This is the 7th Expert Speaks interview and 3rd women interview in a row. If you are visiting my blog for the first time, let me take this opportunity to introduce you to #ExpertSpeaks. I started this section to interview people and share their journeys. The goal is to share journeys of as many industry leaders as possible to inspire and help young digital marketing, marketing, and sales aspirants. I got this wonderful opportunity to interview Rubeena Singh. Let me tell you a few things about her before we start the interview.
Who is Rubeena Singh?
Rubeena Singh is the CEO of iProspect India. She has around 20 years of industry experience & expertise in digital, print and broadcast. Under her leadership, digital marketing agency iProspect India has grown rapidly & now serves 100+ clients.
Rubeena has been named as one of the ‘Top 50 Influential Women’ in the Media and Entertainment industry in India by the Impact magazine. She has also won several individual awards by ACEF, Social Samosa and Inkspell in 2019.
She has worked with brands like Money Control, Star TV India, Network18, etc.
Expert Speaks – Interview with Rubeena Singh
#1. You have done an MA in Statistics. How much has your education helped you in your career?
Digital marketing involves a lot of analytics and data science. These are the disciplines built on the foundation of statistics. My educational background is quite co-related to what I do.
#2. You started your career from “Star India Pvt. Ltd.” and have worked in several renowned organizations. What was your role in Star India and how has it helped you grow?
I was with Star India for four years and learnt a lot during that time. I was part of the media sales team and rose quickly through the ranks. Sales is very cruel and dispassionate. There is no room to hide – either you do your numbers or don’t.
Influencing people and getting them to trust in you and simultaneously have a sharp focus on numbers is an extremely important part of a CEO’s job. I think I was very fortunate to have picked up some of the skills from some of the finest mentors at the very beginning of my career.
#3. In your journey of almost 20 years, you would have achieved a lot of things. But, What are the 3 key accomplishments in your journey?
The 3 things I’m proud of are:
The move from traditional media to a category-leading digital business – Moneycontrol – was definitely a high. I consider my stint at Moneycontrol as an accomplishment because I was able to completely revamp the product. The new mobile app won the best financial app at the Mobile World Congress. I am also proud that when I left the business, it was stronger and larger.
At iProspect, the launch of Intelligent Content and Martech (Solution Labs). Both the divisions have helped the agency provide tech-enabled data-driven marketing solutions to our clients and helped them stay ahead of the curve.
Women@iProspect and Female Foundry are two initiatives which are very close to my heart. We launched them in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The objective of these programs is to support and mentor women to take up leadership roles and become leaders of tomorrow. I am glad that both these initiatives have been very successful in the first year itself.
#4. What were the biggest challenges you faced in your career and how did you overcome those challenges?
I consider myself very fortunate to have had a career that has allowed me to do different things and constantly reinvent myself. This, though, has come with its own set of challenges.
When one steps into a leadership role in a new kind of business extra effort, time and commitment are required to bring one up to speed. The initial months are always more challenging. This is however not insurmountable.
Hard work, proper application of mind and a bit of imagination can work wonders.
#5. According to you, what will be the impact of digital marketing on businesses in the future?
More and more consumers are moving online and discovering & experiencing brands on digital. This is why digital marketing is growing at a very fast pace. Digital marketing is a two-way street as it gives consumers the ability to interact with brands.
Today, consumers demand personalised experience. Personalised experiences which can have a deep impact on businesses technology budget. Businesses in the future will need to be agile and nimble to handle the opportunities emanating from this evolution.
Businesses of the future will need to pay more attention to their digital assets and how they staff the various functions. As marketing becomes more digital, technology and marketing functions could begin to converge.
#6. Do you think technology like Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT will replace humans in the organization?
In my view, these technologies will add a lot of efficiencies and streamline human resource allocation more so in the case of routine repeat tasks which are increasingly being done far more efficiently by using technology. Organisations will have to allocate human resources towards increasingly more complex tasks that require judgement and estimates HR departments will need to focus on upskilling human resources to manage this transition properly.
At iProspect, we have already begun this journey having automated are reporting and alert systems using proprietary tools iAnalyse and iProspect Voice Assistant. We are also focusing on upskilling our teams under the iLead program.
#7. The world is witnessing “Voice search revolution”. Voice is slowly replacing text searches and content marketers are emphasizing more on voice content. Recently, iProspect India launched iProspect Voice Assist to provide tech-enabled marketing solutions to its clients. What is your experience till now? Are your clients loving it?
The 3 Vs are the future – Voice, Vernacular and Video.
We launched iProspect Voice assist (iVA) to help our clients and to provide them with voice-enabled solutions.
While it is still early days, the initial feedback from the clients has been very positive. We will continue to add more functionalities to this technology.
India is a very large market where the bulk of the consumers speak in different languages and have varied literacy levels. Voice marketing has a long way to go and should provide the early movers with an edge to their marketing efforts.
#8. In 2019, there are 33 women CEO who made to Fortune 500. I know I am interviewing a person who is going to be on that list soon. I hope you remember this interviewer then. What is Female Foundry all about and what is your role in it?
