20+ years in Advertising with Ogilvy
B2C and B2B expertise, having set up the B2B Practice Group for Ogilvy India
Multi-discipline expertise, having headed Non Advertising disciplines for Ogilvy Bangalore too
Website - goshopmatic.com
I've been an Advertising & Marketing professional for 26+ years now.
A large part of my career was spent with Ogilvy - 20 years, in fact- donning different hats, working across various offices, brands and markets. Today, you probably don't hear of many people staying on in one company for that long, but I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to play different roles within the system, every couple of years. So, there never ever was a dull moment.
After 7 years of learning the ropes, I became Managing Partner in Ogilvy Calcutta, moved to Bangalore and set up the B2B Practice for Ogilvy in India, headed Non-Advertising disciplines including PR, Activation and Direct Marketing functions for Ogilvy Bangalore, helped establish the worldwide Hub for international businesses in Bangalore, went on to lead Ogilvy's 2nd agency into becoming a very profitable business( Meridien-Soho), and also led a lot of Training and New Business initiatives for the Agency.
Served a small stint overseeing Ogilvy Chennai as Managing Director. I am proud to have contributed to the success of many well-known brands today, across all kinds of verticals - Facebook, consumer products, technology products and services, real estate, jewellery, fashion through my career.
In August 2015, I joined the Shopmatic Group as Chief Marketing Officer and have been working closely with the founders and the Leadership team to launch and nurture the brand across markets, for the past 6 years.
Needless to say, the ecommerce space is extremely exciting and offers a completely different set of challenges and opportunities, that keeps me on my toes each day.
2. How according to you has marketing evolved over the years?
When I started my career, there were constant references made to 'Mainline' advertising & marketing campaigns- that meant that all else played second fiddle to mass media/ offline/ 'traditional' campaigns.
I remember being in presentations and pitches, where the 'non-Advertising disciplines' always got only 15-20 minutes to present their slides and ideas, whereas, most discussions and time got spent debating the merits of how a brand would be (better) built through ' Advertising'.
Through time, things changed.
Advertising gave way to new buzz words like 'Integrated Marketing communication', and Integrated marketing communication gave way to '360 degree Marketing campaigns'. We had moved to a world where brands were being encouraged to execute on Marketing strategies that worked most effectively with customers, at various points of contact.
Today, the Marketing mix has changed fairly drastically. With the internet reigning and captivating attention, newer communication avenues have opened up for marketeers. Digital Marketing is making a great impact in connecting with the same customers. who journey through their decision making processes, pretty seamlessly from one format to the other.
Performance Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Programmatic Advertising, Social Media Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Content Marketing, SEO strategies are rightfully taking up time, attention, and a fair share of the overall marketing dollar, and throwing up completely new avenues/ results every day.
3. Where do most of your marketing budgets go, traditional or digital?
Shopmatic is a leading ecommerce enabler today.
Being a digital- first brand, most of our energies and budgets have been allocated to Digital Advertising across all the formats listed above. Having said that, there is a place for mainline Brand building activities that cannot be replaced by Digital Marketing alone.
We do run several experiments with Radio, OOH, below-the line marketing from time to time.
Other than these, we also leverage PR extensively to drive awareness, credibility and thought-leadership activities for the brand, in different markets.
4. How can one reach the top echelons in marketing?
Getting the right exposure to different kinds of brands, categories, customer sets, is extremely important in your formative years. When your fundamentals are sound, you can then, leverage marketing tools with impunity, and work across any challenge/ opportunity that comes your way.
Every body wants results and you need to be able to be confident in taking actions that give the best results for your brand, given whichever circumstance you are in.
IF you are confident about your space, have the maturity to continue to learn something new everyday, keep your teams highly motivated and driven, and are flexible and agile to run hundreds of parallel experiments to drive great results, then, nothing will stop you from reaching the top. Be it in Marketing or any field.
Of course, success is an expensive cape to wear and comes with a lot of hard work, effort and sacrifice. But it's a choice you make. You either choose to be successful. Or not.
5. How will marketing change in the next decade or so?
The Pandemic has taught us that no one can really predict what can happen next. 10 years is a long way out! But, just like Digital Marketing has captured everyone's attention, we will definitely have AI, Machine learning and Tech Innovation play a much more active role in defining the Marketing landscape of the future.
