Diageo India’s CMO Deepika Warrier quits; Ruchira Jaitly to take over
Deepika Warrier's last working day at the company is 31 July. Ruchira Jaitly, who currently serves the company as the executive vice president, marketing, will take over as the new CMO from August 1.
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Diageo India’s chief marketing officer Deepika Warrier is moving on from her role at the company. Warrier has confirmed her move to Storyboard18. Her last working day at the company is 31 July. She has been with the beverage alcohol company for three years having joined in 2020.
As part of the mandate, Warrier led the marketing function at the company that has a large portfolio of popular liquor brands such as Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff.
Ruchira Jaitly, who currently serves the company as the executive vice president, marketing, will take over as the new CMO from August 1.
Last year, in an interview with Storyboard18, Warrier said that the industry is seeing growth both in IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor) and imported whiskies, with a trend towards premiumisation and growth in the premium end.
“In the premium single malts segment, we have seen Indian spirits showing a blistering growth and these are now almost half of imported single malts,” Warrier noted.
She expects the Indian single malts segment to overtake global single malts over the next few years, particularly with the entry of players such as Diageo.
An alumni of IIM Bangalore, Warrier has over two decades of experience in the beverage and packaged foods company working in India and markets overseas. In her last assignment, she was managing director and chief executive, NourishCo Beverages (formerly, a 50:50 Joint Venture between PepsiCo India and Tata Consumer Products). In May, Tata Consumer Products acquired PepsiCo's stake in the joint venture. Warrier managed a total of 22 brands during her tenure.
At PepsiCo, Warrier held key positions, including that of the CMO of the company's India business. She moved overseas for a stint as vice president of the global nutrition category, Asia, Middle East and Africa before returning to India to lead NourishCo.
Warrier started her career at Britannia Industries after her MBA. She has also worked with advertising agency Ogilvy India.
