Asia-Pacific Power List 2024: Kainaz Gazder, P&G

Kainaz Gazder 

CMO and SVP, Baby Care, APAC, Middle East and Africa
Procter & Gamble
Singapore
Member since 2021 

On her LinkedIn profile, Kainaz Gazder describes her personal passion as leaving a legacy on every business she touches and bringing a smile to every person she connects with. 

As the custodian of the brand that won the “Advertiser of the Year” gong at Spikes 2024, based on campaigns that tackled bias and sparked conversations to drive action, Gazder is indeed creating a strong legacy.

The work continues. Feeding off P&G’s much-quoted mantra that “brands must be a force for both growth and good” Gazder ensures that all brand communications tap into their customers' specific problems with personalised campaigns.

Under Gazder’s leadership, a number of milestone campaigns came to light in 2023. Olay recently rolled out a new installment of its #STEMTheGap initiative, titled AI-SHU, to address the societal biases that deter young girls from pursuing STEM careers and emphasise the crucial role of female mentors. The brand has partnered with vlookup.ai, a digital mentoring platform for women, and launched a campaign introducing AI-SHU, a virtual AI mentor for women in STEM. The over three-minute brand film showcased the efforts and challenges of some of the pioneers in STEM, including Dr. Anandibai Joshi, the first western medicine doctor in India, and Kalpana Chawla, the renowned astronaut, among others. Olay is also offering mentoring to women in STEM through vLookup.ai. After registering on the website, women can engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions with industry experts in their chosen fields.

Now in its 7th edition, Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad campaign in India also continues to strive for equality in sharing physical housework. The new campaign shows a way in which men can become trusted allies by fostering a true partnership and strengthening the 'home team.'

P&G Indonesia picked up the only gold for the country at Effie APAC 2023 for its campaign "Recharged Hair, Recharged Me" for Pantene conditioners that, in a bold move, featured a male model, aligning with the company’s DEI purpose and with Pantene’s mission to “provide a great hair day for everyone.” After years of decline, Pantene experienced a 114% growth, with conditioner contributing to the total category rise to 60.7%.

Whisper, too, unveiled a new film titled “The Missing Chapter” as part of the fourth edition of its #KeepGirlsInSchool (KGIS) movement, aimed at educating mothers on the biology of periods so that they, in turn, can educate their daughters on menstrual health.

As one of the most powerful advertisers in the region, Gazder is also passionate about championing female creators and directors in the industry, empowering them to bring their unique voices to the forefront of our screens.