From adland to CMO chair: CXOs at companies excel after successful stints in advertising

“Plan the sale when you plan the ad,” were the immortal words of Leo Burnett, a poster boy of the American advertising industry.

To be sure, advertising is a subset of marketing and both complement each other. In its essence, marketing is about identifying the needs of the customers and devising strategies about how best to meet them. Similarly, advertising is about successfully promoting a company, its products and services through paid mediums.

It is proof that a majority of the top-notch CXOs in India have had a stint in advertising or media agencies at the initial stages of their career. The experience that they had gained in their formative years of their professional journey stood them in good stead at a later juncture.

Sujay Rachh, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Nuvama Group, who started his career in advertising, agrees with the trend. He shared his insights with Storyboard18: “Advertising teaches you that nothing is impossible. There is a solution to anything and everything. The marketing and communications background has taught me how to strike a fine balance between creativity and commerce. Perhaps, the most important thing that I have learnt from my past experience is a deep understanding of cross-functional collaboration and maximising impact within constraints — whether it’s the budget, timeline or resources.”

Here’s a listicle of the professional trajectory of CXOs, who honed their skills in advertising before making a switch to branding.

Kedar Lele

Lele leads Castrol India as Managing Director (MD) and also its Vice-President (VP) for South Asia. He leverages his deep understanding of consumer behaviour and market trends to deliver exceptional value to customers, employees and shareholders alike.

His experience spans across sales, marketing, e-commerce, advertising, digital innovation, and customer development.

Lele, a Master in Business Administration (MBA), has a specialisation in strategic marketing and operations from the Indian School of Business (ISB). He started his career as an Account Supervisor at Mudra Communications, which has since been christened as DDB Mudra Group. He handled a clutch of small and large businesses spanning diverse sectors such as fashion, beverages, foods and information technology.

He moved on to bplnet.com and monster.com as brand manager, where he was largely involved in business-to-business (B2B) marketing, product management and advanced solution selling.

He made a switch to Hindustan Unilever and worked as Senior Brand Manager for its ice cream brand, Kwality Walls. Kimberly-Clark Lever — a joint venture between Hindustan Unilever & Kimberly Clark — appointed him as Head, Sales and Marketing. In that role, he had managed the brand team for infant and feminine care businesses.

Lele also played an active role in building functional capability of the marketing resources across the South & East Asian Developing and Emerging Countries (SADEC) in the Kimberly Clark network.

In Hindustan Unilever, Lele held two key positions such as brand manager for Eastern India and the head of customer development in South Asia.

Tarun Jha

He heads the marketing division of JSW Steel. His focus is on driving growth through innovative customer engagement and strategic planning. His recent advisory role fortified businesses with tailored revival strategies, enhancing their market presence and performance.

Jha, like Lele, began his career at Mudra Communications as an account executive. He moved on to Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) as an Account Supervisor and handled Hutch (Vodafone) and Kimberly-Clark Lever. His skills ranged from market research, customer insight, marketing communications, communication, project management, account management and advertising.

Videocon Group appointed him as Senior Manager, Marketing, and he was head hunted by Mahindra & Mahindra as Senior Manager, Marketing Services. He switched to Skoda India as Deputy General Manager (DGM), Marketing. As the former international marketing consultant at Skoda Auto, he ensured alignment of diverse markets and their marketing activities with the strategic goals of the brand.

He was elevated as the head of marketing at Skoda Auto where he led the brand’s efforts in product and pricing, marketing, digital, customer experience, social, retail, launch management and experiential.

Jha holds an MBA degree from the University of Allahabad. Havas India appointed him as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Havas Creative, where he managed growth, profit and loss (P&L), product and people.

Bidisha Nagaraj

Bidisha Nagaraj heads Schneider Electric as global VP, marketing, home and distribution. She holds a postgraduate degree in mass communication from Bangalore University. She started her career at Lintas and handled Unilever Foods & Tea, Britannia Biscuits & Confectionery as Account Director and worked in tandem with the media planning team.

Nagaraj moved to Compaq as Manager, Marketing Services, and took charge of its brand communication strategy (business and consumer), consumer retail marketing, internet marketing and other allied activities.

Intel Technologies hired her as the Consumer Marketing Manager. Initially, Nagaraj was promoted to Retail Marketing Manager for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and later Strategic Marketing Director: Emerging Markets (EMs). She was responsible for driving a team that was mandated to develop and roll out new suites of products with an eye on the emerging markets.

Earlier, she was the head of Consumer Marketing at Google India to amp up tts search and mobile products. In 2008, Nagaraj joined Cafe Coffee Day as President, Marketing, and was responsible for the brand and consumer engagement strategies and their implementation plans. She was appointed as the Group President of Coffee Day Group after six years.

