Exploring Human Centric Leadership Insights From Industry Titans

Addressing the audience at the inaugural edition of the BW Festival of Marketing, Ruhail Amin, Senior Editor of BW BusinessWorld and the session chair, set the tone by stating, "Our intention here is not to engage in the usual numerical discussions. Instead, we aim for a more human conversation, delving into the lives of the individuals behind the CMO role." 

The panel format allowed us to gain deeper insights into the marketers who are steering significant numbers.

When asked about effective leadership, Arvind Saxena, Senior General Manager and Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, NEC Corporation India, talked about his leadership style saying, “One word: People. By the people, for the people. For any marketer to be a CMO or at any level, think about the people outside the organisation as well as people within the organisation. People outside your organisation are your customers, partners, and third parties, and people inside the organisation are your employees. Very often you will come across marketers who are not very responsible when it comes to internal reputation management in the organisation or employee engagement. I think that’s where it begins, being a marketer is to think about people and be a people’s person.”

Vikramjeet Singh, Head of Marketing, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, spoke about his leadership mantra saying, “No matter what position you hold, it is very important to understand the essence of the product that your company sells. In my field, I sell insurance, but my product is the claim. It’s when something bad happens to someone and you stand by their side. We spend maximum waking hours in an organisation, more than we do with our family. So, I try to create an environment where people want to come in and work. We have a 14-crore customer base, so we really operate from the perspective that we’re helping millions of people when we come in to work.”

Talking about finding time to innovate in a busy schedule, Deepika Deepti, Head of Marketing, Metro Brands, said, “I come from an artistic background, I was an artist and then I got into design. While studying design I understood how psychology plays a very significant role in shaping society and culture. I’ve always stuck to that.” She added,” …I think it’s very important for us to gauge the cultural shifts and adapt accordingly. I’ve started talking to young kids a lot, what I’ve discovered is that there’s a lot of Korean influence among the younger audience. As a result, I’ve been trying to incorporate Korean influence in our brand wherever possible, so that’s how I keep up.”

Harshvardhan Chauhaan, VP, Chief Marketing and Omnichannel Officer, Spencer’s Retail and Nature’s Basket, talked about being a natural riser in his daily life saying, “I will be honest about it, I really do not have a very planned out day. I think one of my biggest learnings is to be in the present, which allows you to be open to a lot of things that come your way which also makes you prone to making mistakes and mistakes lead to great learnings. These experiences are what make you who you are.”

When asked about curating a great campaign, Madhur Acharya, VP of Ecommerce, Lenskart, said, “At Lenskart, if we are trying to create a certain category altogether then the approach to the campaign will be completely different because we are not competing with anyone. We are coming out with something which delivers on a problem that no one was able to solve. If the objective is competition, value addition and selling the commodity at the right time with an understanding of the consumer sentiment, market sentiment, product values, and the company vision should marry each other.”

Talked about impactful marketing initiatives Raj Rishi Singh, Chief Marketing and Business Officer, MakeMyTrip, said, “I think marketing is a series of events, no single campaign is responsible for building a brand. The best example of successful marketing would be long-term value addition, how much premium the consumer pays you for the trust in the brand. What you must assure is that the campaign and creatives you take up are additive in nature and add on to the long-term health of the brand.”

Concluding the panel, Amin summarised the panel noting that the marketers had very different perspectives, but one common thread was empathy. Empathy for your employees, empathy for the customer base. That’s what makes the basis of great marketing.