What to look for while making Career Shifts?

In May 2016, we had our Mumbai Chapter Summer Alumni Meet. 

I graduated from my Institute (Goa Institute of Management, Y2K Batch) 16 years back. I really love going back to the Alumni Meets. There is a certain charm around it. Meeting friends, some of whom you meet only this one time in the year. 

Meeting seniors, some of them have extraordinary stories to tell and also meeting the ‘younger lot’.

They symbolize hope and aspiration. I really enjoy this evening and look forward to the Summer Alumni Meets.

This year I felt a little disappointed with the low turnout of the current batch of students, and those who have just passed. When we were in their place, we used to really jump into events like these to learn, network and build contacts. Perhaps the younger lot believes everything can be done digitally!

However, the purpose of this Blog Post is not to provoke thinking of how we are losing connect with our Alma Mater or how the younger crop of Managers are losing touch with us. It is about career shifts.

That night, I was asked this question about career shifts. Though I replied to the person who had asked the question, I started thinking about it. Today being a holiday, I again started thinking about it. I do not know if my post is going to help anyone or not, but I thought I will attempt an answer here.

I have made 2 major career shifts.

1. In 2007 when I moved from Financial Services to Advertising (And I again came back to Financial Services in early 2011)
2. In end 2015 when I moved (again) from Financial Services to Media & Entertainment Industry (my current job)

Let me first talk a bit about these shifts and then elaborate on my learnings.

In 2007, I was heading Marketing for a Mutual Fund company. Mutual Funds operate on a very small budget and activities are highly regulated and restrictive. I felt that while I was doing some ‘activities’ like Fund Launches and Product Communication, but I was not really building a brand.

For a Marketer and a person who loves Brand, this was a big concern. I started thinking, what next. 

I felt that I should join a place that will really help me with the tricks of the trade in building a brand. What better than a Brand Planning role in Advertising! 

However, in India, Advertising agencies pay a lot less than Corporations/ Client Organisations. 

So, when I started looking for a job, the first thing that put off my prospective employers was my Salary. I was quite upfront with them stating that I am willing to take a cut in my salary. 

However, nothing fructified till some bold people (and I am thankful to each of them), ‘disrupted’ the norm by hiring me! I took a 25% cut on my Fixed pay, agreed to forego the bonus and joined them. Today, I look back and thank my stars that I did that. The stint in advertising completely opened my mind to creative people, working with them, winning over them! Most importantly, I started working on assignments which taught me how to build brands.

If I did not have that experience, I am sure, I would not have been short-listed for the opportunity, that I got in late 2010 and finally joined in January 2011. So, net net, I got my Big Break in Marketing because of the stints that I had in Advertising.

After joining the new job in 2011, I kept my mind open and again deep dived to learn — How things happen? and How we can change things. I started acquiring different portfolios where there were synergies. I started my journey helping build a compelling brand. In our journey, we kept two things in mind — (1) Never accept results till you are convinced that this was the best and (2) Challenge the conventions and disrupt the norms!

These two things, I believe made me a far more aggressive & capable marketer and helped in driving the team for results. When the time came in 2015, the company which had these 2 values in their DNA hired me, though I was not from the Industry.

So, today when I look back (and my young friend’s question yesterday made me think about this even more), I see some key themes, to keep in mind, emerging from my moves. I am listing them down below. They are definitely not exhaustive — but perhaps a starting point.

a. When you start working — build your skills, irrespective of where you work, so that you can apply the same skills in other industries as well.

b. Be bold. If you do not take risks (especially in today’s day and age), do not expect returns. 

I took a 25% salary cut in 2007. I finally started making ‘similar money’ again in 2011. Perhaps I have been a little foolish about money and never thought that should drive my decision. 

However, in terms of work, I feel I have worked on one of the most varied portfolios vis-a-vis others from my Institute. I think it has made me more cognizant of my surroundings. I also feel, I would not have got the right opportunities, if I did not make the previous move. 

