Strategy plays a very crucial role in every walk of life and especially when you are dealing with your client’s budget, its importance increases manyfold times. A good strategist is the one who thinks of long term results and strategizes things accordingly. Today, I got this opportunity to interview one of the best minds in the industry – Amyn Ghadiali.
Who is Amyn Ghadiali?
Amyn Ghadiali is a BMM graduate from Usha Pravin Gandhi College of Management. Post his graduation, he has worked in several digital marketing agencies.
Along with his work, he has also completed part-time PGDM (Marketing) from Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai. This illustrates his zeal to learn and keep himself updated.
Amyn Ghadiali was chosen as one of the Most influential Digital Professionals by CMO Asia & winner of the Top 30 Under 30 by Social Samosa. He is currently working as Vice President – Business and Strategy in one of the finest digital marketing agency – Gozoop.
Let us hear from inspirational Amyn Ghadiali.
Expert Speaks Interview with Amyn Ghadiali
#1. Firstly, welcome to Expert Speaks. It is great esteem to hear from you. Starting from an executive to Vice President – Business and Strategy at Gozoop – the journey would be inspiring. Please let us know about your journey in brief.
Thank you for having me as a part of Expert Speaks. My journey so far has been an exciting, enriching and extremely fast-paced one.
I started my journey with a 3-month internship at Appco India, a marketing and sales firm that specializes in BTL activities. Post this, I moved towards Public Relations and Brand Solutions, where I worked with brands like 109 F, Videocon Mobile Phones, Videocon D2H and Provogue amongst others.
From here on, I segued into Social Media, which eventually blossomed into a full-fledged Digital Marketing career, culminating in integrated mainline campaigns. Some of the brands I have worked with are Star Plus, Mumbai Police, Star Bharat, Star Gold, Viacom18, HRX, Pizza Express, KKR, Dell India, Mumbai Indians, Mahindra Lifespaces, Hypercity, EVC, Ace Blend and many more.
Currently, I am working as the VP – Business and Strategy at Gozoop, helping build brands for the future!
#2. How is digital marketing helping in brand communication?
I believe that digital has become an extremely integral part of marketing as the customer journey has become omnichannel at the moment. Today, the medium is evolving, as it is experienced, and the user journey is non-linear, enabling brands to receive customer feedback in real-time.
This has heightened the position of digital by facilitating brands to constantly interact, innovate and improve their communication, making it vital for brands to be present in the consumer’s moment of truth.
#3. Do you think social media will replace traditional marketing methods?
This actually depends on the brand that we are talking about. If the brand is a purely digital brand and its customers are present on the digital medium, the journey is digital. I don’t see why such a brand should opt for traditional mediums and burn money when it can achieve better results by staying online.
Saying that, I believe that social media is not competing but is, in fact, complementing traditional mediums. The trick is to leverage every medium to your advantage to create maximum impact.
#4. You have worked with various organizations. What are your key learnings till now?
There are 3 things I have learned over the course of my career:
- You are nothing without your team. I am what I am because of the people around me. Without them, I am no one.
- If you are honest to your work, it will work.
- Being relevant is more important than being right. What I mean is that experience makes you a little rigid and might close you off to seeking opportunities that might work wonders for your brand. However, if you are constantly upgrading and seeking newer ways of doing things, it will keep you receptive towards a new perspective. This will ensure you’re always relevant, which is vital in a fast-paced and ever-evolving industry like ours.
#5. You are the winner of Top 30 Under 30 by Social Samosa and chosen as one of the Most Influential Digital Professionals by CMO Asia, how does it feel to get such recognition?
I achieved both these awards in the year 2016 for the overall work and the campaigns executed by my team and me.
Some of the most notable work was done on the Mumbai Police Twitter handle where we humanized the police online and changed public perception about them, resulting in an image of the Mumbai Police as an informed, cool and alert force.
We also came up with the concept of World Donut Day for Mad Over Donuts in India. Apart from this, we have won accolades for campaigns like Thank you Sachin, Salute the Legend, India’s Raw Star Girl Rising amongst others.
#6. According to you, what are the digital marketing trends which one cannot ignore in 2020?
