After interviewing several marketing experts, today I have a special expert Saurabh Bajaj from Britannia Industries. Having grown up using Britannia’s products, I feel fortunate to interview a person heading Britannia’s dairy portfolio.
Before beginning the expert speaks interview with Saurabh Bajaj, let me introduce him for you all.
Who is Saurabh Bajaj?
Saurabh Bajaj is the Marketing Head – Dairy at Britannia. He has 17+ years of experience in Business Development, Sales, Marketing & Innovation and has worked with renowned brands like Britannia Industries, USL – Diageo, Mondelez (Cadbury) & Wipro Consumer Care.
From being a Civil Engineer graduate from Delhi College of Engineering who enjoyed pure sciences & research, Saurabh went on to become proud alumni of IIM Indore to pursue a career in Marketing in FMCG.
He has also recently been recognized as a Marketing Marvel by White Page International as the Best 50 Marketers.
Expert Speaks Interview with Saurabh Bajaj, Marketing Expert
#1. Please tell us something about your current role at Britannia
I am currently managing Marketing for Britannia’s Dairy portfolio that includes the diverse categories of Cheese, Milkshakes, Lassi, Yogurt, Ghee, Dairy Whitener, Butter & UHT Milk.
I am supported by a team of 3 Brand managers who help me manage advertising, activation, promotions but also the funnel development for breakthrough innovation.
#2. You did civil engineering and immediately after it you did an MBA in Marketing. What made you go for an MBA and not doing a job as a civil engineer?
In an ideal world, I would probably be doing research in Physics and even got a 97 in the subject in my 12 boards. However, I ended up joining engineering in one of India’s most prestigious engineering colleges.
Only after joining DCE, I realized that there is a huge difference between pure sciences and applied sciences. And applied sciences are not likely to help me quench my thirst for creativity & new ideas.
I was lucky to meet some interesting people in a train ride from Mumbai to Delhi in the 4rd year of my engineering that helped me discover Marketing, a stream that again allowed me to explore a wide range of interesting questions and the creativity to create new campaigns and categories.
#3. You started your career in sales and now you are heading marketing for a brand like Britannia. How did you transitioned?
I personally believe, that for an individual to be successful as a Marketer, one must first learn how to deliver numbers. Only an understanding of how the business really works and how products move off shelves can a person really be in a position to influence the same.
Most marketers begin that career in Sales and then comes the natural processes of delivering performance and demonstration of your potential. One must do both to successfully transition to a role in Head Office.
The fact is that you need to show passion for performance to get notice and to prove that you have the mettle needed to succeed. And then hand in hand with that, you need to show that you are willing to think broader and attack your marketer from a longer-term lens.
As you do that, you get noticed by senior management and that paves the path to be considered for more complex role in head office and they may be Brand Management, Customer Marketing or Trade Marketing. After that it’s a question of demonstrating your passion and having the right opportunities opening up.
#4. Is an MBA needed to excel in sales and marketing?
Definitely Yes!
It’s important to understand that sales and marketing as functions are as old as civilization itself however, one learns the basics and starts demonstrating the right ways of working very late if he or she only relies on her own experience. While an MBA equips you with the right theoretical knowledge to start applying those skills early.
Secondly, we must be conscious of the fact that we are living in a country like India where a population of 1.3 billion people ensures intense competition in every sphere of your life. In such an arena the better person can only win if he or she leverages every tool at her disposal and an MBA is a great tool to grow as a person & professional!
#5. What would you advise to the professionals who are currently stuck in some other role but want to make a career in marketing?
I would recommend that you first make a really long-term plan for yourself. Say a plan that is 10-15 years in its duration. Only such a plan made with diligence and true soul searching can help you understand what your own priorities are and what is it that you are really chasing!
A career in marketing is not a short-term decision, it’s a long-term commitment that requires a lot of effort to work towards and decisions such as this have to be made with the long term in mind.
#6. What are the top 3 skills that every young Indian must learn?
