Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Saakshi Verma Menon, Kimberly-Clark

Saakshi Verma Menon

Marketing director
Kimberly-Clark
India
New member

Since she joined Kimberly-Clark in July 2021, Saakshi Verma Menon, the firm’s marketing director in India, has steered the relaunch of Kotex in the market, led the ‘Sahi Wali Feeling’ campaign for Huggies, and overseen another relaunch, this time within its nature care range. 

Menon has also steered a digital-first mandate by strengthening ties with Amazon, First Cry and Google. As part of this digital push, she worked with Google to churn out customised creatives by cohort to help drive higher conversions. Similarly, the company built a partnership with Amazon to help it drive category growth in terms of new users as well as premiumising its existing consumer base.

This digital push was especially visible with the Kotex relaunch in India—launched only on digital—with the marketing plan focusing on personalisation at scale. A key launch was Kotex Overnight Period Panties. Menon has sought to ignite conversations around the taboo topic of periods. Kimblery-Clark is also conducting menstrual education programmes not just for girls, but also boys.

A former marketer with Nicobar, Uber, Pepsi and Colgate-Palmolive, Menon is the executive sponsor for the women inclusion group at her company. She has led the launch of the first-ever mentorship programme for women employees. She has also led the shift to a sustainable circular economy for Kimberly-Clark, leaning on alliances with the likes of Plastics for Change India Foundation. The firm recycled 22.5 metric tonnes of single-use and multi-layered plastic into sheets that were used to build houses for the waste-collector community in Hubli, a city in the north of India’s Karnataka.

Menon is also a sought-after expert in academia, having worked with industry experts to evolve and develop the academic course on marketing at a premier business school in India. On top of that, she has been part of several industry forums in the country.