Nothing comes easy in life
Anuja Gulati, Manager – Marketing, 100 Pipers Scotch Whisky, Pernod Ricard India, feels the alcobev sector is an exciting market that presents new challenges enhanced by changing consumption habits of Indian consumers and India’s legal landscape.
She has spent an extremely eventful 34 years of life that began in Delhi and took her across the length & breadth of India. This vast exposure is what has truly made her the person she is today. She graduated from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology in 2005 with a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering and thereafter, completed her MBA from VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur, in 2008. Anuja began her career in marketing with ITC in 2008 and she had worked with Perfetti Van Melle as well, before she joined Pernod Ricard, in July 2018. Talking about her first job, she says she joined ITC via campus placement as a Management Trainee and worked across both sales & marketing verticals in categories like cigarette and food. According to her, “The one key thing that stands out about ITC is the rigour that the organisation puts you through at an early stage. And that is what forms the bedrock of your fundamentals that goes a long way in your career.” Working on market leader brands like 100 Pipers Scotch Whiskey, Center Fresh chewing gum, etc has been a very interesting and enriching journey for her.
Open-Minded Parents
Sharing how her experience in India’s alcobev industry has been, she says: “Having worked in core FMCG categories, India’s alcobev sector presented a new challenge given the very nature of the category, changing consumption habits of Indian consumers and India’s legal landscape. It essentially adds exposure to lifestyle marketing; a step forward from the FMCG marketing nuances that I have learnt over the years. It is therefore, an exciting opportunity to explore.” When asked as to what was the reaction of her parents when she joined the wine & spirits industry, Anuja avers, “My parents are extremely open-minded and modern in their outlook. And they understand that work in this industry is done in a duly responsible manner. Hence, for them it is just another product category.”
Innings with Pernod Ricard
Her present responsibility with Pernod Ricard is to work on the brand 100 Pipers, which is the largest Scotch whisky brand in India. She works in the capacity of Manager-Marketing and reports to the Category Head. Her job includes working on the development and implementation of the brand’s annual business objectives with respect to volume sales, NPDs and equity strengthening via various ATL/BTL initiatives. This is accompanied with facilitating the senior team on long-term brand strategy development. While she has only been six months with Pernod Ricard, she says she is fortunate to have got the opportunity to work on some of the most critical deliverables on brand 100 Pipers that have paved a smooth way forward for the coming year. When asked how does she rate herself as far as her career in this industry goes, she says on a scale of 10, she would rate 4 for herself. She also believes that “Nothing comes easy; if it does it doesn’t last!” She looks up to her parents as her mentors and while talking about work-life balance she adds: “I maintain this balance by being as organised with my time in a day as possible and setting my priorities right.”