When I started my career with Cadbury, the HR head then taught me that there are only 3 leadership imperatives that a professional learns to hone and polish through one’s career. These are Judgement, Influence & Drive.
As you start your career, in the first 5 years, you essentially succeed through ‘Drive’, which is the passion for performance and the thirst for results. It’s the skill where you learn to break every barrier between yourself and success.
The second is ‘Influence’, which kicks in once you enter a Head office role and understand that not everything can be done yourself and you are a part of a broader ecosystem. It’s your job to influence your juniors, your peers & your superiors to get work done.
And finally is ‘Judgement’ that essentially becomes prominent as you start growing into leadership roles where you need to give direction to your teams and your organization by taking calls on areas which are fuzzy and require you to sense the right answer rather than actually knowing what the right thing to do is.
It’s the combination of these 3 skills that make a sound professional.
#7. What was the biggest challenge you faced in your professional career? How did you over it?
The biggest challenge that I faced in my professional career was the situation that I found myself in as a Brand Sales Manager at Mondelez in 2015. It was a time when I was really not enjoying working in a company which had seen a very drastic shift in culture.
I couldn’t empathise with the zero-base budgeting mind-set which was impacting inter personal relationships and I felt that my values were in conflict with the mid-set which was being propagated then.
Hence I decided to part ways with the organization and joined Diageo where my immediate boss & my managing director had moved to. I also moved back from Sales into an Innovation mandate that I thoroughly enjoyed.
However, while I made the change then after a couple of years I missed working in the consumer food space and I move again to Britannia about 3.5 years back and am happy to be spearheading a mandate in consumer products again.
#8. How is the marketing landscape evolving especially now when COVID has stopped the world from going out?
The marketing landscape is seeing a number of exciting trends that are important for marketers and manufacturers to embrace:
1. The rise of Digital as a medium of engagement that’s becoming ever popular especially since A listers from Bollywood have embraced the role of influencers to craft some very exciting campaigns.
2. Grown of E-commerce as the only shopping medium that makes the consumer feel safe. Coupled with the rise of Digital wallets, this is transforming buying behavior.
3. Emergence of New media like Spotify, Gaana, Podcasts and Moment marketing as a buzzword that is forcing digital agencies & clients alike to build new muscles.
4. Hyperlocal services like FoodyBuddy and Pop up stores in Societies which are new ways of impacting consumer and shopping behaviour inside societies where the consumer is feeling safe.
5. Growth of OTT & Online Learnings as new behaviours for us to wait & watch as these could be crucial in the next round of breakthrough campaigns.
#9. As you are a Marketing Strategy expert, give us 3 actionable tips that can help in creating an awesome marketing campaign
In order to create an awesome marketing strategy, one would need to stick to the fundamentals which are:
1. Get crystal clarity on the marketing task and what exactly are you planning to achieve. How will you get there and what are the exact measures that you are looking to shift.
2. Next get as many diverse people into the room as possible, including your Creative agency, Media Agency, PR Team, Digital Agency, Customer Marketing Team, etc to ensure you build a seamless 360 campaign.
3. Look for new partners that can help you co-create your content so you deliver something that truly fresh and innovative. Here new media agencies, new service providers, niche digital agencies could come in handy so you are not repeating all that has already been done.
#10. You are already at a level where millions of professionals want to be. One message to those young professionals who want to reach the level where you already are.
So many of us in college are perfectly comfortable solving case study competition for hypothetical brands. However, we often do realize that we are also a Brand to be marketed. Every Brand needs deep thinking and a strategy. You need to create the same for yourself.
My advice is not to let your career decisions be ever driven by short terms goals like a better position or a higher salary, rather be guided by who you want to be 10-15 years down the line.
This needs introspection. So take out time for yourself and introspect on the person or professional that you wish to become. Only that can give you pristine clarity on what you need to do today to achieve your dreams!
Conclusion
Thank you so much Saurabh for your time and wonderful insights.
Dear readers, if you have any further questions for Saurabh Bajaj you can comment them below or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Hope you enjoyed this interview. Please do share it on your social media.
Thank you!
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