Nagaraj was entrusted with the additional responsibility to lead the marketing strategy and communication charter for the Coffee Day Group and had led to the successful launch of its initial public offering (IPO) in September 2015. Then, she joined Schneider Electric as VP, Marketing, and was also a board director of Schneider Electric Infrastructure.

Ashwani Sinha

He is the VP of global brand, Truecaller. He started his career at Dentsu as a Strategic Planner, where he created a portfolio strategy for Sony Ericsson in the pre-smartphone era. He managed Canon’s portfolio from cameras and camcorders to large-format copiers and printers. He articulated Honda's perspective on quality for value conscious two-wheeler consumers.

He joined McCann as a Strategic Planner where he helped Chevrolet win market share from rivals across its entire portfolio, ranging from hatchbacks to sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). He created cultural context for one of the world’s most fondly recalled brand ideas, “Priceless” for MasterCard. He took on “big tobacco’s” distribution muscle to tackle the “candy as change” concept for Chlor-Mint.

Sinha created a two-pronged communication for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign for 2009 parliamentary elections, which revolved around anti-incumbency and strong leadership.

He joined Wunderman as a Senior Strategic Planner, where he created marcom strategies for Microsoft’s entire range of products and services. As the associate VP, planning, at Havas, he transitioned Microsoft Lumia from a hardware to a software+service brand. He built mass appeal for the National Basketball Association (NBA), the professional league in the US, in India for Sony Six.

He joined Ogilvy as a Senior Planning Director and then moved on to Thinkstr as the Head of Strategy. He was back at Ogilvy as a Senior VP, where he developed growth strategies for Pernod Ricard India’s mass market brands amidst an unprecedented wave of competition.

He launched Pernod Ricard India’s mass market brands in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sinha holds a postgraduate degree in marketing communication from the University of Canberra. He has created marketing strategies and campaigns to grow the world’s biggest brands and has won several marquee awards such as APAC EFFIE Grand Prix, Cannes, One Show, D&AD, LIA, Spikes, Adfest and Kyoorius.

Mayur Hola

Mayur Hola is an English Literature graduate from Delhi College of Arts & Commerce (DC&AC). Hola started his career as a Copywriter at McCann-Erickson and moved on to Contract Advertising as a Senior Copywriter. He joined Grey Worldwide as a copy supervisor. He was roped in by McCann-Erickson as a Creative Team Leader. His next innings were at TBWA as AVP Creative and then at O&M as the Creative Director (CD).

Hola had another stint at McCann-Erickson as SeniorCD. He worked at Contract India and Havas as Executive CD and National CD, respectively. He moved to branding and joined OYO as AVP, Head of Brand, and went on to hold various roles. Culinary Brands appointed Hola as the CMO and he later moved to Swiggy as VP, Brand.

Arun C Kumar

He is an exception to the prevailing trend. Kumar is the global head of data and artificial intelligence AI at Accenture Song and drives better customer experiences.

He began his career at Starcom as the Associate Media Director, oral and baby categories, digital director of all Procter & Gamble (P&G) brands. He rose to head Starcom as Head of Digital, China, where he improved digital capabilities for key clients such as Oracle, P&G & Li-Ning.

He moved on to Dentsu, which was earlier known as Aegis Media, as Regional Director, Isobar, and then as CEO of its Singapore operations. He looked after digital transformation for Singapore and beyond in Southeast Asia. Kumar increased profitability by 7 per cent because of the rise in digital revenue from 8 to 17 per cent on the back of steady growth.

He joined Mediabrands as Head of Digital, APAC, and then held the position of President of G14, IPG Mediabrands Audience Platform. He also led Matterkind as Global President, and then moved to Interpublic Group (IPG) as Chief Data and Marketing Technology Officer. During his six-year tenure, Kumar led the $2.3 billion acquisition of Acxiom, a data-based marketing company, and made a discernible difference in the company's growth and competitiveness.

From IPG, he joined The Consello Group as Business Advisor, where he helped brands and companies redefine their data strategies to encourage better outcomes. He helped them create an ecosystem of partners who can transform their organisations for data driven growth.

MVS Murthy

MVS Murthy currently heads Federal Bank as the chief marketing officer. He began his career at Ogilvy & Mather as an account executive and then joined Art Advertising as an account supervisor. Then, he joined Webshastra and Urja Communications where he held the positions of account manager and interactive strategist.

