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Tag: Paulomi Dhawan

  • Paulomi Dhawan pays tribute to the veteran marketer who passed away on Friday

    Remembering Nabankur ‘Nobby’ Gupta

     

    Not many in the current crop of marketing services and media professionals may know much about Nabunkur Gupta or Nobby, as he was popularly known. But ask the shining stars of the 1980s, 90s and the 2000s, and they’ll tell you without any hesitation that Nabunkar Gupta was indeed the Marketing Superstar, as AdAge, billed him in 1996.

     

    By Paulomi Dhawan

     

    A humble man, a gentle soul, a fabulous human being!

    I first met Nabankur Gupta when he was at Videocon and I was representing his advertising agency.  He guided Videocon through its fastest pace of growth. It was when there was a major battle among television brands with schemes developed and announced overnight, which is a norm today. He developed strategies for sub-branding and multibranding in the consumer durables business for the first time in India winning him international accolades. Advertising Age, New York recognised him for this successful initiative by awarding him with the title of ‘Marketing Superstar’ in 1996, one of the 20 recipients of this title globally.

    He thought of  the creative/ media agency format, the fee system in the late 90s. He was calmly involved on all aspects of the business including advertising and media details. In fact, he supported me on many an interesting new media concept. Television and sponsored programmes conceived with brand values were a novelty then. The popular show Videocon Flashback, innovations in print, outdoor were all cleared instantly and released. He was methodical, organised and disciplined. All plans and estimates needed him to sign off. There was a fixed time every morning… if you missed that slot, it would shift to the next day.

    Mr Gupta was a client first, then my boss and, above all, a mentor who I owe a lot to. He was always there to guide, support me. He initiated my move to Raymond.

    Mr Gupta joined the Raymond Group (from Videocon) as Group President and Board member in 2000. During his tenure, he acquired some highly synergistic companies (like Color Plus) to support Raymond’s strategic growth plans.

    Mr Gupta strongly enhanced the nuances of consumer marketing at Raymond especially with the introduction of aggressive branding, trade promotion activities which ensured enhancement of market shares. He played a lead role in expanding the Raymond retail network as well as conceptualising novel retail formats, much in advance of competition, like  Be: for affordable designer wear. Customer orientation, ROI focus and ability to remember details of marketing were some of his impeccable qualities.

    He relaunched the brands in the textile and apparel space and further reinforced Raymond’s leadership position. Brand-building was his forte. It was under his leadership we did the Raymond commercials – “Feels like heaven, Feels like Raymond” series. The ‘Baby’ commercial was launched among trade –over 1500 –with an applause and on the cricket platform ‘Champions Trophy’. He had an eye for guiding the work with a great sense of the brand core. He brought back the ‘Teacher’. He did the Father and Son, Man and Puppies and many more ads. “The Complete Man” was contemporised, made more sensitive, younger. The Style Guides set the brand apart. He indeed personified the Raymond credo: The Complete Man, The Complete Professional, The Complete Marketer

    Media consolidation at Raymond and introducing the Corporate Communication cell was his vision. We did some amazing work together – he was always supportive on any pathbreaking idea. Dressing TV anchors, owning news segments, print innovations, style guides, the much prized Haji Ali hoardings were in his time. It was 360-degree marketing solutions,  including the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence initiated by him to synergise with Raymond’s core values of Excellence, Leadership, Innovation.

    Mr Gupta interacted with media – both the editorial with interesting insights and their marketing teams, ever ready to hear a new idea at a cost-effective solution. As an advertising friend said: “The two of you were a formidable and good team.” Extremely soft-spoken and well-mannered in his handling of difficult situations and he was truly a marketing genius. He represented Raymond on many industry bodies like MRUC, ABC delivering wisdom and experience.

    He was truly an industry leader. He was a master in adding a high level of professionalism wherever he went. His leadership as Group President was eventful and noted for all this and more.

