Rajeev Gopalakrishnan elevated to President, Asia South role
European footwear major’s Indian subsidiary, Bata India announced the appointment of Sandeep Kataria as the Country Manager for the India sub-continent as on Aug 01, 2017. Sandeep joins from his last assignment as Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone India, and he will be based in Gurgaon.
A Business Leader, Sandeep has over 2 decades in the consumer industry, covering design and deployment of business strategy, brand management and sales & marketing leadership across the developing and developed markets. Having held roles ranging from Regional Sales manager to Global Brand Director in Unilever and from Chief Marketing Officer to Chief Executive Officer in Yum! Brands, Sandeep now has his role cut-out to grow Bata India from strength to strength.
He will be reporting into Mr. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, who has been elevated as President of Asia South, based in Singapore, with a broader perimeter encompassing: India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia & New Zealand. This development is in line with Bata India’s growth trajectory which picked up significant momentum under Mr. Gopalakrishnan. He has indeed been pivotal in driving the product, brand, retail and manufacturing levers of the business. A clear reflection of past few years trajectory has been Bata’s share price almost tripling in the last 6 years from a value of INR 196 per share in Apr 2011 to INR 584 per share as on date and wining several awards including the most admired Retail footwear brand in India by Brand Equity, Images Retail, Dun & Bradstreet.
Speaking on the appointment, Mr. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, President, Asia South, Bata said “I am confident that Sandeep will play a critical role in continuing to build Bata as a contemporary and stylish brand, keeping in mind the changing consumer trend in India and will drive the company to achieve the accelerated growth plan.”
Sandeep holds a Bachelor of Technology degree (Chemical Engineering) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He has lived and worked in India (Delhi and Mumbai) and UK (London).
Mr. Sandeep Kataria, Country Manager, Bata India said,” I am very excited for the opportunity to lead Bata in India – a very strong, trusted and admired brand with immense potential to grow rapidly. My association with Bata goes back to my teenage days when I used to spend my summer vacations in my grandfather’s shoe business in Agra. I look forward to helping to take the business to greater heights across many channels, consumer segments and geographies.”