My journey - rich in its diversity, and yet rooted in unraveling and understanding human behaviour in its many dimensions – equips me with the knowledge, expertise and wherewithal to help businesses grow through strategic marketing.

College saw me graduate with an Honours degree in Economics from Delhi University’s Shriram College of Commerce. And the desire to understand more about the world of business, landed me at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Fourteen years later though, I went back to sit in class thanks to a scholarship for a Fellowship at the London School of Economics.

 

I have walked the streets like a salesman. Talked to consumers one on one or in groups in streets, cafes, their homes or even standing in their kitchen. Across metros, mini-metros, small towns and rural india. Seen how they drink their tea, eat their biscuits or use their refrigerators and washing machines. Watched closely how money, growth and optimism of a new India have changed their life.
 
Cultural diversity is not something that I encountered only in the midst of consumers. I experienced it in the organisations I chose to work with such as Contract Advertising, FCB Ulka, Balsara Home Products and Britannia Industries Limited. Or the organisations I worked to give strategic direction and build brands for: like Frito Lay, Whirlpool, Tropicana, Panasonic, BPL, Tata

Motors. From the fiercely Indian to the blue blooded multinational. From those driven by their guts alone to those who prided themselves on the infallibility of their processes to deliver. But all, ultimately with a common aim. To be the preferred choice of the consumer.
 

Two wheelers & snacks for youth to biscuits for kids to fruit juices for young adults, home appliances to toilet cleaners for housewives… cars, toothpastes, lubricants….It is the consumer interactions across these diverse categories – and being a part of the successes and the failures - that gives me the perspective to tackle the “fast moving” Indian consumer and the continued diversity of the dynamic Indian markets today.
 
Leading teams to achieve stretch goals has been a hallmark . The setting up of a consumer lab centre - dedicated to institutionalizing the understanding of consumers. (This during its time was the first of a kind for an advertising agency). The development of the brand architecture for Whirlpool in India which worked as the template for the global brand architecture. Or innovating to build a new revenue stream from gifting for Britannia, which went on to become a success in its very first year.