The Hindu Business Line : Punita Lal is marketing head of Pepsi South Asia

In her new role as Executive Director (Marketing), Ms Lal will be responsible for devising the marketing and advertising strategy for PepsiCo's beverage brands in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

Said Mr Rajeev Bakshi, Chairman of PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt Ltd, in a statement, "Mr Punita brings with her classic marketing and advertising expertise having worked with top-notch advertising agencies where she has handled prestigious FMCG accounts such as Pepsi and Unilever. Most importantly, she has in-depth experience of the beverage business. Her previous experience as part of the JWT team that worked on Pepsi's first campaign in India and her subsequent global experience in brand marketing will make her transition seamless."

A graduate in Economics from St. Stephens College, New Delhi and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, Ms Lal started her career in the advertising industry with Lintas, before moving to J Walter Thompson (JWT).

While with JWT, she developed Pepsi's successful "Are you ready for the magic" marketing campaign. Much of Pepsi's gain of a 20 per cent market share (despite limited distribution to five cities) at that time could be attributed to Ms Lal's efforts, the statement said.

Within JWT, Ms Lal's next assignment was as the Accounts Director for the Unilever Dental Business before becoming the Vice-President and Unit Head, Mumbai, for the company. Ms Lal also worked in different senior marketing positions with Coca-Cola in China and the Far East until 2002.