You can’t grow categories without emotion: Mars Petcare’s Ayesha Huda

The shift from agencies to brands is one of the most common migrations in marketing, but the reasons behind it vary. Some chase stability, others want P&L ownership, and a few are simply drawn to understanding how businesses actually work beyond the campaign brief. For Ayesha Huda, Chief Marketing Officer at Mars Petcare India, that question has always been the same: what makes people change their behaviour? The move was driven by a desire to see what makes the business of brands tick, not just the creative output.

It's a question she first explored in the planning departments of JWT and Leo Burnett, where she once convinced college students to abandon their mobile phones for a week just to document what happened. That early fascination with behavioural insights eventually pulled her toward the business side of brands, leading to stints at Unilever, where she scaled FMCG portfolios like Surf Excel and Pond's across emerging markets. 

Those years taught her how pricing shifts habits, how communication drives adoption, and how to build categories from scratch in places where consumers are still learning the rules.

Now at Mars Petcare, she's dealing with a similar challenge: a market where 70% of pet parents are first-timers, and the task isn't just selling pet food but convincing people to move away from home-cooked meals entirely. Her approach leans heavily on emotion rather than functional messaging, a calculated bet that in nascent categories, behaviour change starts with connection before it moves to product features.

As the juror for Social Samosa’s 30 Under 30 awards, Huda divulges her path from the agency side of the business to the brand side, and discusses portfolio strategy, the tension between brand-building and quick commerce, and why consumer obsession remains her only non-negotiable leadership principle.

Edited Excerpts:

Ayesha, you started in advertising with JWT and Leo Burnett. Looking back, what did those years teach you about creativity and persuasion that still shape your approach today? What drew you to agency life in the first place? Many in the advertising industry eventually leave agencies for brands. Why do you think that migration is so common, and do you believe agencies are losing their edge in nurturing long-term careers?

I was drawn to a career in the agency because I was always interested in people and understanding what makes them tick and what drives their behaviour. As an account planner, one of my earliest projects was to get college students to deprive themselves of their mobile phones (back in the early days) for a week and blog about their experiences. I was always drawn to deriving insights and creating stimuli for brand building. But eventually, I became drawn to learning about business and transitioned to the brand side to help build my own understanding of what makes the business of brands tick. I believe the choice of agency versus brands is dictated by individual interest, curiosity and hunger. There is enough opportunity for leadership and growth across both streams. 

At Unilever, you managed brands like Surf Excel and Pond’s in diverse, high-growth markets. What lessons from scaling an FMCG portfolio in emerging economies have proven most useful in your current role as CMO at Mars Petcare India?

I’ve had the fortune to work on several brands that were in the market development phase, be it in FMCG or consumer tech, where the job to be done was to grow the category. There are several replicable learnings across my experiences, including consumer education models, the impact of pricing on its ability to change behaviour and how communication can motivate behaviour change. All of these learnings are especially applicable at Mars Petcare, where, as market leaders, we have the task to educate pet parents, help them transition from home-cooked food to manufactured pet food and grow the category.

Now at Mars, you manage a wide portfolio including Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba, and more. Pet parents often evolve over time from starting with basic nutrition to trading up to more premium options. How do you design your portfolio and pricing to mirror that journey and keep them within the Mars ecosystem?

Every brand in the Mars portfolio serves a distinct purpose, driven by consumer insight, backed by science, and unified by a commitment to enhancing pet health and wellbeing. 

The portfolio is designed to grow with pet parents: many begin their journey with staples like Pedigree and Whiskas, and as their understanding of nutrition evolves, they naturally trade up to premium offerings such as Sheba and Pedigree Pro. 

Your recent campaigns, like Made with Sheba, leaned heavily into culture and emotion. Why do you think emotional narratives land better in pet care than hard functional messaging?

We fully acknowledge where pets are concerned, addressing the emotional bond that pet parents share is central to behaviour change. Recent work across our portfolio reflects this intent. The Pedigree campaign featuring Bhumi Pednekar and Kriti Sanon celebrates the emotional bond between pet and parent, positioning food as a language of love. 

The WHISKAS “No Fuss Just WHISKAS” campaign with Sanya Malhotra addresses the everyday mealtime challenge of feeding fussy cats, using humour and relatability. Similarly, SHEBA’s indulgent storytelling with Sharvari taps into the emotional joy of pampering, elevating everyday routines into moments of connection. 

We’ve also evolved our content formats to better reflect the emotional bond between pets and pet parents. The Pawsome Parents series is the first of its kind in the category, featuring content creators who are also pet parents. Their unscripted stories, ranging from feeding struggles to moments of companionship, are designed to build trust through shared experience, not scripted endorsements. 

Across every touchpoint, our media strategy is full-funnel and insight-led, digital-first, influencer-driven, and supported by out-of-home and retail presence.

This integrated, differentiated approach ensures that both emotional connection and category education are delivered with credibility and consistency.

With e-commerce and quick commerce reshaping habits, do you think traditional “brand-building” will survive, or are we moving to a world of pure discovery and convenience? What innovations do you think will define the next phase of retail for the pet food category?

Our recent survey on Pet Parents suggests 70% of pet parents are experiencing this for the first time. Therefore, their shopping behaviours are also evolving. 

While Digital channels are no longer just transaction points, they’ve become destinations for discovery, information, and engagement, and offline continues to be a cornerstone of our ecosystem.

Our strong relationships with pet stores, veterinarians, and breeders across India remain vital in ensuring reach, trust, and guidance for pet parents.  

Today, quick commerce is growing for our business as pet parents seek to address immediate nutrition needs in their everyday lives. However, for categories in the growth phase, like pet nutrition, we believe brand building will continue to play a critical role in education and partnering with pet parents. 

You’ve led teams across agencies, FMCG giants, streaming platforms, social media, and now pet care. What’s the one leadership trait that’s been non-negotiable for you across all these shifts?

Irrespective of the industry or role, one of my guiding principles across any of the work I do is consumer obsession. If you keep the consumer at the centre of everything you design, device and build, you are bound to find business success. This is especially true for growing categories. Pet Parent Centricity is the key anchor for us at Mars Petcare, and building around the emotions of pet parenting will help us create a better world for pets.