Till now, I have interviewed marketing experts who have worked in various domains like banking, insurance, retail, etc.
Today for the first time in the Expert Speaks interview series, we have someone very senior from the Aviation industry – Mehar Sridhar, AVP – eCommerce & Digital Marketing at Jazeera Airways.
Let me give you a quick introduction of Mehar.
Who is Mehar Sridhar?
Mehar is an eCommerce & Digital Marketing Expert with 12+ years of experience in the Aviation domain. He has worked in the eCommerce/Digital team of several renowned airlines like Kingfisher Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways, Qatar Airways and GoAir.
Currently, he is leading eCommerce & Digital Marketing at Jazeera Airways, Kuwait.
He holds an MBA in Marketing from ICFAI Business School and is a SCRUM certified professional.
Mehar is an award-winning digital transformation expert who has successfully planned and executed several digital transformation projects and campaigns in his career till now.
#1. From MBA in Marketing till becoming the AVP – eCommerce & Digital Marketing at Jazeera Airways, your journey would have been fascinating. Please share in brief about your journey from your graduation till date.
Thanks Jainish.
Fascinating maybe but I see it as a natural progression of things.
I joined as a Management Trainee, post my MBA with the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines (remember?) and post my stint of trainee-ship (endured my training in far-off Bhuj too), a new department called, Online Sales (a predecessor to what is now commonly known as eCommerce), was formed and was asked to handle it.
The management thought it made sense, given my education. It was tough in the beginning as there were few companies to look up to and the tools were rudimentary too.
I was, however, greatly helped by my reporting manager who was patient and understanding with my mistakes (a great lesson for all would-be managers out there). In time, the revenue grew and so did my experience.
However, the airline floundered, and like everyone else, I moved on trying to find my next
whilst ensuring my fundamentals remained strong. In hindsight, this really helped.
Another lesson, I learned then was to never waste a ‘good’ crisis. It brings out the steel in you.
I soldiered on to my next assignment ( won’t go into a detailed career journey but would request you to visit my LinkedIn profile ) but was looking forward to my true calling, as I called it then and still do so: All Things Digital (ATD).
I was generally considered proficient in Digital Marketing (having learned it through a combination of trial and error and instinct) but what I was truly looking for was an understanding of the Product.
Note, the upper casing of ‘P’. This is intentional. The stronger it is the faster will be a company’s growth/revenue trajectory.
Simple isn’t it?
However, many get it wrong. Reasons are many and I won’t go into details here but suffice to say time spent on tinkering with it (product) is time well spent and will only ensure a healthy bottom line thereafter.
I joined Go Airlines (low-cost carrier of India) as their Head of eCommerce and during the tumultuous years spent there ensured many ‘digital’ initiatives went live. This included the launch of a new website and mobile application, go-live of a new SME platform, and other customer-friendly features all designed to ensure a steady inflow of revenue.
Having ensured that both revenue and product were on an auto-pilot mode, I then decided to take up an offer from Jazeera Airways (a Kuwait-based airline) that was on an inflection point w.r.t its growth.
#2. Mehar, in the last 12+ years of experience in the Aviation Industry and that too in the eCommerce department, you would have closely seen the shift from offline to online and even website to mobile. Would you like to share your observations on this?
Frankly, the shift to ‘direct’ revenue as it is called in airline parlance i.e. revenue derived from an airline’s website and mobile, has been a close parallel to what’s happening in eCommerce worldwide and India-wide.
No particular exceptions barring a few. W.r.t India, the development of eCommerce and explosive internet penetration has seen bookings shift from traditional brick-and-mortar travel agencies to do-it-yourself websites and mobile.
In fact, I was able to shift a major chunk of ‘offline’ business to direct ‘online’ bookings during my stint with Qatar Airways (a whopping increase of 140%) and this was due to persistent and consistent communication with the digitally-savvy and literate audience.
Now, with the pandemic unfolding around us, the move to ‘digitization’ will only accelerate as the digital-laggards will expedite their efforts to get on the bandwagon.
There will also be a greater focus on building a good product and it’s ensuing enhancements. Quality will take precedence. This is only natural.
As I said earlier: never waste a ‘good’ crisis, with all due respect to the apocalyptic situation that had unfolded around us since March.
#3. Online Travel Portals are widely used. Being a part of the eCommerce department, you would be having targets to bring traffic and generate revenue through an airline’s website/app. What were a few challenges you faced doing so and how did you overcome them?
The primary business of an airline is to fly its aircraft and transport paying passengers to their destination. Everything else becomes secondary after the initial infrastructure is set up.
We have to keep our support costs to a minimum and this translates to leaner teams and thus green-lighting digital projects with a long-term focus becomes difficult.
This is not the case with Online Travel Portals / Agencies (OTPs or OTAs) who invest in their product and as a consequence bring onboard specialists. There is thus a faster go-to-market as this very investment in product powers their revenue.
