{"id":18190,"date":"2025-12-19T00:01:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/?post_type=team&#038;p=18190"},"modified":"2025-12-19T00:01:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:31:43","slug":"puneeth-bekal","status":"publish","type":"team","link":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/team\/puneeth-bekal\/","title":{"rendered":"Puneeth Bekal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Marketing leader with over 18 years of experience driving brand and business transformation across Fintech, FMCG, Consumer Durables, Retail, and Real Estate. Currently serving as Chief Marketing Officer at HDFC Securities, I\u2019m leading the company\u2019s evolution into a full-stack fintech platform with innovations like HDFC Sky and HDFC Tru.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>Previously at Mastercard, I led brand, digital, and product marketing across India and global markets \u2014 driving adoption, financial inclusion, and large-scale sponsorships including cricket with BCCI and ICC. At Godrej, led purpose-led campaigns across categories and partnered with firms like AT Kearney, Bain, Landor, and Interbrand on large-scale transformation mandates.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>Recognized for building award-winning, culturally relevant campaigns (Emvies,\u00a0Effies, Abbys), I\u2019ve also received industry recognitions including:\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Newcomer of the Year (2010)\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Professional of the Year (2013)\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Innovation Award by Mr. Adi Godrej (2014)\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Business World Top 40 Under 40 (2023)\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Business World Top 100 marketer (2023)\u00a0<br>\ud83c\udfc6\u00a0Top 100 Influential marketer (2025)\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>Beyond work, I\u2019m passionate about mentoring and capability-building for startups and future leaders, through platforms like Thought Leaders of India and speaker sessions at MICA, IIMs, WARC, TEDx, Campaign Asia, and more.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>I\u2019ve worked across 42 cities in India and 7 countries, giving me a deep appreciation for cultural nuance and global business sensibility. Recently, I\u2019ve upskilled in Digital Transformation and AI\/ML through executive programs at MIT and IIM-Calcutta, further strengthening my readiness for the future of marketing.\u00a0<br>\u00a0<br>Outside of work, I\u2019m a trained pianist (Conservatory of Amsterdam, True School of Music), climate advocate, and an avid reader \u2014 and I\u2019m deeply grateful to have a family that keeps me grounded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18191,"menu_order":0,"template":"","team_designation":[],"team_department":[30],"class_list":["post-18190","team","type-team","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","team_department-speakers-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team\/18190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/team"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"team_designation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_designation?post=18190"},{"taxonomy":"team_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/et-edge.com\/conferences\/bestbrands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/team_department?post=18190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}