He moved to the brand side by joining ICICI Bank as the national sales manager. Then, he worked at BRICS Securities and Edelweiss Financial Services as vice president - retail marketing and vice president - marketing. He then went on to work at ICICI Bank and Tata AIG General Insurance Company as privilege banking head - product, portfolio, marketing & loyalty, and vice president - marketing and digital.

Jaskaran Singh Kapany

Jaskaran Kapany currently leads MobiKwik as chief marketing officer. He began his career at JWT where he was a senior account director. During his stint at JWT, Kapany launched Reliance Money in India – a comprehensive electronic online transaction platform offering a wide range of asset classes. Then, he launched a Mutual Fund ‘Investor Education’ programme which dispelled myths that deterred consumers from investing in mutual funds.

Then, he joined ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company as vice president - marketing and e-commerce, where he led all marketing initiatives and successful business efforts. He also led the company’s' E-com business which grew 4x during his tenure.

As the head of marketing at Paytm, he was responsible for making Paytm one of the most trusted household names in India. He also helped build Paytm's offline QR payments/ money transfer/ mobile recharges/ bill payments.

Then, he joined Xiaomi India as CMO where he led marketing for the entire portfolio including brand strategy, product marketing, performance marketing, acquisition, GTM, social media, research, alliances etc.

As the former CMO of Table Space Technologies, Kapany built the marketing function grounds-up including strategy, brand, public relations, digital, media and social.

Sai Narayan

He is the CMO at Policybazaar.com. He began his career at Publicis Advertising India, a part of Publicis Groupe, as an Associate Account Director and then he joined Max Life Insurance Company as manager, brand and customer marketing.

He left the company for Aviva Life Insurance as AVP, Brand and Digital, and then moved on to Policybazaar.com as the AVP, Brand Marketing, Policybazaar and Paisabazaar.

Sujay Rachh

Rachh heads Nuvama Group as the CMO. He has a master's degree in marketing management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) in Mumbai. He had started his career at Concept Communication as a Senior Account Executive where he played a dual role of client servicing executive and business development executive. He also handled media- related activities such as planning, negotiating, scheduling and executing, and was constantly involved in pitching for new clients.

Rachh joined RK Swamy BBDO as an Account Supervisor. He led the pitch and won several campaigns for RK Swamy BBDO such as State Bank of India — Internet Banking, Home Loan Utsav, Savings Plus, SBI and PANIIT Global Conference.

He moved on to Lowe Lintas and Partners where he held various roles. He joined Brand Capital as the General Manager (GM), and also did a stint at Leo Burnett as Executive Director (ED).

Rachh is candid about opportunities coming his way and embracing new challenges amidst a stellar career growth.

Will it be fun? Am I going to do something new and will there be a hockey stick learning curve in my corporate upbringing?

Will it give me fame? Will I be able to create work that becomes part of the cultural fabric and as a result effective in leveraging the marketing opportunity?

Will it make me a fortune? Will the new role improve my standard of living?

Rachh credits his marketing communications background for his keen understanding in asymmetrical challenges such as striking a harmonious balance between creativity and commerce. He developed a deep understanding of cross-functional collaboration and maximising impact within constraints – whether it’s the budget, timeline or resources.

He weighed in on the challenges. “Usually, a marketing communication professional becomes so invested in the field that s/he rarely ventures beyond its boundaries. It is critical to get a sense of the broader marketing function over a period of time that aligns with both professional goals and personal interests. Choose the one thing that really connects and relates with you,” he said,

Rachh put the career switch from advertising agencies and media companies to corporate branding in perspective. He highlighted that it is necessary to look for areas that combine elements of advertising and marketing. “Leverage your client relationships and don’t forget the power of networking. Find a mentor who can help make this transition. Learn and equip yourself with core components of modern marketing roles – elements of digital marketing, CRM [customer relationship management], etc.” he said.

“Start thinking strategy and understand how campaigns align to business goals. Customer journey based thinking helps. Think beyond campaigns [something that one focuses squarely, while in advertising]. Use your creative side to your advantage. Align your passion, strengthen your skill set, navigate and network for a successful marketing break and career,” he added.

Gaurav Mehta

He is the Senior Director, Marketing and Strategic Capabilities, Lilly India. He began his career at Elephant Design as a project manager and then joined JWT as an Account Executive. He founded the branding and marketing consultancy, Brand DNA. He joined iSmart Panache as Manager, Marketing; and then Yahoo as senior account manager. He was elevated to Group Manager and then Chief Manager where he handled the largest group in Yahoo India — as far as revenue was concerned — and key verticals such as travel, government, education, real estate and some major clients.

He joined OLX South Asia as the CMO.

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