They tend to be larger than airline’s websites and mobile apps in terms of traffic and conversions. There are some obvious successes in the Indian market and they are well documented too.
To counter this, we open up certain products and services like Web check-in to the direct website traffic only and communicate the same. Also, we depend on the overall brand proposition to bring in the traffic and also aggressively tie-up with travel search engines (TSEs) to expand the reach of the Website and Mobile App.
Yes, it isn’t an easy battle but no battle has been easy 🙂
#4. Mehar, when we are talking about challenges faced at work, we cannot ignore the challenges that you would have faced as an individual during this fabulous journey. Top 3 challenges that you have faced till now in life?
Life will always throw challenges across your way. That’s the beauty, isn’t it? What one does with it is what defines you. I have faced quite a few but have steadfastly refused to be cowed down by them.
Going back to when Kingfisher Airlines decided to shut down and I was without a job and then onwards to accepting an unheard-of challenge to shift a significant chunk of offline sales to direct revenue in Qatar Airways and finally going live with a brand new website and mobile app in both GoAir and Jazeera Airways; all of these were challenges that I faced.
As I keep saying and relentlessly repeating: Invest in your fundamentals and you’ll never be found wanting.
#5. What is the future of digital marketing in the Aviation industry?
Simply put, digital marketing as I see it, will morph itself from its current stand-alone entity and demand a greater integration with the tools it operates from. This will be the norm in the industry and not just aviation, which is a mere parallel of the outside world.
And of course, this means there will be a demand for T-shaped marketers and not just solo-specialists.
I keep repeating, ad nauseam, digital and eCommerce are no different within aviation. They
are industry agnostic and the basic principles remain the same. End of the day, it is catering to a customer who wants to travel.
Just remember, you have to induce the ‘need’ to travel and not just ‘cater’ to his/her need to book or commit to a purchase. Therein lies the trick!
#6. Tweaking the previous question, a bit, what is the scope of digital marketing in Kuwait?
Huge. The market is at an inflection point. The customer and more so, the general populace
is digitally savvy which makes the job that much easier for us.
As long as you ensure you are riding the wave and not getting caught by it, you will do just
fine 🙂
#7. If given a chance to go back in life and select a different career route in life, what will be it? And why?
I have always been fond of teaching and if given a second chance, then I would invest time in this academically i.e. and get down to it. The task of shaping a student’s mind is onerous and being an accomplished one is even more satisfying.
#8. At this moment, if you have to make a switch from Aviation to some other industry, in digital marketing itself; which industry will you select?
As stated previously, Digital Marketing and Ecommerce professionals are usually industry agnostic and makes it easy for us to shift our allegiance to other industries than the originally chosen one. Of course, it is another matter that HR teams aren’t easily convinced 🙂
I have no particular industry that has been a fascination, however generic eCommerce and
the role of visionaries such as Amazon had always piqued my interest. I have a tremendous
regard for anyone who invests in their product and use it to ‘create’ waves and then ride
them, metaphorically speaking.
#9. Top 3 digital marketing tools that every young marketer should master
a. Pick any CRM tool (Clevertap, Webengage etc.) that is common-place these days and
spend time on their documentation.
b. Do spend time on digital analytics (Omniture or Analytics 360) and preferably get
certified.
c. Lastly, will strongly suggest investing in project management and web programming.
These will give a digital marketer that extra edge.
#10. What do you do in your free time?
I catch up on my reading. I read anything that catches my fancy.
TV shows of the 70s and 80s are a particular weakness and of course, I like to run.
#11. Considering there are a lot of fake digital marketing trainers and courses on the internet at this moment, what would be your suggestions to the people who wish to learn digital marketing?
None of these so-called courses and certifications matter. Get certified in the ones provided by those that are considered a bedrock of the industry i.e. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, etc.
Remember, there is a reason why 90% of the digital tools out there belong to the names mentioned above.
Investing time and effort in learning them equips you and the preparatory material is also easily accessible.
#12. On a lighter note, if Mehar Sridhar is given an opportunity to hire a new person for his team, will he hire Jainish Shah? I won’t mind if you appreciate me here (Healthy feedbacks/criticisms would also be happily accepted)
Sure, why not?
I admire the tenacity which you have displayed in ample measure. Aptitude can always be taught or self-taught but attitude is everything.
#13. Lastly, would you like to nominate someone for Expert Speaks interview?
Quite a few but one that comes readily to my mind is Pravin Laghaate. He was my first reporting manager and have always looked up to him as a part-mentor. Go ahead, approach him…
Thank you so much Mehar 🙂 I will surely reach out to Pravin.
Conclusion
I hope that you guys enjoyed & learned from the interview. If you know any other expert who has worked in sales, marketing, customer experience, or digital transformation projects then please do let me know.
Thank you for reading.
In case, you have any suggestions/feedback for the blog, please feel free to reach out.
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