Darshana Geeganage

(QNB is the largest Bank in Middle East & North Africa by assets and ranked among the top 50 safest banks in the world)

OVERALL:
1) Instrumental in setting up the Market Research & Analysis Unit at Qatar National Bank (QNB) in 2011 & making it a full-fledged “strategic business support function”.
2) Elevated as the “Head of Group Retail Market Research & Analysis” in 2013 to spearhead the Group Market Research function of QNB, covering its expanding global markets in Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

MARKET RESEARCH:
3) Established customer based assessments (Customer Satisfaction, NPS, and Brand Equity) as high level Business KPIs of the Retail Bank, and effectively linked those with the tactical performance targets of the respective “Functional Units” (Operations, Sales & Distribution, Customer Contact Centre, Service Quality etc.)
4) Undertaken extensive “Market & Competitive Landscape Assessments” and “Due diligence studies” supporting business launches in five new international markets (Oman, Kuwait, Sudan, Lebanon, UK & France).
5) Launched a regular Customer Panel (Focus Groups and In-depth Interviews) to support pre-testing, enhancements & innovation of Online banking applications (internet & tablet banking and mobile banking).
6) Undertaken In-depth studies related to “Market Sizing”, “Customer Understanding” and “Performance Benchmarking” to support some of the key strategic projects and business ventures of the Group.
7) Disseminated frequent and prompt Competitive Updates & Insights to Business Units to devise counter strategies and tactical marketing programs.

BUSINESS ANALYTICS:
8) Spearheaded extensive “Data Mining & Descriptive Analytics” projects & Tasks including Product Portfolio Analytics, Channel Usage and Behavioral Analytics, Delinquency and Attrition Analytics, Campaign Performance Analysis etc.
9) Spearheaded extensive “Predictive & Prescriptive Analytics” projects and tasks related to Cross-sell & up-sell modelling, Customer Churn Prediction Modelling, Behavioral segmentation through Predictive & Prescription Modelling and Clustering applications.
10) Successfully integrated Customer Analytics with Market Research Insights and Competitive Intelligence, providing a holistic view of the Market & Category dynamics to the respective Business Unit Heads.

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
11) Facilitated the Group Retail “Business Plan” development cycle and periodic “Business KPI” monitoring and evaluation process in coordination with Group Strategy Department.
12) Facilitated the development, monitoring and coordination of the “Group Retail Marketing Plan”, “Marketing Budget” and “Marketing Activity & Campaign Calendar” for the in coordination with Retail Business Units and Group Communications Department.
13) Provided high level periodic Business Performance & Evaluation Summaries of Retail Bank to the top management.
14) Held Project Management responsibilities in feasibility assessment and “Blue Print set-up” of an international Call Canter in Egypt for QNB Group Retail Bank, which included the tasks of carrying out the “Request Proposals (RFP) process, Tendering and Vendor Selection, Contracts Management, Budgeting & Financial Analysis, Managing External Consultants etc.
15) Held Project Management responsibilities in “Outsourcing the QNB Domestic Call Centre” which included the tasks of carrying out the obtaining regulatory clearance, Operational Risk Assessment, Business Continuity Plan (BCP) development & Management, Request Proposals (RFP) process, Tendering and Vendor Selection, Contracts Management, Budgeting & Financial Analysis etc.

(Nielsen is the world largest Research Company by Turnover with a global footprint over 100 countries)
1) Spearheaded the FMCG Industry Practice Group of the Customized Research Division of Nielsen Sri Lanka, with the overall responsibility of managing its business operations, revenue & profitability.
2) Substantially grown the FMCG Customized Research business in terms of revenue (doubled in 3 years), clientele (40% increase in 3 years) and research capabilities.
3) Gave leadership to the first multi-disciplinary servicing unit (“Nielsen One Voice”) which serviced clients in all their research requirements (Customized, Retail Audit & Media Services) through one point of contact.
4) Acted as the local product champion (specialist) in the Brand Health and Pricing studies, having conducted extensive market research studies pertaining to those disciplines for some of the leading local & global brands.
5) Spearheaded the “Nielsen’s Centre for Research Excellence in South Asia” for Coca Cola Company, which overlooked the research projects in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
2) Serviced diverse portfolio of local and multinational clients (as follows): Coca Cola, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, PepsiCo India, Fonterra Brands, Starcom worldwide, Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, J&J, Grant McCann, British American Tobacco, Cadbury, Reckitt Benckiser
3) Conducted diverse local and multi-country research projects (as follows) - Consumer Surveys, Stakeholder Research, Ad Research, Trade Surveys, Price Modelling, Pack research, Shopper Research, Brand Tracks, Category Forecasting

Managed Retail Measurement Services of Nielsen Sri Lanka, handling it’s key proprietary services (as follows) - Retail Store Audit, Retail Category Mngt., Space Mngt .

(MAS Holdings is the largest Manufacturer and Exporter of apparel in Sri Lanka which supplies readymade garments to many reputed brands across the world; Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Speedo, Marks & Spencer, GAP, Columbia and Polo Ralph Lauren)
1) Handled product design & development, marketing, market research, and Supply Chain management functions related to manufacture and export of Lingerie wear products to leading global brands in USA and Europe.