Two mandates open · 2026Book a call

Strategic advisory · Brand consulting · Fractional CMO

I don’t run campaigns.
I build brands that scale.

Q: What engagements are available?

Brand Audit & Diagnostic — Three to four weeks. A diagnosis, not a deck. An intensive read of the brand as it actually stands on shelf — packaging, claims, the margin every channel is really taking, and what trial and repeat are telling you that the topline is not. GTM & Scale Projects — Fixed scope, three to six months. A defined build with a date on it: new product development, a quick-commerce launch, or the SKU portfolio architecture that lets a range defend its own price ladder. Fractional CMO Leadership — A seat, not a retainer. Six to twelve months and beyond, one or two days a week, embedded in your leadership team — I own the marketing outcome, mentor the people who have to deliver it, and hold the agencies to account.

Q: Which brands has Kiran Giradkar worked with?

Parle, Bisleri, Nilon's, Nutrica, Storia, Bajaj Almond Drops, Camlin. Bisleri: When your brand name becomes the category, you stop getting credit for it. Storia: A great product with no road to the consumer is not a brand. It is inventory. Nilon's: Every brand in the aisle was claiming taste. So I stopped talking about taste. Nutrica: Four categories, no brand, and a factory waiting for an answer.

23 years inside FMCG and food & beverage — Parle, Bisleri, Nilon's, Storia, Nutrica. Now an independent F&B Brand and Marketing Consultant: fractional CMO and growth advisory for a select few ambitious founder-led brands at a time.

Share your story →See the work

01Brand Audit & DiagnosticThree to four weeks. A diagnosis, not a deck.02GTM & Scale ProjectsFixed scope, three to six months.03Fractional CMO LeadershipA seat, not a retainer.

Mumbai, India

Your brand next

Have a growth problem worth solving?

Start a conversation →

Kiran Giradkar

F&B Brand and Marketing Consultant

Brands built

A packed retail aisle — where the work is actually judged

Approach

I didn’t learn marketing in boardrooms.
I learned it in the market.

23 years

in the trade

Multiple

Numbers I was accountable for,
not adjacent to.

Stated as multiples rather than revenue, because a multiple is the part that transfers to your business.

Storia

6×

revenue in 14 months

A challenger beverage brand taken from regional curiosity to national listing.

BN Group

3×

growth at group level

A commodity enterprise rebuilt as a branded consumer business across India, Dubai and Singapore.

Nilon's

+25%

brand recall

One platform held unchanged for two years — Product of the Year, back-to-back, 2021 and 2022.

Nutrica

categories, from zero

Edible oil, honey, peanut butter and oats — built from scratch to national retail in six months.

Campaign stories

Four rooms I walked into,
and what changed.

Not a case-study index. The situation as it actually was, the one decision that moved it, and what it produced.

Bisleri — Sealed water bottle, arid light, label in focus

01Bisleri · 2016—19 · Head of Marketing

When your brand name becomes the category, you stop getting credit for it.

The room

In half of India, "Bisleri" simply meant bottled water. The brand had won so completely that every rival's bottle borrowed its trust for free, at the counter, without spending a rupee.

In half of India, “Bisleri” simply meant bottled water — so every rival’s bottle borrowed its trust for free, at the counter.

The move

I made the problem the argument. The camel campaign turned the brand's own generic name into the reason to check the label — correcting the consumer without ever scolding them.

The camel campaign turned the brand’s own generic name into the reason to check the label — correcting the consumer without scolding them.

What happened

The line entered everyday speech and stayed. The market leader grew another 1.5× in four years, and two launches on the same brand system beat their first-year targets.

The line entered everyday speech and stayed. The market leader grew another 1.5× in four years.

“Har Paani Ki Bottle Bisleri Nahi Hoti.”

Most Iconic TV Campaign of All TimeET Brand Equity Most Trusted Brand

Storia — Chilled premium beverage bottles, condensation, cabinet light

02Storia · 2020—21 · Head of Brand & Marketing

A great product with no road to the consumer is not a brand. It is inventory.

The room

Storia had the liquid and the packaging, not the distribution. Modern trade wouldn't back an unproven premium price, general trade didn't know where to shelve it, and quick commerce barely existed yet.

Storia had the liquid and the packaging, not the distribution — and no channel ready to back an unproven premium price.

The move

I treated distribution as the campaign: modern trade, e-commerce and the then-new quick-commerce channels planned as one demand system, not three teams. I built D2C in-house rather than renting it, so the consumer data stayed with the brand.

I ran distribution as the campaign — every channel planned as one demand system, with D2C built in-house rather than rented.

What happened

Nearly 6× in fourteen months, and one of the earliest premium-beverage D2C pivots in the Indian market.

