Ishteyaque Amjad takes over PR function at Coca Cola India

As part of senior leadership changes at Coca-Cola India, Ishteyaque Amjad, has joined the beverages giant as head of public affairs & communications for India and South West Asia. Ishteyaque who was director -corporate affairs at Cargill, replaces Coca Cola veteran, Deepak Jolly.

Amjad had launched Cargill’s ‘Nourishing India’ program that aimed to provide solutions for food and nutrition insecurity. In a career spanning over two decades, he has held senior roles in companies such as HCL Enterprises and Essar Group and also served with the Indian Army. He is a post graduate from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies in Pune and a Bachelor of Economics from Aligarh Muslim University. He is also an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

Coca Cola says that the change in leadership is in keeping with its focus on providing more choice to consumers. Deepak Jolly, currently vice president, public affairs & communication will now handle  a new function within the firm which will promote its  portfolio of niche brands within the franchise bottling territories. Deepak will continue to report to Venkatesh Kini and will take over his new responsibility starting November 1, 2015. Coca Cola India has established portfolio of premium brands like Schweppes Tonic, Schweppes Gingerale, Schweppes Soda and will soon launch Fuze Tea.

According to a press statement put out by Coca-Cola, Deepak  joined Coca-Cola India at a time when it was facing significant challenges and helped turn around the business by focusing on reputation management. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he has worked with top corporates like Hindustan Unilever, PepsiCo, Godfrey Philips and Bharti Airtel. In preparation for his new assignment, Deepak will soon attend an executive leadership program at a leading University in USA for a period of six weeks.