Speakers - Strategic Marketing Summit 2012

Speaker Bio:

Avinash Kaul

CEO, Zoom & ET Now

He brings with him significant experience in the Media and Entertainment sector, especially in the television space. He is also the Head of Digital Media for Times Television Network. He has earlier worked with HTA Fulcrum, Discovery Communications, Star India and NDTV Media in diverse roles. He was also heading the consulting practice of NDTV Media and actively consulted with various TV channels and digital companies including MSN India. His last assignment was as CEO for Sahara One in which he headed three channels for them namely Sahara One, Filmy and Firangi. Avinash is a Mechanical Engineer from University of Pune followed by Masters Degree in Management from University of Mumbai.

Kinjal Medh

COO, Cogito Consulting

KinjalMedh is the Chief Operating Officer of Cogito Consulting, a leading Brand and Marketing Consulting company in India. Kinjal has led several projects for Indian and internationalclients on Market Entry Strategy, Branding and Competitive Strategy across all major categories.Kinjal has been a member on several Award juries includingEffies and Cannes and is a speaker at various industry forums. He has also co-authored a book “DraftfcbUlka Brand Building Advertising Concepts and Cases II”

Ashutosh Tiwari

Executive Vice President- Strategic Marketing , Godrej

Ashutosh Tiwari heads Strategic Marketing Group for Godrej. Strategic Marketing Group (SMG) is leading the task of building the value of Godrej brand and that of constituent businesses across group companies. This is a transformational journey, involving putting the brand at the centre of strategic, business, consumer and employee perspectives. This journey has seen a sequence of milestones starting with the relaunch of Godrej brand in April 2008. Subsequently, some of the external manifestations of this transformation have been in the areas of brand led design, pioneering consumer activations like virtual worlds (GoJiyo), branded TV shows, mass loyalty programs etc. Arguably, even more far reaching have been internal, strategic initiatives like Employee re-energising, Brand valuation led business diagnostics, Cultural foresighting, Marketing and strategic skills building as well as Hero category strategy and innovation development. Ash has almost 16 years of cross functional experience across diverse consumer categories in highly respected companies like Britannia Industries, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel Toys, Godrej Sara Lee and Godrej Group. This experience has spanned across different sales, marketing and general management roles in foods, personal care, home care, etc. involving brands like Britannia, Stayfree, Hot Wheels, Good Knight, HIT, Ambipur, Brylcreem, Kiwi and in the current role, one of the biggest brands in the country: Godrej. A lot of his experience has been associated with business transformations through consumer centricity.

Veena Gidwani

CEO, Madison

Veena Gidwani, a Business Management graduate with over 30 years of experience in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations is presently CEO of Madison Public Relations, the specialist Reputation Management unit of the completely Indian-owned Madison World. Veena has rich and varied experience at both agency and client ends. For the past 18 years, she has been responsible for setting up and managing communications consultancies. Over 10 years at Madison, her contribution has been making the business grow through innovative Corporate and Brand PR campaigns for clients like P&G, Levi’s, Britannia Industries, Cafe Coffee Day, Godrej Group, Titan Fastrack, Mills and Boon etc. and building a team of young, qualified and motivated professionals. Prior to moving to Madison, she was President and CEO of Prima Communications Ltd. the image management agency of Pressman Advertising. Veena’s focus at Prima was to get clients to realise the benefits of planned and ongoing corporate and brand communication. This resulted in getting several new clients on board. Veena was earlier Director and CEO of Design Shop India Ltd, the Creative agency of Tata Donnelly, which was set up at her suggestion as a way to diversify into creative services.

S K “BAL” Palekar

Chairperson, S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, Executive Education Centre