Nearly 6× in fourteen months, and one of India’s earliest premium-beverage D2C pivots.

“Distribution is the campaign. Everything else is decoration.”

One of India’s earliest premium-beverage D2C builds

Nilon's — Indian home kitchen, hands cooking, warm afternoon light

03Nilon's · Brand platform

Every brand in the aisle was claiming taste. So I stopped talking about taste.

The room

Nilon's was trusted at home and invisible outside it. Where every pickle, ketchup and blend promised flavour, nothing gave a shopper a reason to reach past the cheapest jar.

Trusted at home, invisible outside it — and nothing gave a shopper a reason to reach past the cheapest jar.

The move

I moved the argument from recipe to intent — food made with affection, not to a formula. Pankaj Tripathi carried the platform unchanged across television, packaging and retail for two full years.

I moved the argument from recipe to intent: food made with affection, not to a formula. Pankaj Tripathi held the platform for two years.

What happened

Brand recall up 25%, and the rarest thing in FMCG: the same idea winning twice, two years running.

Brand recall up 25%, and the same idea winning twice, two years running.

“Isme Pyaar Mila Hai.”

FMCG Product of the Year, 2021FMCG Product of the Year, 2022

Nutrica — Pantry staples still life — oil, honey, peanut butter, oats

04Nutrica · BN Group · Launch mandate

Four categories, no brand, and a factory waiting for an answer.

The room

World-class manufacturing, no shelf presence. Edible oil, honey, peanut butter and oats — four categories, four shoppers, four price logics, and one balance sheet expecting all of them to work.

World-class manufacturing, no shelf presence. Four categories, four shoppers, four price logics, one balance sheet.

The move

I held back every rupee of advertising until the architecture was settled: portfolio roles, a price ladder that let the range defend itself, pack hierarchies fixed before a frame was shot. Then I launched all four together — a portfolio, not a trial.

I held back advertising until the architecture was settled — then launched all four together, as a portfolio rather than a trial.

What happened

National retail inside two quarters, and a founding block of the 3× group transformation that followed.

National retail inside two quarters, and the first block of a 3× group transformation.

Product of the Year, 2025

Your brand next

You don’t need another agency.
You need someone who is already an agency.

Tell me where the brand is today, what has stopped working, and what good would look like in a year. A paragraph is plenty — I’ll come back with how I read it and what I’d do first.Where the brand is today, what has stopped working, what good would look like in a year. A paragraph is plenty.

Share your story →Book a 30-minute call →

The problem

A CMO you can’t justify yet.
An agency that can’t get you shelf.

F&B founders face a split dilemma. Hiring a high-level corporate CMO is too expensive this early, and relying on digital agencies alone leads to ad-spend dependency without any actual trade distribution behind it.A corporate CMO is too expensive this early. Digital agencies alone leave you dependent on ad spend, with no trade distribution behind it.

Fractional marketing leadership, scaled to your stage.

Kiran Giradkar Brand & Marketing Advisory offers fractional marketing leadership and strategic advisory built specifically for F&B SMEs and startups.

The usual dilemma

A corporate CMO you can’t justify yet

Agencies that need ad spend to work

Growth with no trade distribution

No single owner of the outcome

What you get instead

Senior FMCG judgement, part-time

Trade distribution before ad spend

One strategy, held

Ownership of the outcome

The value

Trade marketing

Packaging psychology

Consumer insight

Quick-commerce playbooks

Senior FMCG expertise, scaled exactly to your business stage — not a corporate playbook shrunk to fit.

A neighbourhood store counter — where familiarity turns into a purchase

How I see brands

Consumers choose what they trust, remember, and repeat.

I don’t build visibility.
I build familiarity that converts into scale.

Work with me

Three ways in. One
person accountable.

I partner with a select few brands at a time. Two advisory mandates are open for 2026.

Brand Audit & Diagnostic

Three to four weeks. A diagnosis, not a deck.

An intensive read of the brand as it actually stands on shelf — packaging, claims, the margin every channel is really taking, and what trial and repeat are telling you that the topline is not.

—Packaging and claims audit

—Channel margin evaluation

—Consumer trial and repeat metrics

—Written diagnosis and priorities

For founders who know something is off and want it named before they spend against it.

GTM & Scale Projects

Fixed scope, three to six months.

A defined build with a date on it: new product development, a quick-commerce launch, or the SKU portfolio architecture that lets a range defend its own price ladder.

—New product development

—Quick-commerce launch

—SKU portfolio architecture

—Go-to-market and channel design

For brands with one thing that has to work this year, and no room to get it wrong.

Fractional CMO Leadership

A seat, not a retainer.

Six to twelve months and beyond, one or two days a week, embedded in your leadership team — I own the marketing outcome, mentor the people who have to deliver it, and hold the agencies to account.

