40 Under 40 2020: Moksh Chopra, Yum Restaurants India

Moksh Chopra

Chief marketing officer, KFC India subcontinent
Yum Restaurants 
India

With a humble start in a small family-run wool business in Kolkata, Moksh Chopra now leads marketing for one of the most recognisable brands in the world with grounded purpose. Joining KFC in 2010, Chopra rose through the ranks from brand manager to CMO in eight years. As he delivers sterling sales growth and beloved product innovations, Chopra keeps the underprivileged in mind. This year, while the Covid-19 pandemic wrecked incomes, he led the rollout of the “Feed a Million” pledge, which provided 2 million meals to daily wagers and migrant workers, as well as 10,000 KFC ‘Thank You’ meals to medical frontliners in five cities.

“Growing up on the bustling streets of [what was then] Calcutta, and building a successful career in the bustling metropolis of Gurgaon, [Chopra] has a deep appreciation for both the lives of the average Indian and the deep-rooted aspiration for more,” enthuses Samir Menon, general manager of KFC India, who is a fan of Chopra’s commitment to support hunger alleviation and provide job opportunities to the specially abled.

As a marketing maestro, some of Chopra’s key achievements include launching the advertising platform ‘KFC Land’ and introducing an Indian version of Colonel Sanders. This is on top of leading 12 campaigns and six product innovations that saw the brand achieving its highest ever top-of-mind scores.

KFC recorded multiple years of double-digit sales growth under Chopra’s leadership, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. He pushed the brand’s e-commerce potential with Alexa Voice and Facebook Messenger bot ordering systems, which saw a spike in sales growth. The pandemic also saw Chopra piloting a pivot towards home delivery. KFC launched the At Home Specials menu and spread the word through two social-media campaigns that drove 40 million impressions.

A regular speaker at marketing events, Chopra has also driven award-winning campaigns thanks to insight-led and data-backed strategies for the brand’s digital marketing channels.