Cover Story

The sheer exposure makes me grow

The sheer exposure makes me grow
  • PublishedMarch 18, 2019

For Chandreyee Gogoi, Category Head of the Premium Whisky Segment, Pernod Ricard India, the choice of the industry has never been a concern for the family. She is moving in her career with a determined focus to do better with each responsibility.

Largely brought up in the lovely city of Kolkata with her schooling in Carmel Convent, Chandreyee Gogoi was in the city till her graduation. She is close to her brother who left home early for IIT Kharagpur and subsequently to work in Indian Oil. She reached Delhi to pursue her MBA from the Times School of Marketing and started her professional life there. Her stint with the spirits industry has been in two chapters. “First, when I was working with Ogilvy & Mather in 2003, I was on the account management team on Royal Stag. My initial job learnings & exposure to the industry firmed my understanding. Those were the years when the ‘Make it Large’ campaign of Royal Stag was launched.” She feels this is definitely one of the best communication lines in the consumer goods industry today. The second and more direct stint started recently in 2018, when she joined Pernod Ricard as the Category Head of the Premium Whisky Segment.

Early Learning

Chandreyee started her professional life with the Times of India group in sales and then got an opportunity to work with Ogilvy & Mather in the account management team and nurture her creative side. This also gave her first exposure in marketing with P&G Gillette. Her biggest learning has been on people management. One of the biggest learnings that has stayed with her over the years is that, any client who is the toughest to crack initially stays your best client forever. Sharing about her parents’ response to her joining the alcobev industry, she reveals that the choice of the industry has never been a concern for the family. “Both my parents and in-laws have been extremely proud of my joining Pernod Ricard and heading the Blenders Pride portfolio. I moved into this sector from a tobacco company, and they never had any reservations to that either.” Her present responsibilities at Pernod Ricard as the Category Head for the Premium Whisky segment entitle her to handle the most iconic portfolio of the segment – Blenders Pride. She says in this short time span, the responsibility that the company has given, and “the sheer exposure that the portfolio provides will in itself add to my growth”.

Gender Neutrality

She goes on to share that she has honestly not heard or felt that she is in a man’s domain. She also believes many industries, including wines & spirits in India are moving to gender neutrality along with consumption acceptance. Her goal in life is to be passionate in doing what she does, and at the end to be happy in what she has done so far. On how she strikes a work-life balance, Chandreyee says: “My husband and both set of parents have been the strongest support to me in helping me with my family responsibilities. With my travel, I try and offset it during weekends towards them, especially my son.” Sharing her biggest achievement so far, she says, “every project, every new organization, every elevation has actually been very meaningful. I would be doing injustice to each of my wins, if I term the other ‘the biggest’.”

Written By
ruby singh

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