Talk us through an average day in your role
My average day starts with a team huddle around the aspects of digital marketing, SEO, content management, and events. We close the meeting with a list of to-do items based on my earlier strategic meetings with key leadership. I ensure that the marketing team stays focused on the key result areas while giving them some latitude to experiment with new communication channels. I spend most of the first half of the day on market research and competitor insights alongside reviewing the content syndicated on external media and social media platforms. The second half is usually dedicated to planning other integrated marketing communications (webinars, infographics, and EDM campaigns) and looking at pre-final designs (booth, events, or social media-related graphics) to avoid further iterations in the production or post-production stages.
How did you get started in the media industry?
After closing my contract work with a Europe-based IT leader, I received an offer to head marketing for Digital Nirvana, which offers AI-driven post production and compliance solutions to the media industry. My experience in a similar role with Tech Mahindra – where I oversaw the account-based marketing activities for key media clients in Europe and USA – might have helped prepare me for this opportunity. Working closely with our external media and PR vendors such as Wall Street Communications from day one has helped me quickly become acclimated to my new position and get the ball rolling in my current role.
What training did you have before entering the industry?
While I have been partially associated with the media industry in my earlier roles at Digital Nirvana, I’ve realised that the entertainment industry has many niches, from theatres to entertainment brands to live-streaming services. Most of this learning happened on-the-job in the first couple of months at work, thanks to all the leaders with more than two decades of experience in this industry. They helped me decode most of the terminology and made my journey seamless.
Why do you enjoy working in the industry?
Though I have worked with multiple industries – such as banking, health care, and telecom – in lead roles around sales, marketing, and business development for over 15 years, marketing in the media industry has been a different ball game altogether. This challenge has pushed me to perform, which is why I enjoy working in this role. On a day-to-day basis, we try to position the company with our solutions’ unique selling points. We engage prospects in channels new to the media industry and build loyalty amongst the existing leads through our inbound and outbound marketing activities. The marketing set-up in this industry is an immersive and enjoyable experience.
What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a role similar to yours?
The media industry is perceived as an entertainment product that people want rather than need, and this basic understanding is fundamental to developing marketing strategies in this industry. Marcoms should be centred on demographic trends, personas, and geographies. This industry has enormous scope for creating AI-based, personalised experiences and innovative social media campaigns.
When working with clients in the media industry, marketers should drive companies to focus primarily on storytelling and emotional appeal in their marketing activities, with only a subtle focus on the product line.