    At 70, he leaves behind his wife Nita, son Kaustabh and daughter Timira, and a very large family of indebted souls whose lives he touched. RIP. May God bless his soul for his onward journey.

    In 2005, he relinquished the post to start his own management consultancy “Nobby  Brand Architects & Strategic Marketing Consultants”. He was on the Board of many companies, including Raymond. Besides brand architecture, he was professionalising family businesses and mentoring their next gen.

    A warm, good human being with an infectious smile who was highly respected by all. A gentle leader, a man of principles, a guide and mentor to many. Humble, a great professional and a thorough gentleman. His warmth, his quiet demeanour was like none other.

    Thank you, Mr Gupta, for being there!

     

    Paulomi Dhawan is a senior marketer, and currently a Strategic Advisor – Media and Corporate Communications with Raymond. She also consults at Paulomi Dhawan Advisory. She was earlier Vice President Media and Corporate Communications at Raymond. When she met Nabankur Gupta, she was with iB&W Communications as VP – Media and President – Media Supermarket of the media agency.

     

    Now Strategic Advisor Media & Corp Comm Raymond.

    And Paulomi Dhawan Advisory

     

     

  • Forum to provide common platform to data-owners and data-users to find ways for ensuring ethical use of data

    Sandeep Goyal assumes charge as Prez of Forum for Ethical Use of Data

    By A Correspondent

     

    Veteran adman (and now a prolific writer) Sandeep Goyal took over as President of the Forum for Ethical Use of Data (FEUD) as a  few senior industry people came together to create a platform which will “engender the right atmosphere and the right mindset sensitised to the ethical use of data”.

     

    Media veterans Ambika Srivastava and Paulomi Dhawan assumed the positions of Vice Presidents. Srivastava is former Chairman of Vivaki Exchange and Zenith OptiMedia and Dhawan Paulomi is an active office bearer of the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and has spent over 30 years at organisations like Raymond and Rediffusion. Vivek Mohan, former Country Head for Alcatel Lucent India, will be an Executive Member. A graduate from Harvard Business School, Mohan currently spends most of his time in Silicon Valley. A full-time professional CEO will be named soon, notes a communique.

     

    Said Goyal: “The Forum for Ethical Use of Data (FEUD) has been formed in response to the current vitiated sentiment, both globally and in India, as a result of all the controversies like what is happening at Facebook today, and all the fears that are being voiced even on Aadhar,” adding:  “The Forum will bring together all interest groups and get them to discuss, debate and devise a viable way forward in the handling of data so that it stays confidential, it stays protected and its keepers stay trusted. In India there is yet a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that data of all kinds is protected and secure so as not to compromise the privacy and confidentiality of customers. Far too many organizations have access to far too much data, but they are not investing enough to keep that data well protected. At the Forum we will provide help, knowledge, guidance and eventually certification to help organizations stay ethical with the use of data at their command”.

     

    The Forum for Ethical Use of Data, adds the communique, will soon be inviting banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, telecom operators, airlines, hotels, FMCG companies, retail entities, media agencies, digital agencies and all others who are repositories of big data to join the Forum. Even government organisations will be invited to become members of FEUD.

     

    Said Srivastava: “We are plagued today by multiple issues in data protection and its ethical usage. For starters, most organizations are not even aware of who has access to, and who uses sensitive data within their own ecosystem. Compliance regulations and guidelines are very lax. No one even spends time cleaning up toxic data dumps. There are no investments to protect sensitive data appropriate to its value. At the Forum for Ethical Use of Data (FEUD), we will stimulate necessary awareness and action across organizations.”

     

    And this is what Dhawan said: “Outsourcing data and allowing uninhibited access to vendors and partners can create unprecedented situations like in the case of Facebook. At Forum for Ethical Use of Data (FEUD) we will bring about risk assessment and security awareness programs that will instill both understanding and trust within our member organizations, and their customers in turn.”