For me, more often, it has been the difference or impact of my work, and my drive to learn something new that made me shift industries. Within the same industry, I think an equal weightage should also be given to money.

c. Learn Learn Learn. The objective with which you should change a job (of course money is important), is to learn. Learning whereabouts in a new industry (my move in 2015) or learning a new skill (my move in 2007), or both should be the driving factors. So, whenever you get an opportunity to move industries the first thing you should do is focus fully on learning.

d. Be result oriented. Every new job gives you a certain amount of time to get yourself immersed. Take this immersion very very seriously and get yourself immersed into the consumers, category, culture etc. However, you should always focus towards output. Output orientation and a bias for action will help you make a mark within the new company. I myself have been slow on a few occasions and have seen the difference of my acceptance in that new organisation.

I feel India is opening up and a lot of new opportunities are going to come in everyone’s way. Make sure you are ready to grab them. 

I do believe, like Paulo Coelho mentions in his book ‘The Alchemist’, that if you really want something with your heart and soul, the universe will conspire to help you achieve it. So, if you really want to change tracks — start thinking NOW!

Good Luck!!

(* Appeared on 5 September, 2016 at randomshades.wordpress.com)

Lessons from Cannes Lions 2015

    

Cannes 2015: What I Learnt!

They say “Better Late than Never”. This was what played in my mind as I sat down to write this piece. Though I had visited The Festival of Creativity last Month, I could not put down my thoughts to paper. This attempt is to share my two bits on this Festival. I hope you will enjoy the effort and put in your comments to help me improve.

June 21^st to 28^th, 2015 will be etched in my mind forever. Cannes 2015 was an Awe Inspiring Experience. It was the first time I went to Cannes to attend the Festival of Creativity. The scale was jaw dropping. The way the whole festival was planned and executed was impeccable.



Over 13,500 delegates, across a 100 nationalities attended the event across Lions Health, Creativity and Innovation. I was ‘Mega-Impressed’ to say the least.

Now, this festival could be used for Networking, Partying, or Simply Learning. This was a great opportunity, I felt, to opening your minds to some stellar thinkers and start questioning the work that you are putting out.

I attended the whole festival and was lucky to be part of the #CMO Accelerator Program that is conducted by Jim Stengel.

Jim Stengel is the Ex Global CMO of P&G (2001 – 2008) and led P&G to become the ‘Client of the Year’ at Cannes in 2008. He has also written a book called Grow, which I would recommend everyone to read. This rounding off, of the Creativity festival via the CMO Accelerator Program, helped me jot down some of the Key Themes that seemed to be important at Cannes this year.

I am using that, as well as some notes that I had kept aside, for the purpose of this write-up on The FIVE KEY THEMES from Cannes.


THEME 1: BRAND PURPOSE

A lot of the winning work this year was not Creativity for the sake of being Creative. It was being Creative with a Purpose. Be it Volvo’s LifePaint or Grand Prix Winner ALS, or Shark Attack signaling systems, all the work told you that Brands are going beyond Products and Services and getting into “Purpose”.



The two wins from India – P&G’s “Share the Load” and “Touching the Pickle” also had Purpose behind it.

Global work from P&G – which included “Like a Girl” also had Brand Purpose behind it.

It is becoming evident that today’s discerning consumers will like to do business with Brands which not just deliver a superior Product or Service, but also stands for something.
Doing Good really matters!

Ex Vice President of USA, Al Gore was at a Q&A with Sir Martin Sorrell and also a winner, which went on to show that this industry heavily believes that sustainability will be the next frontier of communication.

I expect this kind of communication to increase in India over this year.

THEME 2: AUTHENTICITY

This was a theme that was being discussed by a lot of Agency Leaders as well as Brands.
This pertained more on the Digital Medium.

LinkedIn as a company was strongly focusing on this theme.

As a Marketer, I do believe you always need to be Authentic.

