GSK Consumer elevates marketing head Jayant Singh to regional position

Singh will head to Brazil, while company veteran Prashant Pandey will replace him in India

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer (GSK) Healthcare has elevated its India marketing head Jayant Singh to a regional position in a top-level rejig. He moves to Brazil as Vice-President and General Manager of the unit there.

Replacing him in India will be company veteran Prashant Pandey. Both appointments are effective February 2015.

Singh joins a growing band of FMCG executives, who've been elevated to regional or global roles in the last few months.

One of them has been his boss and company MD Zubair Ahmed, who was named the head of the Asia Pacific, Middle East and African regions for the proposed joint venture between GSK Consumer and pharmaceutical firm Novartis' OTC business this August.

Singh will be responsible for the strategy, growth and commercial execution of Brazil's consumer healthcare business, a statement from the company said. "In his new role, Jayant will report in to John Sayers, President, GSK Consumer Healthcare APL (Asia, Pacific and Latina)," the statement added.

Pandey, meanwhile, will report to Ahmed as part of the India leadership team. He joined GSK from ad agency JWT in 2008 with the mandate to manage and lead marketing of Horlicks, GSK Consumer's biggest brand in India. He led several initiatives to drive growth of Horlicks including the beverage brand's much-touted extension into foods.

He was also instrumental in driving new variants of Horlicks, such as Women's Horlicks and Mother's Horlicks. Pandey also focused on the base variant of the brand, which continues to be the biggest contributor to Horlicks' revenues in India.

By 2013, Pandey had been promoted to his current role of category development director, family nutrition ISC with the responsibility of driving expansion and innovation across the portfolio.

Commenting on the change, Ahmed said, “Jayant’s contribution to the Indian sub-continent business has been remarkable. I am sure he will drive similar levels of performance in his new role. I am also delighted to welcome Prashant. His vast knowledge of the company and functional expertise are sure to bring in new dimensions to the team."