—Embedded executive ownership, 1–2 days a week

—Team mentorship and hiring

—Agency management and consolidation

—Board and investor reporting

For brands that need CMO-grade decisions before they can justify a CMO-grade salary.

Also brought in for

Brand & GTM strategy

Brand architecture, positioning and market entry across India, Dubai and Singapore.

Integrated ATL & BTL

TV, OOH, digital and on-ground campaigns built on consumer research, not opinion.

D2C, MarTech & Gen AI

India's first AI-driven marketing stack in FMCG, with the governance and ethics to keep legal comfortable.

Not sure which of the three you need?

Most founders aren’t, on the first call. Tell me where the brand is stuck and I’ll tell you which one fits — or that none of them do.Tell me where the brand is stuck and I’ll tell you which one fits — or that none of them do.

Tell me where you’re stuck →

How I work

A select few brands
at a time.

01A select few brands at a time

02No decks and disappear

03No layers between you and me

04High ownership, start to finish

What I value

Clarityovercomplexity

Consistencyoverspikes

Executionoverintent

Who I work best with

✓Founders building the next category leader in food & beverage

✓Businesses moving from commodity to brand

✓Teams ready for disciplined execution

Who I’m not for

—More campaigns

—More agency coordination

—More noise

If the brief is more output, there are agencies who will do it faster and cheaper than I will.

Product of the Year 2021◆Product of the Year 2022◆Guinness World Record 2012◆Most Iconic TV Campaign of All Time◆ET Brand Equity Most Trusted Brand◆LinkedIn Top Marketing Voice◆India's first AI-driven FMCG marketing stack◆Product of the Year 2021◆Product of the Year 2022◆Guinness World Record 2012◆Most Iconic TV Campaign of All Time◆ET Brand Equity Most Trusted Brand◆LinkedIn Top Marketing Voice◆India's first AI-driven FMCG marketing stack◆

Recognition

Ten honours,
2012 to 2025.

For campaigns, for products, and for taking generative AI into an FMCG marketing function first.

2024

Generative AI Leader

Trescon World Gen AI Show

2024

Marketing Leader Award

World CX Summit

2024

LinkedIn Top Marketing Voice

Gold badge

2022

Most Influential Marketing Leader

World Marketing Congress

2025

Product of the Year

Nutrica portfolio

2021 · 2022

Product of the Year, back-to-back

Nilon's

◆

Most Iconic TV Campaign of All Time

Bisleri camel campaign

◆

Most Trusted Brand

ET Brand Equity, Bisleri

2012

Guinness World Record

Largest art competition, Camlin

Final thought

Brands grow because of what gets done —repeatedly.

If that’s what you’re building — let’s work together. I partner with a select few brands at a time. Two advisory mandates are open for 2026.

Start here

Tell me about your brand.
I read every one myself.

No form-filling for the sake of it. Six fields, two minutes, and you’ll hear back from me — not an assistant, not a template.Six fields, two minutes — and you’ll hear back from me, not an assistant.

01You writeTwo minutes. The situation as it actually is.

02I read it properlyA straight reply within two working days.

03We talkThirty minutes, no deck, no pitch.

Book a 30-minute call →

kirangiradkarcmo@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/kirangiradkar

Strategy that tastes like a result.

I don’t run campaigns.I build brands that scale.

I didn’t learn marketing in boardrooms.I learned it in the market.

Numbers I was accountable for,not adjacent to.

Four rooms I walked into,and what changed.

When your brand name becomes the category, you stop getting credit for it.

A great product with no road to the consumer is not a brand. It is inventory.

Every brand in the aisle was claiming taste. So I stopped talking about taste.

Four categories, no brand, and a factory waiting for an answer.

You don’t need another agency.You need someone who is already an agency.

A CMO you can’t justify yet.An agency that can’t get you shelf.

Three ways in. Oneperson accountable.

Brand Audit & Diagnostic

GTM & Scale Projects

Fractional CMO Leadership

A select few brandsat a time.

Generative AI Leader

Marketing Leader Award

LinkedIn Top Marketing Voice

Most Influential Marketing Leader

Product of the Year

Product of the Year, back-to-back

Most Iconic TV Campaign of All Time

Most Trusted Brand

Guinness World Record

Brands grow because of what gets done —repeatedly.

Tell me about your brand.I read every one myself.

I don’t run campaigns.
I build brands that scale.

I didn’t learn marketing in boardrooms.
I learned it in the market.

Numbers I was accountable for,
not adjacent to.

Four rooms I walked into,
and what changed.

You don’t need another agency.
You need someone who is already an agency.

A CMO you can’t justify yet.
An agency that can’t get you shelf.

Three ways in. One
person accountable.

A select few brands
at a time.

Tell me about your brand.
I read every one myself.