By Abhinav Upadhyay,
Head - Marketing & Innovation, Zee Learn Limited
As a child, I was always inquisitive, always wanting to know how, what, when, why and where. I was always a creative thinker and liked analysing ideas and concepts. Later in life, having done my PG in Brand Management from MICA, the idea of being the brain behind a product/organization appealed to me. I started my career in marketing, learning and evolving with each passing day. All I knew was that I wanted to be successful in whatever I did. As the days passed, I realized that one cannot wait for opportunity to come one’s way, rather, one has to build it. Opportunity will never knock at one’s door unless one does not incubate/create the necessary situations. Therefore, always have this rule at hand: Keep giving your best until your good is better and your better is best.
With passing experiences and times, I have learnt that change is constant. If one doesn’t accept change, he will never be able to evolve in the growing market. In marketing, creating brand value and retaining it is a challenge. Creating unique and memorable experiences with the brand that goes beyond customer service is the crux of marketing.Today, the point isn’t about ‘what will sell’ but how differently it can be sold. One important rule for all aspiring marketers and entrepreneurs is – Creativity and Innovation are always embraced by the end-user. If you can address their needs innovatively, that is sure to attract them to your product or organization.
Changing customer needs create an opportunity to boost sales, but manufacturing, marketing and sales should go hand in hand. Thus, creating a consistent customer experience across all channels while moving at a fast pace is the hallmark of the modern Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). We are going from a world of marketing campaigns to a world of sustained communication, where each piece of content must be consistent with the brand, while also being locally relevant and personal.
As a CMO, it is my job to analyse the evolving buying patterns, to shape the company’s public profile, to manage the complexities, build new marketing capabilities and most importantly, drive sales. At the end of the day, it all boils down to targets and sales, doesn’t it? But, how differently you do it defines your potential.
Marketers focus mainly on building brands, making advertising more effective, and perhaps market research. This has usually been the traditional way, but the 21st century has seen a vast technology outburst, thus making one entity our biggest challenge – The Internet! Today, 20% of the world’s population are Internet users and as a continent, Asia has the largest number of Internet users at 42%. This is a magnificent technology change and vital in itself. Therefore, managing a brand offline as well as online is of prime importance. Consumers are very active on social media and hence managing a brand’s reputation online comes as an added responsibility for the marketer. Also, nowadays companies seek CMOs who can work with Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT developers to fully leverage the potential of digital technology, mobile platforms and social media.
So the whole idea is to be at the forefront, embrace change and most importantly, be creative in everything that we do. As Albert Einstein once said, “Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.”
Feedback: abhinav@zeelearn.com
