Rajesh Sethuraman has stepped into a new milestone as Head of Marketing at Marks & Spencer Reliance India Pvt. Ltd., a move that places an experienced growth architect at the heart of one of India’s most trusted premium retail brands.
Rajesh completed his MBA in Marketing from Thiagarajar School of Management and later earned a PG Diploma in Retail Management (PGDRM) from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies—two interventions that shaped his dual strength in marketing strategy and retail execution.
Building Retail Intuition Early On
Rajesh began his journey in marketing during India’s first wave of organized retail transformation, working across early roles at RPG Cellular Services Ltd., Titan Industries Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and later at Spencer’s Retail.
Especially at Spencer’s, he held consumer-activation roles that took him across regional, zonal, and national markets, giving him deep exposure to India’s retail diversity and the mechanics of operating at scale.
His early lessons were simple but enduring:
- Understand the consumer rhythm before building the campaign
- Scale is unlocked by repeat customers, sustained by systems, not standalone sprints
Marketing for Hyper Growth: 2014–2022
At the retail brand Vishal Mega Mart, Rajesh helped shape new-store marketing playbooks during one of India’s fastest revenue scale-ups—from ₹1,300 Cr to over ₹4,000 Cr.
He then joined Landmark Group, where he led marketing for the family fashion retail brand Easybuy, guiding its growth from ₹150 Cr to nearly ₹500 Cr by strengthening segmentation, store-launch consistency, and CRM engines that drove repeat shopping.
His strategic emphasis here remained clear:
Build cadence over bursts. Build repeat over raw reach. Build systems over signatures.
Brand Transformation at Blackberrys: 2022–2025
At the menswear apparel brand Blackberrys, Rajesh led marketing across brand experience, loyalty, digital consumer systems, and customer care—impacting 1,200+ retail touchpoints across India.
He built platforms such as:
- ReFit (award-winning consumer trust narrative)
- TechPro & TempTech (fabric and category-led storytelling)
- Youth wardrobe collaboration with ICC Men’s ODI World Cup
- AI-aided customer retailing tools like CTM, STYLO, and Style Buddy
- Omnichannel CRM engines that delivered industry-first double-digit repeat customer growth among younger audiences
His work strengthened brand trust, premium perception, and fit credibility—while proving that relevance scales when it is engineered through insight, anchored in culture, and delivered through repeat behavior.
M&S India: Retail Trust Meets Digital Acceleration
Marks & Spencer operates in India through its joint venture with Reliance Retail since 2008. Today, M&S India runs 90+ stores across 40+ cities in key retail destinations and premium malls. Its strongest categories in India include wardrobe staples, premium innerwear, beauty, and curated food retailing.
The brand has accelerated its digital and marketing ecosystem through:
- D2C commerce and online storytelling via its national website
- Partner-led premium retailing scale via the fashion ecosystem of AJIO
- The loyalty narrative of Sparks—localized for India
- AI-guided product discovery and WhatsApp catalog shopping
- Influencer-led seasonal storytelling backed by in-store activations
Rajesh summed up his excitement for the journey ahead in his own words:
“𝗜’𝗺 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 & 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿, 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 t𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. India is evolving fast — shaped by rising aspiration, digital adoption and a new rhythm of premium consumption. What excites me is the opportunity to contribute to this momentum and deepen consumer-centricity, build meaningful brand narratives, and create experiences that feel intuitive and distinctly M&S — all driven by insight and innovation.”
