Apple is ramping up its India team with the appointment of Poonam Kaul as Director Marketing. Kaul, who recently quit PepsiCo is expected to join the mobile phone company in the next few weeks, according to sources in the industry.

Kaul’s appointment comes at a time when Apple is looking to up the ante in India. Over the past few quarters the company has seen a dip in sales of iPhone but has seen massive growth in revenues due to rising sales of Mac computers.

Kaul has already put in her papers at PepsiCo India and is currently serving her notice period as the company’s Vice-President, Communications and CSR. Earlier Kaul was leading the communications role in Nokia India even before the brand was sold to Microsoft.

“We are sad to see Poonam leave PepsiCo India, as she has been a terrific leader who has driven brand and corporate communications to positive results during her tenure. We wish her the best in her new role, and know she will be a lifelong fan of PepsiCo and our brand -” said a statement from Krista Pilot, V-P Communications AMENA PepsiCo.

As per sources, she is joining Apple India as Director Marketing, a new role the company has created in India. She is expected to be at Apple India around mid July and will be responsible for product marketing, advertising and communications.

Kaul could not be reached for comments. Email query sent to Apple India was answered. Industry analysts who has worked with Kaul said that she would be a good fit to Apple’s India strategy.

“ Poonam understands the mobile phone and technology industry very well through her past association with Nokia. But Nokia was then a mass brand while Apple in India is a niche player in certain segments. The challenge for her would be to project Apple as a brand that appeals to wider audience,” said an industry expert. Apple had recently appointed another telecom industry veteran Virat Bhatia as its Managing Director for Strategy & Policy in India.

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