Trends can come and go but I believe the need of the hour is for marketers to be able to think brand-first. This is a trend that is totally missing because more and more people are looking at platforms in isolation, because of which they are missing out on incredible opportunities to connect and engage with consumers.
For example, a digital guy will think platform first while a mainline guy will think about human insight. However, what is stopping us from marrying the two? I think that’s something marketers should think about so that we can take our brands to new heights.
#7. What are the best skills which one must learn in order to excel in digital marketing?
In order to excel in digital marketing, it is important to have age-old skills like patience and integrity.
Patience will help you deal with the highly evolving nature of the industry while integrity will ensure you remain true to the brand and to yourself. It is also important to be curious about new developments, which will ensure you don’t get stuck in a rigid mindset.
Another thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that you have to be willing to fail in such an ever-evolving field, as you will never know what will work and what won’t.
#8. What are the major challenges you faced in your professional career? How did you overcome them?
What some might see as challenges, I see as opportunities. Every time I have faced something daunting, I have tackled it head-on and have managed to survive. This could be because of the skills I have gained and fine-tuned over the years or because of my constant hunger for learning.
My advice to you is to always see anything that comes your way as an opportunity to learn, instead of giving it a negative connotation of ‘challenge’. It’ll truly change your perspective on life.
#9. Which digital marketing channels among SEO, SEM, SMM, etc. do you think have a major impact on consumers?
For this, I would like to ask you a question in return: Which is the channel that you think you can ignore? If you say none, then you have your answer.
I believe that in the digital ecosystem, everything feeds off one another as every channel is equally important. However, if your brand can do without a certain channel, you need to make the decision to let go off that channel and focus your energy on other channels.
#10. Digital marketing for B2B vs Digital marketing for B2C – Can you throw some light on this?
One key thing marketers need to keep in mind is that digital marketing for B2B and B2C are two diametrically opposite things. When it comes to B2B marketing, the entire communication is ROI driven, because of which a lot of emphasis is placed on the quality of the technology and the content that is going out.
On the other hand, B2C marketing is all about creativity, to create brand salience and brand recall in the market, which eventually results in ROI. As marketers, we need to always keep the target audience in mind and craft our communication accordingly.
#11. Any of your favorite marketing case studies you would like to share?
One of my absolute favorite marketing campaigns was the one executed by Female Company, a German start-up which came out with a Tampon Book, with 15 tampons inside its covers. This book was their way of protesting against the 19% tax on tampons, which were considered to be a luxury good in Germany, as opposed to the 7% tax on books.
Another classic is the open letter that Burger King addressed to McDonald’s in a full-page newspaper ad to collaborate on the occasion of World Peace Day. Although McDonald’s did not accept the offer to create the McWhopper, it was Burger King that walked away with the crown that day.
#12. What you enjoy doing in your leisure time? This should be outside your work.
I love playing video games, watching movies, going out with friends and listening to music. My mind is always buzzing with something or the other, so in my leisure time I do write a lot of it down, sometimes I even end up writing poetry.
I have a strange obsession of following the business of cinema and exploring every new theatre format that comes up as well.
#13. What will be your advice to young digital enthusiasts who have already or willing to start a career in digital marketing?
The main advice I have for the youth is to stop joining the world of digital marketing just because it is a buzz word. Today, the world of digital marketing is witnessing an engineering like phenomenon wherein people are solely joining the industry because it seems cool, trendy or ‘in’.
They join the industry, realize it’s not for them and then move onto other things. Instead, they should stop and evaluate if they are actually interested in advertising and marketing and then become a part of this world.
#14. Would you like to nominate some experts from the digital marketing fraternity for #ExpertSpeaks?
Puneet Tandon and Chirag Joshi will be good. Will connect you with them
Conclusion
Thank you Amyn Ghadiali for the insightful answers.
Dear Readers, thank you for reading the entire interview. Hope, Amyn’s answers help you in your life and career.
If you have any further questions for Amyn Ghadiali, you can write down the questions in the comments section.
Also, do not forget to follow him on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/amyn-ghadiali-aa091a29
Happy Reading!
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