However, while positioning a product, and when you are seeking the USP of the product or service and helping it look better vis-à-vis competition, you may sometime tend to overlook this.

However, the key take out was that, today consumers have so many different sources of information, they will find out the truth way before they make a decision. They will search, seek reviews, speak to people and then speak to experts before coming to a decision. For Brands, therefore it is all the more important to be Authentic and Transparent all the time.


THEME 3: TECHNOLOGY, DATA AND CREATIVITY

This seemed to be the MOST debated topic this year. Almost every Agency tried to pitch themselves as ‘Data Scientists’ be it Media or Creative Agencies Alike! This apart from the ‘Specialists’ in the domain.

Data and Creativity will go hand-in-hand and the creative have nothing to worry from Data. There are some new business models coming up on the entire visualization of Data. Music Notes giving birth to Synchronized Lighting is one of it. There seems to be endless possibilities with Data leading to Creativity.

It is important for Brands to Listen carefully and interpret what their consumers are talking about.

The remaining is action. Actions to either improve Products, Services or just Communication. Better targeting, right messaging are outcomes of Technology, Data and Creativity.

This seemed even more apparent with the way Technology& Innovation Companies were ‘PRESENT’ throughout the festival.

Google had its ‘own beach’, Microsoft was a key sponsor, Facebook had its Hacks, Spotify its parties …. The list is endless. While the Big Brothers like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft are apparently there in a big way every year (this being my first visit), the amount of visibility for small shops, fringe tech companies, data interpretation companies seemed to be enormous. Every company I know of is talking about this.

My Technology is ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ is already the talk amongst Senior Management.

“Data – inspires strategy – inspires creative work. But when data seems to come too close to creativity, that’s when people get nervous.”
Guy Murphy, worldwide planning director, JWT
(Courtsey: WARC, 15 Quotes from 2015 Cannes)

I personally think this will be a big trend for future as Social Media, Technology, Innovation enters our lives through mobile devices and wearable technology, and Collides with Real world and the whole Convergence Culture evolves.


THEME 4: CONTENT & DESIGN THINKING

“Great advertising feels less like advertising and more about content.”
Sean Rad, co-founder, Tinder
(Courtsey: WARC, 15 Quotes from 2015 Cannes)

Content seems to be winning. From what I heard from the rest of the people (Veterans at Cannes), content and engagement were the hottest topics at Cannes in 2014. This year, what it seemed to me is that, winning Brands are winning at content. The storytelling is becoming more entertaining. With Digital Medium, the restrictions in ‘time-bound’ stories seem to be going down. We have already seen this catching up in India, but it is going to be even more.

The other thing that seems to be going hand in hand with content is the design thinking. With the advent of Digital, more and more thought is being put into the way websites and apps are being designed. Design is at the heart of innovation.

While every example seems to be going back to Apple and Google, there were some fabulous work, which were showcased in the various talks and workshops conducted at Cannes 2015.
An allied topic with respect to Content and Design is the advent of Pictures and Video as the backbone of telling a story. The understanding that I clearly got was that people would rather “see” than “read”. This is interesting as well as challenging for Marketers and Brands. How can we design the experience for our users/ customers keeping this in mind.


THEME 5: DISTRUST BETWEEN AGENCIES AND CLIENTS & AGILE MARKETING

One of the major things that happens at Cannes is Networking. Networking for business, networking to find out which agency might be really offering a more holistic experience.

This year, from what I understood, there were multiple businesses, which were going in to a ‘pitching’ stage. One of the primary reasons why this is happening is because of lack of right talent working on Brands. I understood that every marketer, not just in India, but also across the world is facing a huge problem around fragmentation.

They have specialists across every domain. The problem, therefore, increases for the Marketing Team as the smaller companies may not be on board as far as the Brand is concerned.

Marketers today have to respond ‘faster’ than ever before.

This agility will be possible if there is one ‘dedicated’ team with strengths across multiple domains and is economical. This mix seems really difficult.

