Sr. Executive
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA)
Total years of experience :17 years, 4 Months
At present, I am heading the Communications, PR and Digital Marketing Dept. of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, or IIMA - the top Business School in India and one of the best in the world in Management Education. Recently, the institute opened up to foreign students; and my responsibility included bringing in changes to the institute and the brand to position it globally including setting up the Communications & PR division. The job included:
1. Setting up and heading the Communications department
2. Head Public Relations & Media Relations for the institute
3. Restructuring the complete digital presence of the organization to position IIMA as a global brand in the web domain.
4. Initiate Social Media with targeted engagement of external stakeholders
5. Bring in Brand Consistency and develop marketing collaterals
6. Strategic planning to get meritorious students from 16 locations globally.
Responsibilities:
1) Set up MARCOM department
2) Design and drive the team to deliver marketing collaterals within strict deadlines
3) Drive social media strategy and update web presence to effectively engage target group
4) Drive and execute mobile marketing strategy, including launching mobile applications
5) Develop and lead marketing campaigns for product launches
Actions:
1) Set up marketing communications department and initiated social media channels
2) Made Marcom dept. the SPOC for any collateral required for marketing - including taking briefs and developing the collateral.
3) Completed SEO of web presence as per the latest PANDA structure followed by Google
4) Initiate and launch KTrack - a mobile app. for investors of mutual funds on Android, Blackberry and iOS platform
5) Brought in brand consistency among operations and geographical locations
6) Bring in tactical changes in terms of client engagement in the Mutual Fund Business (investors, distributors and AMCs)
7) Launched Fundswatch, Fundsight and Finnet 360 - three products targeted at the mutual fund segment
Turnaround:
The company now has a strong web presence with constant customer interactions through website and social media
The app. I launched - Ktrack - is now the primary tool used in the industry for tracking mutual fund transactions
2) The Marcom dept. is now the one and only source for all information and marketing-related activity.
Icfai University Group is the largest private educational institute in India having 11 Universities and 8 Business Schools. Here is a brief of my contribution to this organisation:
Responsibilities:
1) Crisis Management
3) Develop Corporate Communications division
4) Media link development and coordination & Student engagement
Actions:
Took several marketing initiatives to spike up student intake - including initiating social media presence
2) Developed blueprints for PR exercises across India for media engagement
3) Initiated and executed several events at Universities to consolidate brand value
4) Initiated SEO and a complaints rectification process to address each and every grievance of students
5) Developed and strengthened the marketing base of Icfai Group in Dehradun (for Icfai University Dehradun), Delhi (for IBS Gurgaon),
Kolkata (for IBS Kolkata) and Agartala (Icfai University Tripura) for a consistent national brand presence
Turnaround:
1) My team executed positive media coverage across India, which was valued at 4.5 crores the starting year
3) Brought down students complaints from 1500+ in social media to single digits
3) Previously IBS (Icfai Business School) used to appear in the second page of Google search. Now it is the first hit on Google
Responsibilities:
1) Business Development
2) Client Engagement & lifecycle management
Actions:
1) Designed strategy for customer acquisition and created sustainable client engagement models
2) Conceptualized Brand vision and developed the brand identity and value in the target marketplace
3) Crafted the direction for the company with other stakeholders
Turnaround:
1) Established brand value and in the first year, Sloka’s PAT was close to INR 45 lakhs
3) Despite recession, expanded the topline from 45 lakhs to 65 lakhs
3) Opened up branches in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a year
Responsibilities:
1) To lead Business News team and bring out the Business section of the newspaper
2) To consolidate Business section by developing a team dedicated only to Business News
Actions:
1) Analyzed to develop a system that functions and runs on its own
2) Developed a system with milestones to drive team faster in completion of business section
3) Developed and led an 8-member team across India dedicated for the Business section
Turnaround:
1) Within a span of six months, reduced the turnaround time for completion of Business pages from 8 hours to 5 hours
2) The change from 8 hours to 5 hours resulted in significant growth in terms of revenue, circulation and reach
2006: Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Manorama School of Communication, Kottayam; Ranked second. Received 'Best Reporter Award'.
2005: Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Burdwan University