Who knows - the future may just throw up smaller form factors and devices, that will force Marketeers to capture attention of customers in screens made of completely different material, than what exists today.
6. Which is your favourite book and why?
I was an English Literature student before I did my Masters in Advertising & Marketing. Have learnt a lot from various classics and books of fiction. When I see 'round' and 'flat' characters in my everyday encounters, I chuckle and smile at how true 'fiction' can really be.
During my teen years, I read The Diary of Anne Frank, and Wuthering Heights. Both books have had a lasting impression on me, in their rich narratives of heightened emotions, complex lives and most of all, strength of character.
In August 2015, I joined the Shopmatic Group as Chief Marketing Officer and have been working closely with the founders and the Leadership team to launch and nurture the brand across markets, for the past 6 years.
Needless to say, the ecommerce space is extremely exciting and offers a completely different set of challenges and opportunities, that keeps me on my toes each day.
2. How according to you has marketing evolved over the years?
When I started my career, there were constant references made to 'Mainline' advertising & marketing campaigns- that meant that all else played second fiddle to mass media/ offline/ 'traditional' campaigns.
I remember being in presentations and pitches, where the 'non-Advertising disciplines' always got only 15-20 minutes to present their slides and ideas, whereas, most discussions and time got spent debating the merits of how a brand would be (better) built through ' Advertising'.
Through time, things changed.
Advertising gave way to new buzz words like 'Integrated Marketing communication', and Integrated marketing communication gave way to '360 degree Marketing campaigns'. We had moved to a world where brands were being encouraged to execute on Marketing strategies that worked most effectively with customers, at various points of contact.
Today, the Marketing mix has changed fairly drastically. With the internet reigning and captivating attention, newer communication avenues have opened up for marketeers. Digital Marketing is making a great impact in connecting with the same customers. who journey through their decision making processes, pretty seamlessly from one format to the other.
Performance Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Programmatic Advertising, Social Media Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Content Marketing, SEO strategies are rightfully taking up time, attention, and a fair share of the overall marketing dollar, and throwing up completely new avenues/ results every day.
3. Where do most of your marketing budgets go, traditional or digital?
Shopmatic is a leading ecommerce enabler today.
Being a digital- first brand, most of our energies and budgets have been allocated to Digital Advertising across all the formats listed above. Having said that, there is a place for mainline Brand building activities that cannot be replaced by Digital Marketing alone.
We do run several experiments with Radio, OOH, below-the line marketing from time to time.
Other than these, we also leverage PR extensively to drive awareness, credibility and thought-leadership activities for the brand, in different markets.
4. How can one reach the top echelons in marketing?
Getting the right exposure to different kinds of brands, categories, customer sets, is extremely important in your formative years. When your fundamentals are sound, you can then, leverage marketing tools with impunity, and work across any challenge/ opportunity that comes your way.
Every body wants results and you need to be able to be confident in taking actions that give the best results for your brand, given whichever circumstance you are in.
IF you are confident about your space, have the maturity to continue to learn something new everyday, keep your teams highly motivated and driven, and are flexible and agile to run hundreds of parallel experiments to drive great results, then, nothing will stop you from reaching the top. Be it in Marketing or any field.
Of course, success is an expensive cape to wear and comes with a lot of hard work, effort and sacrifice. But it's a choice you make. You either choose to be successful. Or not.
5. How will marketing change in the next decade or so?
The Pandemic has taught us that no one can really predict what can happen next. 10 years is a long way out! But, just like Digital Marketing has captured everyone's attention, we will definitely have AI, Machine learning and Tech Innovation play a much more active role in defining the Marketing landscape of the future.
Who knows - the future may just throw up smaller form factors and devices, that will force Marketeers to capture attention of customers in screens made of completely different material, than what exists today.
6. Which is your favourite book and why?
I was an English Literature student before I did my Masters in Advertising & Marketing. Have learnt a lot from various classics and books of fiction. When I see 'round' and 'flat' characters in my everyday encounters, I chuckle and smile at how true 'fiction' can really be.
During my teen years, I read The Diary of Anne Frank, and Wuthering Heights. Both books have had a lasting impression on me, in their rich narratives of heightened emotions, complex lives and most of all, strength of character.
- Interviewed by - Ronak Jain
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