Rachit Vats
Marketing

Hamdard gets new marketing head, team

Hamdard is not just looking at refreshing its product portfolio, but also at strengthening its marketing structure. A new marketing head has been appointed, and he is building a three-member team

Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, established in 1906, is waking up to the fact that consumers have changed. No wonder then that Hamdard, which owns brands such as Sharbat Rooh-Afza, Safi, Sualin and Cinkara, is planning to rejuvenate these classic brands using a fresh communication strategy, which will look beyond traditional media.

As a first step, Hamdard plans to bring about a change in the company’s structure. A new marketing team, which will look at devising and implementing new ways to target the consumer (which it believes has become younger), is being put in place. Arshad Siddiqui is scheduled to take charge as head of sales and marketing at Hamdard from August 16. Prior to this, Siddiqui was working as the head of ITC’s lifestyle retail business division. Three other people are expected to join Siddiqui’s team shortly.

Hamdard gets new marketing head, team
Siddiqui moves in from a much larger and established brand. He says, “This is an extremely challenging assignment. Hamdard is an iconic brand, though it operates in a traditional fashion. My role is to rejuvenate the Hamdard brand and bring in more professionalism within the set-up.”

He adds that Hamdard (which has current revenues of Rs 300 crore) has a revenue target of Rs 500 crore in three years’ time. “In order to reach that mark, a lot of changes have to be brought in. I have been given a free hand in selecting the team as well as in taking out of the box steps for marketing,” says Siddiqui.

An MBA from IMT Ghaziabad, Siddiqui started his career in 1997 with Balsara. He then moved to Smithkline Beecham, and joined ITC in 2003.

Also, earlier this month, Hamdard discontinued its relationship with Mudra as one of its creative partners (Triton is the other creative agency on board). A pitch was called and five agencies have been locked in for the pitch. After he joins, Siddiqui will look at the pitch process.

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