     

     

  • RIP, M C Nair. A tribute by Paulomi Dhawan

    By Paulomi Dhawan

     

    I owe a lot to M C Nair, my first boss. I joined Everest Advertising as an intern way back in 1978. Those were the days where media planning was in its infancy, NRS (National Readership Survey) was out , TV was born later. He introduced me to the media world, always encouraging me. I was a young girl, just out of B-school, making pitches and presentations, showcasing media to clients, interacting with media owners with MCN (as he was known in the then buzzing agency) and was always there to guide, support me though he was a busy Board Member.

     

    MC Nair joined Everest and grew up the ladder… can you believe this was his only job. He was with Everest for 50 years!

     

    A true Everesteer… steering the agency to its pinnacle, witnessing the national growth, the subsidiary Edge, the international tie-up with Saatchi & Saatchi … still servicing clients and building brands  like Dinesh Fabrics, Alembic’s Glycodin, Tips & Toes, Tortoise Mosquito Coil, Parle Biscuits, Hawkins Pressure Cookers, Elecon Engg, Jyoti Labs. He handled all aspects of the business.

     

    M C Nair

    A towering personality, MCN was a warm, good human being with an infectious laughter who was highly respected by media owners and peer agency heads alike. Even back then he was on many industry bodies. He was like a doting father or uncle… I remember when I was pregnant he would always check if I had eaten even when we were working on a major presentation. Many of us at Everest like PRP Nair have many fond memories and owe our career growth to him! I, for one, grew rapidly at Everest as National Media Director in few years. A friend mentioned that his most enduring virtue was his kindness. Indeed.

    ”Those were the days my friend I thought they’d never end…”

    MCN retired and was with his family in Kerala mostly. My regret that I could not meet him recently to thank him. Thank you, Mr M C Nair!!

     

    At 86, he leaves behind his daughter Jyoti and her family, and a very large family of indebted ex-Everesteers. RIP.

     

     

     

    Paulomi Dhawan, an advertising and marketing services veteran, is a Strategic Advisor – Media and an active member of the Indian Society of Advertisers Executive Council.

     

  • Get the mantras to navigate a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, says the Indian Society of Advertisers chairman

    ISA Global CEO conf to help face VUCA world: Hemant Bakshi

     

    It promises to be the mother-of-all media and marketing conferences. The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), the apex body of advertisers in the country, is hosting a global CEO conference on October 30, 2013 at the Leela in Mumbai. The theme is ‘Navigating a VUCA World’ and a galaxy of speakers including Unilever’s global CEO Paul Polman are scheduled to speak. Mr Polman will be in conversation with Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj.

     

    Other speakers at the event will include R Gopalakrishnan, Director, Tata Sons; Manu Anand, President – India & South Asia, Cadbury India; Marten Pieters, CEO, Vodafone India; and Ravi Kant, Vice Chairman and Former Managing Director, Tata Motors, Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Motocorp, Shantanu Khosla, MD, Procter & Gamble India and Prabha Parameswaran, MD, Colgate-Palmolive amongst many others. One of the goals of the conference is to find out how organizational processes and practices need to be recast to deliver to this new VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world.

     

    Hemant Bakshi, Executive Director, Home & Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever and Chairman, Indian Society of Advertisers spoke on the theme of the conference and his expectations.

     

     

    The ISA CEO-fest

     

    Over 300 delegates are expected to attend the conference, informed Paulomi Dhawan, Chairperson, Events Committee and Treasurer, ISA. For Ms Dhawan, the conference is a culmination of two months of hectic activity. And very little else.

     

    Asking global CEOs to come in and speak comes with its share of requirements. Explain to each of them (and possibly their office) what the entire is thing all about and the topic chosen for them, etc etc. But now that the curating is done, and the key sponsor is in the form of Star India, the emphasis for Ms Dhawan is to ensure it all goes off smoothly.

