A famous anthropologist once categorized all cultures as either ‘Coconuts’ or ‘Plums’. Coconut cultures, are tough to break into from the outside, but at the centre are soft, pulpy, and mushy. Some European and Scandanavian cultures have this same characteristic.
‘Plum’ cultures are easy to squeeze oneself into from the outside but have core beliefs (like the hard seed of a plum) that are hard to penetrate - reminiscent of Asian cultures.
Our work is like that – textured, with a strong sensorial quality. And at its core is solid cultural and strategic thinking.
Anoushka joined as an intern in September 2021 and is now a Junior Strategist at Plum. With a B.A. in Liberal Arts specialising in Anthropology and Psychology, everything about culture, human behaviour, art, and cinema excites her. In the past few years, she has held editorial positions at art & culture magazines and researched on Indian visual culture and bilingualism. When she’s not tinkering with her camera or dancing, you can find her trudging towards an overly-ambitious reading goal for the year.
Harini started her journey with Plum as an Intern in April 2023 and is now working as a Junior Strategist with us. She completed her undergraduate program, a Liberal Arts degree, specializing in Psychology and History. Post her graduation and on completing a course in digital product design, she dabbled in UX research, working in the product team of a mental health app & service company. Her penchant for research and curiosity to understand human behaviors drew her to look deeper into consumer insights. In her free time, Harini explores her passion for art history and ancient Indian architecture. She is a trained classical singer and also enjoys cooking. You can find her learning new recipes/exploring new cuisines in her kitchen.
Harshika is a savvy marketer fresh out of the hallowed halls of MICA, armed with an MBA in Marketing and a passion for decoding consumer behaviour. With a BBA from NMIMS under her belt, she's honed her skills in the art of persuasion and brand magic. She has explored diverse industries, from banking to consumer durables and ed-tech, gaining valuable experience at companies like Kotak and Tupperware. She's not just about crunching numbers, she's all about understanding what makes consumers tick and crafting experiences that resonate. When she's not delving into market insights, you'll likely find her lost in the Marvel universe, tuning into podcasts for the latest trends, or engaging in spirited debates about mythology - all while indulging in her guilty pleasure: desserts.
Harshit joins us as a Strategist. An MBA in Strategic Marketing and Communications from MICA, Ahmedabad, he has worked with brands across categories like Telecom, AlcoBev and FMCG to translate consumer contexts into insights and impact. As a qualitative researcher, Harshit likes to read about latest trends and perspectives in popular culture and is fascinated by a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding human behavior. In his free time, he likes to dabble into poetry.
Khushboo completed her MBA from MICA, Ahmedabad with a specialisation in Advertising and Brand Management. For her bachelor’s, she studied Business Management and Entrepreneurship from ISME, Mumbai, along with her B.Com degree. She has helped brands like Licious and Perk to build their communication strategies using primary research alongside semiotics and cultural analysis. In her spare time, she can be found writing her next short story, creating a craft project or playing strategy board games.
Khyati completed her graduation from RA Podar college of Commerce. She started her career with Deutsche Bank through campus placement within Finance. While she excelled in her career through various roles across run the bank and change functions, she also pursued her MCom and Diploma in Finance from Welingkars. After 10 years of being Associated with DB she took a break to become a full time mom. While raising her son she tried to pursue her passion with Happy Faces which was a small venture where she began engaging toddlers in creative activities and finally found her interest with Plum Insights where she is happily associated.
I am a media professional who brings 15+ years of experience in account management, client servicing, content creation, versioning, localization and post-production. My journey has been enriched by collaborations with esteemed organizations such as Uber, Hogarth Worldwide, Deluxe Entertainment, Dyson, GSK, Nestle, and Universal Studios. I consider myself to be a creative problem solver, and have been closely associated with Bollywood and the Indian as well as international advertising industry throughout my career.
Maanavi started her career in management consulting where she designed and delivered solutions for some of the world’s favourite brands like Kellogg’s and Mondelez. Looking for something less chocolatey, she moved back to India to work in the Social Impact space where she created strategies and frameworks to direct philanthropic capital towards India’s most pressing problems. Maanavi has worked on a diverse array of exciting projects: from delivering leadership development programs for C-Suite leaders in Singapore; to coordinating a national coalition of sanitation entrepreneurs and donors across India; to building a game on sustainability for students at UN University, Tokyo. She feels most at home in the world of consumer and cultural insights. At Plum, Maanavi uses her diverse set of research and insight development skills, practiced across private and social sectors, to unearth patterns and solve sticky problems creatively. She holds a Business and Psychology degree from the National University of Singapore and a Masters in Urban Studies from the Tata Institute for Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Natasha is curious and likes to experiment with pretty much everything. Not a fan of restrictive, rigid agendas, prefers to create room for fluid, interdisciplinary thinking. A native qualitative researcher who has climbed up the ropes of qual research in India over the last 6 years and likes to experiment, innovate and push some boundaries to explore the full potential of qualitative ethnography With a diverse background in social sciences, she has engaged with a range of creative and strategic workspaces, from FMCGs, NGOs, governmental/International development organizations, universities and think tanks all with the intention of creating more interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration Before earning an MSc in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics UK, as an aspiring Economist, she attained a Masters’s in Economics from the University of Gottingen, Germany. For her bachelor’s, she studied Economics, Marketing and Business administration from Symbiosis International University, alongside a Diploma in the liberal arts specializing in Philosophy, Critical thinking and World history When not working, you will find her dabbling in organic farming, painting, reading, playing aggressive badminton, watching true crime documentaries, and learning new languages.