Female Foundry is our global initiative which was launched in India after its successful run in Singapore. The programme was launched to educate and mentor female-founded start-ups that leverage technology to promote economic sustainability. By providing access to tools, training, connections and resources, the programme aims to empower female entrepreneurs to thrive in the digital economy. The month of November saw the first boot camp being held in Mumbai which saw 12 entrepreneurs from across the country being mentored by six best minds in the start-up industry.
iProspect has women leaders across its offices globally and in India too we have launched programmes to help women reach their leadership potential. For instance, Women@iProspect, launched in 2018, caters to junior and mid-level women who can become a leader. It also promotes gender equality, diversity and safety.
#9. It is said that “Behind every successful man there is a woman.” But, if I ask you to rewrite it for yourself, what would it be? Who is behind the success of Rubeena Singh?
No one can achieve anything on one’s effort alone all success is the result of a team effort just as behind the success of every single man there is a woman it is also true in the case of most if not all successful women. In my case, I am fortunate enough to have a very supportive and cooperative husband who always encourages me to spread my wings. We are a team and yes, I have no hesitation in saying that he is has been an important part of my success.
#10. You established the content marketing vertical at moneycontrol.com and were awarded as “Content Marketer of the Year” by DMAI. How was the experience? What would be your 3 tips to young content marketing enthusiasts?
I believe content marketing can help brands take control of the conversation by leveraging consumer intent to create content experiences that drive audience engagement and commercial success. To do this
Know your audience
Use search data at the forefront of user intent. This can be combined with proprietary data, social media data, third-party data and competitive analysis.
Create content that is engaging and relevant
With almost everyone being a content creator today, to standout one needs to create interesting content consistently as well as be relevant to your core audience. Focus on creating data-infused creatives for rich personalised experiences made for real people.
Brands need to be agile in production of content can be of any kind of scale – from quick and effective copywriting to video, commerce-driven product description or publisher-quality printed editorial. One needs to create content that’s right for a brands’ audiences, right for publishers, and optimized for platforms.
Measurement
Take a different approach to content marketing. A traditional marketing campaign is a project – the success/efficiency of which is measured once it is complete.
But content marketing done successfully is a fundamentally different model. It may support short-term metrics of campaign-based marketing and advertising, but it is measured against a longer-term investment model as an asset to the business. Having said that, rigorous tagging, analytics setup, social listening and attribution modelling to build custom content analytics, can prove the real returns of our content.
#11. What is your passion outside work? What you enjoy doing in leisure time?
I have a passion for fashion and greatly enjoy shopping for myself and my family.
I am working towards building out my own fashion blog and hopefully in 2020 will be able to publish the same. My best use of leisure time is being with my family, spending time with my daughter be it at home or on a getaway.
#12. What would Rubeena Singh advice to digital marketing enthusiasts?
The “digital” in digital marketing is the means to an end. By “digital” I mean all technology-driven enablers/devices, connectivity, formats etc working in-sync to deliver effective measurable marketing communications and results. This can be done most effectively by keeping the customer at the centre. It’s easy to get bogged down by the technology, the metrics and the analysis. But what is important is to understand consumer behaviour and plan to keep the consumer at the centre.
My advice to digital marketing enthusiasts is not to miss the forest for the trees. By that I mean, while obsessing over the funky technology, always remember to keep the customer at the centre.
Consumers are beginning to exhibit omnichannel behaviour. They will consume information across traditional and digital media and also purchase online or offline. We need to appreciate the huge assist value of digital marketing which is quite often complex and not immediately measurable.
#13 What are your favourite digital marketing case studies?
The way our integrated approach has evolved is that we put the consumer at the centre while using data and technology to activate and stitch together different media experiences.
A great example to illustrate this approach is what we did for Hilton hotels. Whenever flight cancellations increase, our proprietary ad scripts increase ad exposure whenever people search for hotels near the airport and other terms leading to conversions. Our social listening tools are also actively listening in to our users who are posting on social media.
In one such instance, a customer who missed the flight posted about missing grill night with his friends so we informed the hotel staff. They arranged for a grilled burger waiting for the customer in his suite even before he arrived for check-in with a customized message.
The user was so delighted/moved by this personal gesture that he posted his experience on social media generating goodwill for the brand and bringing the experience full circle. Overall, our campaigns generated great incremental results.
#14. Would you like to share a few words about the idea behind this series of #ExpertSpeaks interviews on this blog?
I have always believed that knowledge and experience gain manyfold when shared with others. Expert speaks is a great platform and I think I am walking down a well-trodden path after news by industry leaders to share their views and experiences. I have gained a lot from listening to and reading about the experiences of other industry leaders. And I am happy to contribute my bit.
#15. Last one, What is Rubeena Singh? How would you describe yourself in one word?
Indefatigable
Conclusion
This was one of the lengthiest #ExpertSpeaks interview. Thank you, Rubeena Singh, for your honest, insightful and inspiring answers.
Amazing Readers, Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this interview.
You can follow Rubeena Singh on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubeena-singh-3631988/
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Happy Learning!
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