Mr. Palekar in his second innings for the last 3 years as an educator , as an independent director on corporate boards, as a marketing consultant and an active trustee of an NGO. Currently he is the Chairperson of the Executive Education Centre of S P Jain Institute of Management & Research – one of the “Top 10” business schools of India. He is also a Professor of Marketing there. Over the last 15 years he has been teaching as a visiting faculty at several leading Business schools in India like SP Jain, Bajaj Institute, NMIMS and MICA. His first inning lasted 34 years. After passing his MMS in Marketing from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management in 1974, he worked in the area of consumer marketing with well known companies like Procter & Gamble, Cadbury, MRF, Balsara, Onida and Eureka Forbes. His last assignment at Eureka Forbes, a Rs 1400 Crore company lasted over 10 years. At the time of leaving, he was Senior Vice President - Marketing and Knowledge Management and the Secretary of an NGO called Eureka Forbes Institute of Environment. At Eureka Forbes he also handled other assignments in parallel : COO of the western Region, COO of the Eastern region, and Head of the Retail Division. He helped Edna Chocolates of Sri Lanka to defend itself against Cadbury. He helped launch “Rasoi Magic” brand. He consults in the area of entry strategy, customer acquisition, internal branding, performance management. He is on the board of directors. He has served on important committees of various industry bodies over several years like of 3 companies; 2 of them are public limited companies. ISA, Advertising Club Bombay and Advertising Standards Council of India. He was on the panel that formulated standards for advertising of educational products. He has been on the technical advisory panel of National Readership Survey –III. He represented India at an India Desk set up by the Government of Canada. In 2001 he was at a conference at Fredericton. Awarded “The Marketing Professional of the Year 2001” by Indian Express. In 2008 he was given Indy’s “Hall of Fame” Award for marketing.

Subhashish Mazumdar

Senior Vice President Marketing & Customer Relation, Induslnd Media & Communication(Hinduja Group)

Subhashis have a career spanning over 23 years in Middle and Senior management levels in Business Development, Profit Centre Head and Sales & Marketing with various consumer products and services including Retail financial services and in the Distribution and Marketing of TV channels.

Prasenjit Roy

Director Global Marketing , Tech Mahindra

Roy accomplished and dynamic marketing and business professional who has built over 19 years of rich global experience in the IT / Telecom industry. Evangelist for different facets of Marketing and relevant sales experience in different geographies helps to churn out high efficacy marketing strategy and plans that are enablers for global sales team. He was the Winner of the “Most Iconic Marketing Professional” as part of the “POWERBRANDS HALL OF FAME” - honoring leaders in the Marketing fraternity. He was a speaker at international symposiums, NASSCOM and leading Business Schools. He has done his Post Graduate course in Modern Information Systems from IIT Mumbai in 2001 and MBA-Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) – 1992-94. He is also a part of All India Management Association – Delhi, Computer Society of India, Institute of Engineers, Association of Business Communicators of India. Currently he is working as a Global Director Marketing for Tech Mahindra where he was Appointed as Head of the Integration team of Marketing, Branding & Strategy for both Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam, Worked with Sales and Pre-Sales teams to develop integrated and effective marketing campaigns for Tier I to Tier III operators in India and other markets, Lead Geographically spread marketing teams, Evolve overall marketing and communication strategy, positioning, identity and messaging and a Official spokesperson of the company.

Navdeep Narula

Vice President & Business Head, Reliance Retail

Navdeep holds the position of Vice-President and Business Head at Reliance Retail Limited (part of India’s largest enterprise Reliance Industries)where he has been responsible for a successful start-up and running of an ambitious organized retail business in a multi-format & multi-category giant. He is a senior professional in general management & marketing with experience spanning different areas that include setting up & heading National Businesses, a Pan Asia-Pacific business management exposure, Profit Centre Management etc. Navdeep is an Electronics Engineering graduate with an MBA from ranked institutes. He has been an invited speaker to institutes like IIT-Bombay, Symbiosis group, IMS, ITM and industry forums like FICCI Frames, SME CXO Summit, India Retail Summit, DMA seminars, E-Summit etcetera. Beside his proven professional acumen, his consistent academic excellence enabled him to be on the admission committee for MBA at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune & was also featured twice in its prime annual publication – Top Drawer (A showcase of illustrious careers of SIBM alumni).

