Vani Gupta Dandiya

Ms Vani Gupta Dandia has spent more than 27 years learning how brands grow, and the last several helping others do it. At PepsiCo India she was marketing director for Indian snacks and, for the longest stretch, led Kurkure, which Business Today credited her with growing into a ₹1,000-crore brand. Earlier, she built brands such as Dove, Sunsilk, Clinic Plus, Veet and Lizol at Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser and Henkel, after starting in advertising at Leo Burnett and R K Swamy BBDO.

In 2018 she founded CherryPeachPlum, which has since helped more than ninety brands grow profitably with a challenger mindset, from Mars Foods and Dabur to young companies such as CARS24, Kapiva and AgroStar. She has worked across India, Africa and the Middle East and has mentored more than 500 founders, many of them pro bono.

She is an independent director of Shiprocket, a marketing advisor to KPMG and visiting faculty at Ashoka University, and hosts the podcast Marketing with Vani. Business Today named her one of its Hottest Young Executives in 2015. An alumna of MDI Gurgaon, she brings to First Bridge the practical craft of brand and consumer strategy, from finding the right customer to building a brand that lasts.