Director Marketing
Darin Group
Total years of experience :25 years, 10 Months
A vast & exciting mandate that includes managing and building the Family Malls, Duhok Mall & Darin LTD as Masterbrand and enhancing the Darin Group reputation across stakeholders.
I am leading the Transformation Agenda with a sharp focus on consumer understanding, improvising customer service, process & product innovation. I am responsible for the Marketing, Communications, Media and Digital strategy and execution for Darin Group
Marketing & Brand Management:
Responsible for tactical and strategic campaign development for the Malls & Retail vertical and execution towards achieving the annual business plan through offline and online marketing promotions.
Creating of long term strategic communication plan in alignment with groups vision.
Redefining and enhancing the role of PR for corporate and brand communications.
Holistic content creation process for corporate story telling.
Set strategic direction for Loyalty program (Darin Rewards) and established brand identity for the program at Region level.
Structured training & development interventions for team to enhance competencies
Structured programs conducted for marketing and brand teams to raise their awareness on key component of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Ideate and direct, proper execution of sales promotions to improve customer entry for 07 concepts and 2 Malls to achieve turnover.
Selected Results:
Functionally, have been establishing and leading some of the best processes which have been recognized across the group.
Increased brand recall to 2X through in short span of time collaborative activities with local Govt., NGO’s and ensuring the same visible on social platforms.
As director I am involved in the entire gamut of business growth activities, including offline/ online Marketing, Domestic & Global Business expansion, Business Strategy Planning and Brand Building for 03 vertical “Addon Manpower Solutions, Addon Infotech Solutions & Rhea Insurance Marketing Firm”.
Digital Marketing & Brand Strategy:
Built and led internal team to reduce reliance on external agencies. Provided strategic and tactical guidance to team of 5 with accountability for all social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, etc) along with company blog, email marketing campaigns, and SEO/SEM strategies.
Directed marketing team to develop new social media strategy, replacing overt sales pitches with focus on engagement and client and customer services.
Audited content to identify SEO/traffic generation opportunities and then led team of freelance writers to create high-impact “cornerstone” content.
Selected Results:
Increased social media ROI by 275% and digital marketing lead generation by 124%.
Improved Google Adwords ROI by 104% and achieved top organic rankings for key phrases.
Launched first concerted e-mail marketing strategy and grew contact database by 178%.
Grew Facebook ‘likes’ by more than 10x.
Business Expansion:
Started 03 new offices in Gurgaon, Mumbai & Bangalore.
Coordinated set up of 02 new offices in Singapore and Dubai respectively.
In hub and Spoke model increased Addon Manpower Solutions presence in 7 cities domestically.
Head Marketing (West) - FBB The Fashion Hub, Big Bazaar, & Food Bazaar Verticals
Manager Marketing - 3 Verticals (Gujarat & Rajasthan)
Reported to Business Head-West; led 12 member team (6 direct) to manage 3 verticals across Gujarat, Rajasthan & Maharashtra.
Marketing & Brand Management :
Managed INR 5.54M BTL marketing budget with INR 270M ATL expense allocation; attained INR 9.5B turnover for West Zone in 2014, 12.5B in 2015 & 13.5B in 2016
Supported stores and increased Zone’s average conversion to 56% (from 43%)
Served as Brand Custodian of all 3 Verticals enhancing Brand Visibility & Equity with increase in satisfied customer base; Won 2016 IRF Award for excellence in radio creativity
Contributed 60% towards Fashion business in making FBB a brand thru ATL/BTL activities
Events - Promotions/ Campaigns/ Advertising & PR:
Planned, led & driven execution of internal communication initiatives, marketing, advertising & PR programs, promos, campaigns, & CSR activities to build social goodwill for the brands
- Grew sales by 136% (fashion category) & 120% (stores) YoY; generated brand loyalty
- Launched loyalty program in Zone - T24, Profit Club, SBI Style-up Card, & Payback Card
Grew ticket size & customer entry by monitoring ROI post analyzing sales and alliances with VW, Chevrolet, Tata, Honda Bikes, Mahindra, ICICI, and FMCG & Durables company
Planned, coordinated & promoted various campaigns through SMM, Email mktg.
Business Development:
Driven INR 15.53B West business with 39 Big Bazaar & Food Bazaar Hypermarkets and 6 FBB exclusive outlets (total 13.9L sqft+ retail space); launched 16 BB, 5 FBB & 2 FB
Initiated activations for the zone; doubled turnover from INR 7B in 2011 to 13.5B in 2016
Achieved zone’s 96% ABP (annual business plan) and 32% YoY growth for FY15-16
Grew & sustained customer entry in competitive market by average 8% YoY across zone
Saved INR 15M expenses by collaboration with brands for cross promotions
Directed space on hire team to generate INR 17M p.a. income for the zone
DE`ARYANS PRIVATE LIMITED Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Group Company of Doshion Veolia Water Management Sol. Ltd with INR 3.5B turnover.