Sunil Punjabi

CEO, Cinemax India

Sunil Punjabi, a veteran in the media and entertainment industry for several years is currently heading Cinemax India Ltd as CEO. At Cinemax he shoulders responsibility that is all encompassing, which entails the company’s growth from existing and new multiplexes but also gaming and malls. His rich experience in different system and process driven businesses and a global media exposure has helped Cinemax to add new feather in the cap. Mr. Punjabi brings a mix of strategy and execution experience more than 13 years in Strategy - Film / TV, Cable & Satellite distribution, Film Production / Co-production, Film Theatrical Distribution and Multiplexes, Digital cinema, and Home Entertainment from various leading Multinational and Indian companies and has successfully served at various management positions prior to Cinemax. He was ‘SVP - Business Development & New Media’ in Sony Entertainment Television leading different divisions like Sports, Movie and Music TV channels, New media, Mobile Telephony and Syndication. With IPL, the concept of the Cricket channel to be distributed in India and global had a unique offering for the viewers valued at $2 bil. In past he has formed the JV between Twenty Century Fox and Star TV. He served at fox Star Studios India Pvt. Ltd specially focused on movie acquisition and deal structure, syndication - exploitation of movie rights across all platforms. He has worked on mega projects like Slumdog Milliionaire and My Name is Khan. Punjabi has had the privilege of working with some of the world&rsquot;s leading companies like Star TV, Sony Entertainment, Fashion TV, Zee TV and Fame India.

Gautam Talwar

Chief Strategy Officer , Rediffusion – Y & R

Gautam Talwar joined Rediffusion Y&R in April 2010 as Executive Vice President– New Business Development and Special Projects. He has made significant contribution to the new business initiatives undertaken by Rediffusion over the last 1 year in addition to creating a strategic path for the agency to enter into the new media space. Gautam brings to the table more than 14 years of experience in the advertising and entertainment space. He began his career with Grey Worldwide, followed by several years at Lowe in account management and strategic planning. His career path then took him to Lateral Solutions (Netpreneurship) followed by Lowe Dubai and most recently, Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Speaking on the development, D. Rajappa, President, Rediffusion Y&R, said, “Gautam has been instrumental in leading the new business mandate at Rediffusion Y&R. He is a Thinker and a New Media proponent who is well versed in brand strategy across different markets , with cross category experience amongst varied consumer segments. ” On his new assignment, Gautam Talwar said, “Rediffusion Y&R has always been respected for its commitment to building great brands. With this opportunity I hope to leverage my strategic strengths and build further on this legacy by creating meaningful communication that will deliver on brand objectives and create campaigns that will work for our clients and the agency” Prior to joining Rediffusion, Gautam was the creative and business head for Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt.Ltd., where he set up the mobile content division , developed original concepts and content for television and the mobile space . He was also the executive producer on two full length feature films.

Mitul Mehta

Vice President & Head - Marketing , Kale Consultants

As the head of marketing, Mitul is responsible for development and execution of Kale’s global marketing strategy including branding and positioning, product marketing, customer marketing, digital intiatives, public relations and demand creation. Mitul brings extensive experience in corporate and product marketing arenas across B2B and B2C domains. Prior to joining Kale Consultants, Mitul was the head of marketing at Mastek Limited where he led global marketing efforts for the organization. In his 6-year stint at Mastek, he not only established the global marketing function but also successfully positioned Mastek as a recognized technology leader in the insurance and government vertical. During his tenure he successfully led two brand integration and positioning initiatives for the acquired companies – System Task Group and Vector Technologies. Prior to Mastek, Mitul was the circle marketing lead at Reliance Webstores where he was instrumental in launching the Reliance mobile and broadband services in Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai circles. Prior to Reliance webstores, Mitul held various positions in account planning and management at Mudra Communincations and Ogilvy & Mather.

Pawan Sarda

Chief Marketing Officer, Future Group

Pawan Sarda started his career with Future group in 2000. He has seen retail industry evolve in last 11 years and has been a part of the group’s journey from 80 Cr to 10,000 Cr. Pawanhas been a part of the core marketing team and most future group retail brands across starting with Pantaloons. He has played a pivotal role being part of the startup team of Big Bazaar. In his earlier days with the Future group, Pawan was Chief in-charge of the marketing team for the Home business at Ezone and Hometown in 2007. This success in turn led him to head marketing at Big Bazaar. He has also been a part of many path breaking marketing campaigns of Big Bazaar like- SabseSasta Din, The Great exchange etc. In April 2010, Pawan took up his new mantle as the Chief Marketing Officer at the Group office to lead many group level initiatives, the recent one being the group wide loyalty program

