Calcutta, July 5: Sangeeta Talwar, former chief executive officer of Mattel, has joined Tata Tea as executive director. Talwar will look after the company’s marketing and sales efforts. This is the first time that the tea major has created such a post. Talwar will report to managing director Percy Siganporia.

However, it is not clear whether the Tatas will abolish the post of deputy managing director, which Siganporia held till recently.

Tata Tea has a good presence in over 35 countries worldwide. “With her substantial international experience, Talwar will be responsible for creating a global footprint for the company. She will also be in charge of building and leveraging the Tetley business in India. She has taken up the new assignment on July 1,” a company release said.

Talwar was chief executive officer of Mattel for two years and looked after the South Asian market. She took an year’s sabbatical after she left Mattel. At Mattel, she remodelled the entire business and cut costs.

She joins Tata Tea at a time when the company is set to overhaul its brand management strategy as part of the operational integration with Tetley.

Two years after the Tetley buyout, Tata Tea is now trying to integrate the two companies operationally.

Tata Tea will integrate with Tetley next fiscal. The company will inculcate the Tetley brand management process, which implies a dramatic change in brand proposition, agency brief and product formulation.

There will be changes on multiple fronts — benchmark process, customisation and customer interaction.

All these will be unified under a composite operation, the company officials said. Product formulation, for instance, will be more consumer-insight driven.

Tata Tea is focusing on the Tata brand for its packet tea. The company’s sales account for nearly 25 per cent (in volume terms) of the Indian packages market.

Tata Tea and Agni, the two brands from the Tata stable, are the largest brands in the popular segment and economy segment, respectively.