Associate Vice President - Operations (Lifestyle Boutique Stores - ART ’O HEART)
Oversaw complete P&L; supervised retail vertical’s operations & marketing for 2 Boutique stores in Ahmedabad & Mumbai along with developing dealers channel across the cities
Contributed in growing business to INR 70M (from 13.6M) with 73% YoY growth in 2008-09
Contributed 15% to annual turnover by creating consumption occasions to drive extra sales
Grew 60% sales by developing channel partners and launching special product range in new territories & clusters; improved branding processes, operating standards & services
MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS & RESORTS INDIA LIMITED Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Mahindra & Mahindra Group with a (CMH) turnover of INR 5560M.
Zonal Manager - Marketing (WEST II)
Independently executed the roll-out of 7 new venues (4 in Gujarat & 3 in Rajasthan)
Contributed in growing zone business to INR 590M (from 240M) & branch revenue by 43%
Saved INR 4.5M+ for the zone with improvised vendor management
Attained market leadership at CMH by garnering 20% share from West II in 2007-08
Awarded as ‘Best Manager-Marketing’ for achieving highest revenue target of INR 12M
Tied-up with Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Securities, Yes Bank, HSBC, ABN Amro, & Ford
Having gained rich sales & marketing exposure at regional level, I joined "ADANI RETAIL ltd" a Group Company of Adani Enterprise to spearhead marketing & promotions and managed Brand’s 8 hyper, 42 super & neighbourhood stores with total >5.7 lac sqft retail space.
Here I was accountable for annual budgeting, marketing initiatives, new roll outs, strategic campaign development & execution while collating & maintaining campaign documents, vendor management (in-store signage & projects) and developing material specification guidelines to be followed across the region.
Moreover I was part of media buying & planning for the brand, advertising & events and building relationships across regional markets, and advertising & media agency along with category businesses.
Part of Core team to launch 03 home brand and ensure sustained growth :
** Fashion - ‘Fida’ formal & casual apparels in 2006 and made it INR 100M brand in a year
** FMCG & HPC - ‘Adani Advantage’, growing contribution to 35% in total sales
** White Goods - ‘INADA’ small appliance, contributing 12% of electronic sales
I managed strategic campaign development & execution towards achieving annual business plan, as a result tied up for BTL activities in association with GE Money, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Auto & Nokia to run 25 days promotional campaign “Diwali Bonanza” for Gujarat region, that generated notable revenue.
I was Recognised and accoladed by Radio Mirchi & Gujarat Disaster management cell for single handedly managing supplies of all essentials to flood Victims in 2006.
Having gained hands on sales & marketing exposure, I became a part of the Group Company of ITC Welcom Group in the capacity of Manager sales & marketing for Fortune landmark Hotel- Ahmedabad.
By Sept 2002 i was promoted and inducted to Corporate roll and was deputed to the southern region of India to manage Marketing and Sales for 4 states.
Here I led 9-member team, deputed in marketing offices of Chennai, Kochi & Bangalore to promote 7 ITC Sheraton Hotels & Towers, 7 Welcom Group, 15 Fortune Park Hotels & 37 Welcome Heritage Hotels across India with room inventory of 5500 rooms.
Over the years while managing relationships with personalised service & interactions, responding to queries and handling grievances (if any), I built a strong inclination towards customer relationships and as a result enabled the organisation achieve its target from Corporate Houses, Public Sector Units, Govt Bodies, Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Individuals and Socialites.
Besides I played a key role in scaling up the Regional Office revenue in a short span through room sales and MICE, for which my prior experience and learning at Holiday Inn played a significant role.
I started my career with Holiday Inn, (Chain of Bass Hotels & Resorts International) within Sales & Marketing function and was accountable to construct Sales & Marketing plan under the supervision of Director Sales and regularly updating the Management on process implementation for overall improvement in Sales & Banquets Department.
Besides I was responsible to maximise revenues through Room Revenue, Banquets and Restaurant sales.
Increased the company database by introducing 1200+ new companies (corporate, govt, psu's & travel agents) to the hotel.
Successfully launched and Runned Ahmedabad's the only Discotheque "SATURDAYS".
Part of core "CORPORATE CRICKET CARNIVAL" organising team and successfully organised this ever for 3 consecutive years.
Single handedly managed "24 CARATS" a bookers loyalty program for 4 years (book keeping, awarding points, redemptions and sourcing.
Throughout my tenure here I got an exposure to refine my Hospitality Sales & Marketing and service marketing skills along with people management, cross functional team management & leadership traits.
Promoted the unit and 11 hotel chains across India, Nepal & Sri Lanka.
Recipient of Best Executive of the Year Award in 1997 and Long Distance Runner Award in 1999
Lectures, Group Discussions, Assignments, Case studies, Projects and Papers.