Patrick Gomes

VP, Lintas Media

Patrick Gomes heads the Mumbai office of Lintas Media Group, he has been in the media industry for last 15 years From an IT background, started his media career in 1997 with Carat India, post which worked with multiple media agencies like Madison, Mediacom, Starcom MediaVest and now with Lintas Media. In his journey to various organizations in different roles, handling different Clients/Categories and fortunate enough to work in diverse markets like India, Middle East, Africa, Iran and Pakistan, it has been an enriching experience for him. According to him the journey has to continue with an objective is to know more about consumers, their behaviors, capture trends, mentor talent and at the same time keep learning as there’s no end to this. He has been in a leadership role for about a decade, last couple of years have been very interesting for him, handling multiple disciplines such as OOH, Retail, Rural, Sports, Entertainment, Digital, Mobile, BTL, Content development, etc. in a way playing a role of a quasi-marketer in a media agency. He is a Foodie and passionate about Travel.

Vinay Gopinath

Head Marketing & Sales, Pan India Food

A versatile and enthusiastic Marketing & Sales professional with leader ship qualities and experience in developing and managing brands, trade channels and category expansion. Have over 13 years of verifiable track record in reputed and as well as start up organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Durable and Retail segment. Alumni of IIM, Bangalore.

Rathin Lahiri

CMO and Business Head, LoyaltyOne

As Chief Marketing Officer and Business Head at LoyaltyOne, India, Rathin exhibits a strong marketing & sales track record across consumer marketing , financial services and digital marketing. Rathin is passionate about using Marketing as a lever to build Business and Building Best in Class Teams. Rathin’s track record is Working to build a large scalable online business for Microsoft in India. Business gaining revenue share. MSN relaunched, and one of the fastest growing portals. Hotmail relaunched, share decline stemmed. Launched eBay in India to make it the No. 1 online shopping destination in India. Launched Kotak Life Insurance in India as Marketing Head. Was part of the Core team which launched the Kotak Mahindra Bank brand campaign "Think Investment, think Kotak". At HLL, managed the Hair Oils Business ( Nihar & Kotak ), grew share against Parachute. Launched Black Dog whisky and Black & White Whisky in India as Brand Manager. Chairman&rsquot;s Award at HLL, 2 Abby&rsquot;s for my brand campaigns ( Black & White ) & Kotak. Web 18 Genius of the Web awards ( eBay )

Subrata Basu

Associate Vice President Marketing , Nitco

Subrata Basu is currently working as an associate Vice President Marketing at Nitco. And he also heading the Head business TBR, Speciality and Sales development for Ceat. He is good at ideation, developing customer value propositions,creating anything from brands, strategy, communication. And also he is specialized in Creativity, Marketing expertise : NPD (QFD), Business Strategy, worked for startup projects , CRM, Advertising and Branding.Developing customer interface.

Suresh Thomas

GM Marketing , Strategic Outsourcing Services

Suresh Thomas is a veteran marketing strategist who has spent over 12-years of his life marketing brands online. Mr. Thomas has been instrumental in leading India move into the new Marketing Process Outsourcing (MPO) category with North America and Europe as a focus market. As GM Marketing for Strategic Outsourcing Services, he has been chief executioner for numerous worldwide client marketing campaigns.

Chandrashekhar Pitre

Senior Director Marketing, South Asia, DHL Express

Chandrashekhar Pitre, Senior Director Marketing, South Asia joined DHL Express in December 2005. In his current role Mr. Pitre is responsible for Marketing Communications, Products, Pricing and Research and Planning for DHL Express South Asia. In addition, he is also responsible for the development and implementation of marketing plans that contribute to the market share for DHL Express in the region. In 2011, Mr. Pitre was awarded the Marketing Professional of the Year Award and the Top 25 Outstanding Marketing Leader Award by World Brand Congress. In February 2012 Public Relations Council of India awarded Mr. Pitre the Corporate Leadership Award in recognition of his services and key contributions made to the profession, industry and society at large. Prior to joining DHL Express, Mr, Pitre has over 15 years of experience in financial services. At Development Credit Bank (DCB) he was head of branch banking, driving sales of all products across the network and also responsible for the development and pricing of all liability products. Prior to DCB, he was with leading foreign and private sector banks like ANZ Grindlays, Commerzbank and ICICI Bank.