Myntra hires former Star India executive as new CMO

Online fashion retailer Myntra on Tuesday said it had appointed Gunjan Soni, former executive vice-president for strategy and CEO at Star India, as its chief marketing officer and head of international brands business. She will join Myntra by the beginning of December, said Myntra in a statement.

The move is seen as a significant step by Myntra to redefine and strengthen its marketing strategy. The fashion retailer, which was acquired by online marketplace Flipkart early last year, had gone app-only in May, in a first-of-its-kind move in India market. Though India is marching towards becoming an app-first economy, the decision by Myntra to focus only on m-commerce was a highly debated issue by consumers as well as startups.

 

Prior to Star India, Soni was a partner at McKinsey and has worked across multiple consumer sectors and geographies, including India, UK, Singapore and Bhutan. She is credited for starting McKinsey's scientific marketing practice for India.

"Soni joins our leadership team at a time when applying data analytics to marketing is at the heart of our business process. Her experience in the field will be vital for our future marketing endeavours, as Myntra continues to lead the online fashion space in the country," said Ananth Narayanan, who also came from McKinsey and is the chief executive officer at Myntra.

"As I come in, would like to take brand Myntra to iconic status in fashion - not just through traditional marketing but by applying data and technology to transform the consumer experience on personalisation and social to best in the world," said Soni, who is an MBA alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur.