMO Priya Nair stated, "Increasingly, we will see brands using the latest tech to move diversity and inclusion forward in product offerings. The See My Skin campaign from Vaseline is one example of how to address the lack of diversity in images that dermatologists use for diagnoses. It’s just one example of how smart tech combined with great creative can drive positive outcomes for different groups."

Priya Nair is currently Unilever’s global chief marketing officer for beauty & wellbeing. If Nair does become top boss, she would also make history as HUL’s first-ever female CEO.

Meta India chief Ajit Mohan’s sudden exit and his time at Facebook

Under his close to half-decade leadership the company has also made significant investments in businesses across sectors in India. For instance, in June 2019, the company invested in social ecommerce platform Meesho. In February 2020, the company joined others like General Atlantic and Sequoia India to be a part of a funding round of $110 in ed-tech start-up Unacademy. In April 2020, they announced a $5.7 billion, investment in Jio Platforms, making Meta its largest minority shareholder

Ajit Mohan who worked as the India head of the tech giant’s India operations for almost four years not just scaled the company’s operations but introduced a lot of firsts in the India market.

This is the Indian decade. I would also say it’s the start of the Indian age: Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO

Schneider said, "You see a lot of the underlying strengths of this country coming to the forefront now... you see tremendous growth and momentum. We want to participate in that. We are deeply ingrained in the social fabric of this country. So I think we stand to benefit from that momentum quite well." (Illustration by Suneesh)

Nestle committed to investing Rs 5000 crore in India by 2025. India is Nestle’s 10th largest market globally and the fresh investments will help the company accelerate its core business in the country and leverage new opportunities for growth. In recent years, Nestle has been dialing up its growth strategies and sustainability efforts to address the many challenges it faces today. In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Storyboard18’s Delshad Irani, Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestle, told us how the company is future-proofing its brands and business, and focusing on the new bottom-line – People Planet Profits.