Niyati joined the Plum team as an intern in 2021, growing into the role of a Junior Strategist since. Prior to this she worked in digital marketing and social media strategy helping a spatial design start-up kickstart their journey. With a Bsc in Psychology from Durham University and a passion for design and behaviour, she likes to put people at the heart of what she does. When she isn't working, she's either working out, dancing away or taking photographs with the hopes of finding beauty in the mundane.
Prarthana loves drama - having started her career from the entertainment industry where she worked with people across cultures, skill sets and eccentricities! Her curiosity to understand human behaviour and her ability to connect with different people led her to the qualitative market research industry. She strives to strike a balance of this overbearing physical world with the spiritual self by following the teachings of her spiritual master Shreeguru Dr. Balaji Tambe. She is an expert multi-tasker juggling several projects at once – a skill she owes to her theatre days and is a mastermind at organizing logistics. She specializes in recruiting tough profiles and operationalizing projects across the length and breadth of emerging markets. When she is not spearheading a project, she tries to find some time to travel, catch up on her reading and spend time back-stage, being her most entertaining self.
Bhani Rachel Bali (aka BRB) is an Applied Anthropologist & Communication Professional specializing in Consumer Insights and Brand Strategy. She started her career working as a development anthropologist with pioneers of the feminist movement in India. During this time she also, founded an Internationally recognized Innovation Hub working Gender Justice & Equality. Her experience in both private and social sectors are an asset to developing critical insights and trends across industries. She holds a degree in Anthropology and Ancient Indian Culture from St.Xavier’s College, Mumbai, a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication for Development(UNICEF) from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai and Masters in Social Anthropology of Development from SOAS, University of London. When she’s not nerding out about Anthropology she is trying her hand at all forms of fine arts.
I am an Industry veteran who has held various leadership positions. With over three decades in the corporate world, I have worked extensively in India and the global markets. I have worked in segments as varied as FMCG, Construction, Healthcare, and IT and have been associated with brands such as Hindustan Unilever, IBM, HP, and HCL. Extensively networked, I have played a role in mentoring both early stage businesses and industry leadership.
An experienced insight and innovation specialist, Shivani has a background in design thinking and is a proven entrepreneur and innovator. Having worked with two leading London-based agencies, Brand Genetics, and Albion, Shivani has immersive global consulting experience in designing and executing consumer research in various geographies including South Asia, South-East Asia, and Europe to create breakthrough strategies for large international companies like Unilever, Mondelez, Pepsi Co, Reckitt, AB InBev and Meta. Moving back to India has given Shivani the opportunity to strengthen her connect with the market and dig deeper into exploring human needs, cultural insights and local nuances. With an MBA (Indian Scholar, University of Bath, UK), a post-grad in Management & Entrepreneurship (ISME, Mumbai) and a BA in Knitwear Design (NIFT, Delhi), Shivani enjoys practicing yoga, painting with watercolours and planning her next travel adventure.
Sneha brings a decade of decoding cultural challenges for brands, products and services. Sneha is a trained and practiced Ethnographer and Cultural Studies expert having worked on the world's biggest brands – Unilever, Pepsico, Colgate Palmolive, Twitter, Samsung, L’Oreal, and Microsoft among others. Some of her most memorable projects include understanding how Indian food culture is evolving to fuel innovations for a kitchen technology brand and helping a global news brand develop regional language digital content for young people. She holds a BA in Psychology and Anthropology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and a Masters in Media & Cultural Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Serving as a key organisational and operational resource at Plum, Vishrut is someone who has dabbled in the music industry, film making, researching and creating stories for primary school children’s curriculum books. The longest period of his professional career though, was living and breathing the chaotic world of film and television production wherein he worked with some of the leading film production companies in India such as Emmay Entertainment and Clean Slate Films. An engineer holding a Bachelor of Technology degree from Delhi College of Engineering and a musician at heart. His keen interest lies in giving modern renditions to popular Indian folk music. Adept at managing chaotic environments and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. It was a chance encounter with world of market research that opened him up to using his film production superpowers as our operations manager with Plum.