So, one thing was clear, that in the new order, there will be Large Agencies that will co-exist with New Scrappy Technology companies that will be working on specialized projects with the Marketing teams.
The Marketing teams co-ordination efforts will need to be at the peak as they will have to be the Guardians of the brand and ensure the New Tech Companies are on-boarded as far as the Brand is concerned.

Unilever Foundry was an example that I took back home. Unilever works with a number of startup companies. They have created this Foundry, keeping the future in mind, where they understand that these new companies will bring up some ‘disruptive’ ideas.

The question is, while this may be possible for a large advertiser like Unilever, how will smaller advertisers replicate this model?


IN CONCLUSION:

Apart from the 5 Key Themes, which as per me were evident at Cannes, there was a huge emphasis on Gender Equality. The landmark verdict that happened in US soon after the Festival was a key awareness point of the event.

These 5 Key Themes will be something that I think will have an impact on Marketers like me. Hope it resonates with you as well.

Anything that I write will not be complete without the mention Rose` Wines. South of France and Rose` go hand in hand. The house wines are even great. I wish I could carry some of it back. Hopefully, I will make it again to Cannes sometime soon and will deepen my relationship with the Wine.


(Image Courtesy: MEC Global, WPP Group).

(* Post Appeared on 20 July 2015, at random shades.wordpress.com)

What's Your Story

One realisation that I had over the last 14 years of my work in the field of Marketing - communication - branding - content is that - to be a successful brand, there has to be a story.

The more this story becomes believable - the more successful the Brand becomes.

Often these stories take the form of by-lines and tag-lines - but that, in my view, is not essential. What is essential is, however, to deliver this story every time - each time.



The delivery of the story through different mediums is essential. If this story starts fading, then there is confusion. People's belief in the brand starts waning and over a period of time you will see a loss of franchise for the brand.

Year 2014 is an important year for India and rest of the world because of the upcoming elections in India. Which party wins the elections and who becomes the Prime Minister will become an important milestone for us as well as the World.

As an observer of this election, which in my view is the most important election for India ever, I feel there is some relevance to the 'Story' I mentioned above.

Congress - for the first time has NO STORY.

It looks like a bunch of confused men and women, who are just being reactive to what the other major party, i.e., BJP is doing. Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP, has a strong story backing him as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the 'apparent' Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress has no story to call his own. In the last 10 years (2004 - 2014 when Congress has been in Power), he has never assumed a serious position of responsibility and delivered any 'story', apart from the fact that he has tried to remove corrupt candidates (but this Congress reign hs seen the unearthing of the biggest scams in India).

Which story will win? That we need to wait & watch. My guess is that the stronger story will outperform in 2014 General Elections.

Now let's focus our attention towards some Corporate Brands. It's not that, every brand has an inherent story. But if as the brand Owner, you can find a strong story, you could even re-align the delivery of the organisation to deliver the story.

Let's take 2 examples. Apple & IBM.

Apple's 1984 commercial announced its entry against the 'Big Blue' IBM. From the beginning, Apple's thinking has been different.

That of a Challenger Brand with a Disruptive Philosophy. Apple's story is inherent. Think Different is truly Apple's story.

Whereas, IBM which came out of a difficult situation by refocusing their business, found Solutions for a Smarter Planet not long back. It fitted them perfectly. They started delivering on this story by re-aligning a few things.

Both stories are strong. Both have their merits. Both are being delivered consistently through the products, solutions and people. But which story will outlive the other? Again we need to wait and watch. If they start diluting their stories, the strength of the brands and the price elasticity that it commands will reduce.

Overall, the biggest point that I wanted to make through these examples is that, its essential for every Brand to have a story and tell it consistently. It does not matter, whether or not the business started with that story.

But as a brand you need to be true to the story that you want your customers to buy into?

(* First published on 17 November, 2013 at randomshades.wordpress.com)