     

    The day will begin with a talk on ‘Leadership and Managing Human Capital in Turbulent Times’. The next session is themed ‘Reigniting Growth in an Economic Slowdown’ followed by a panel discussion On ‘Cut Costs, Not Corners: Smart Marketing for Turbulent Times’moderated By Sunil Kataria, COO, Sales, Marketing and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited. The panelists include Himanshu Kapania, COO, Idea Cellular; Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond; Kirthiga Reddy, Director, Online Operations002C and Head, Facebook India; KBS Anand, MD & CEO, Asian Paints; Shantanu Khosla, MD, Procter & Gamble India and Prabha Parameswaran – MD, Colgate-Palmolive.

     

    Post-lunch, sessions on ‘Why Businesses Must Factor in Economic Cycles’ by Ravi Kant, Vice Chairman, Tata Motors with Siddharth Mukherjee, Director - Chocolate Category and Media, Cadbury India Limited.

     

    There on, a session on ‘Not every Consumer has Sealed her Wallet: Finding New Pockets of Growth’ will be conducted by Marten Pieters, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India. The session will be chaired b Narendra Ambwani, Director, Agro Tech Foods Limited.

     

    Later, Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Motocorp will speak on ‘Taking Risks in a Volatile World’. The last session of the day will be on’How Responsible Business Models Can Help in VUCA Times’ by keynote speaker Paul Polman, Global CEO, Unilever. This will be followed by a conversation that Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto will have with Mr Polman.

     

    The inaugural Global CEO conference has an impressive line-up of speakers. What does the ISA hope to achieve from the conference and the theme chosen?

    The ISA has been around for a long time to ensure that the interest of advertisers – large and small – has been taken care of. For us, the mandate of this conference is two-fold. As businesses and the economy face a slowdown, we want to ensure that advertisers can benefit from advice to make sure that our business is stable and strong. In difficult times, you question every line and component in your business and marketing investments make a large component of this whole. How to get the best return on these investments is the second area we will be focusing on. Therefore we thought that we need to get the best of global CEOs in one place to share their experience and wisdom.

     

    VUCA was a term coined in the 1990s by the United States military. Given that we live in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times, does the current market scenario require a different kind of leadership?

    Yes, the term has trickled into the world of business and it tells you that in a world which is VUCA your long-term visions and business goals need to be clear but don’t lock yourself into a rigid plan to achieve that destination. If you have a broad understanding of your past and you know where you’re headed then you will be able to be much more agile, consumer-centric and evolve your strategy as you go along. Flexibility and nimbleness are crucial because the strategies that may have worked in the past when change was certain and slow, may not work in the future.

     

    VUCA also talks about the need for awareness and responsible leadership. Apart from addressing marketing needs and optimizing ROI, how will the theme be made applicable for the advertiser ecosystem?

    In difficult times like these, we can no longer be in an ivory tower and focus on building brand equity and creating great advertising while our consumers are suffering and the business is struggling. It is important that as marketers, we play a role that goes beyond just marketing. Next, it is also important that in such an environment, marketing is done responsibly. The resources that our planet has are getting scarce and if we keep doing things like we have in the past, sustainability will become a serious issue for consumers. We are going through a business cycle of slowdown right now, but what we need to do in this difficult time is to prepare for the future and it’s important to get a much more holistic view of marketing.

     

    Media vehicles worry that the fallout of a VUCA world is a cutback on spends and pushing down prices. Is offering discounts and giving more value for money a key fallout of such a market scenario?

    That would be a myopic and conventional view of looking at the current scenario. We have observed that brands that build equity during such times reap benefits once the economy starts growing again. If we all start cutting price and promotions, it may benefit in the short run but not in the long term. At the conference, you will see a lot of our leaders talk about how you can cut costs, take risks and reignite growth as well as get consumers to get better value of what’s going on. The conference hopes to highlight alternative strategies that can be used in this period.