As the Marketing Leader for the Wood Art Business Unit at Nippon Paint Global AR, I am responsible for driving the strategic growth and development of our premium wood coatings brand. With a deep understanding of the wood finishing market and a passion for innovation, I lead a team of talented marketing professionals to deliver exceptional results.Key Responsibilities: * Brand Strategy and Positioning: Develop and execute comprehensive brand strategies that align with the overall business objectives and resonate with our target audience. * Product Development: Oversee the development of new and innovative wood coatings products that meet evolving market needs and enhance our brand's value proposition. * Market Research: Conduct in-depth market research to identify emerging trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes. * Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy: Develop and implement effective GTM strategies to launch new products, expand market share, and drive sales growth. * Marketing Communications: Manage all aspects of marketing communications, including advertising, public relations, digital marketing, and sales promotions. * Mergers and Acquisitions: Identify potential M&A opportunities to strengthen our market position and accelerate growth. * Team Leadership: Develop, lead and mentor a high-performing marketing team to achieve organizational goals and foster a culture of innovation and excellence.

Develop and lead the execution of innovative marketing strategies aligned with Shyam Steel's business objectives.Strategising for companies vertical & horizontal expansion.Oversee the creation and implementation of integrated marketing campaigns across various channels to reach target audiences effectively.Analyze market trends and competitor activities to identify opportunities for differentiation and market positioning.Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure marketing initiatives are aligned with product development, sales, and overall corporate goals.Manage and mentor a high-performing marketing team, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.Utilize data-driven insights to assess campaign effectiveness and make data-backed decisions for optimization.Drive digital marketing initiatives, including social media, SEO, and content marketing, to enhance online presence and engagement.Leading the team of marketing enthusiasts for the SSML group handling Category & Products - Steel, Paint and Apna Ghar, Marcom (ATL, BTL, PR & Digital Marketing), Trade Marketing and other major domains.

Strategic Leadership: Developed and executed a comprehensive strategy for the uPVC category, aligning with overall business objectives and market trends.Product Portfolio Management: Overseen the entire life cycle of uPVC products, from ideation to launch and ongoing optimization, ensuring a competitive and compelling product offering.Market Analysis: Conducted thorough market analysis to identify growth opportunities, customer needs, and competitive positioning within the uPVC segment (MRs by BCG).Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborated closely with R&D, Sales, and Brand Marketing teams to ensure seamless integration of uPVC products into the market and meet customer requirements.Supplier Relationship Management: Build and maintained strong relationships with uPVC suppliers, negotiating contracts and ensuring the quality and reliability of the supply chain.Revenue Growth & Business Strategy: Driven revenue growth through effective pricing strategies, promotions, and market expansion initiatives within the uPVC category.Team Leadership: Lead and inspired a dedicated team of PM, MTs, GATs, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.Highlights -Strategised & Launched new variants in column pipes (NEO range), and extended the product footprint into Horizontal Distribution segment also. Launched, GTM strategised, & streamlined the supplies of HDPE pipes (ISO 4984) and helped gaining extra 5% market share in focused markets (Q4’23).Launched, & GTM strategised (optimised production) for the Ashwa branded Flat Cables (ISO 694) and completed seizing the product bouquet in vertical extraction portfolio for Ashirvad uPVC. Mentored and guided the team of GATs & MTs for market research, field study and category management.

Streamlined and inducted the NPD culture - Biggest Achievement of reaching 30% sales revenue through NPDs, categories achieving 100% sales budget (YoY) FY 2019, 2020 & 2021.Successful marketing campaigns which hit highest SOVs and helped gain significant market share.Positioned Atom 2-in-1 as the highest sold emulsion in the economy segment Pan India.Launched and positioned WB PRO as the highest sold Exterior Emulsion in the Premium segment in focus markets.Launched the whole range of Waterproofing products (Walltron) - 1000 million INR landmark.Developed strong relationships with prospects and vendors and liaised with them for Product development and Strategic tie-ups.Collaborated with internal teams on deriving successful GTM strategies and achieving market leadership.Conducted user surveys and focus group discussions - captured consumer insights, developed persona mapping of stakeholders.Digital transformation - created online modes for Product, Market, and Business Requirement Documents. Streamlined the NPD process using APQP and Stage Gate processes which helped for ISI audit purposes too.Taking product enhancements or new product launches from ideation to execution.Planned, and strategized the Product launches and successful GTMs.Mentoring junior members of the product team (guiding the MTs). Motivated and coached the team of Category managers, NPD specialists and Brand Managers to reach desired goals and achieve targeted deliverables.

1. Created and managed the new product development pipeline portfolio, to ensure successive annual roll-outs of value-added profitable products, to achieve 5-year plan growth targets.2. Collaborated cross-functionally to drive the Customer to Concept process to bring new productsto market.3. Identified marketing opportunities by analyzing and defining the total market, market share,competitor market share, and available market share by product market.4. Provided leadership and support for the design, development, refinement, and implementationof products by initiating research to identify consumer needs; develop new products to meetconsumer needs; research consumer acceptance of products; work with manufacturing toidentify packaging improvements, identify co-pack opportunities; develop introductory marketprograms to introduce new products; and lead status meetings to drive programs or newproduct initiatives to market. Periodically presents project updates to the leadership team.5. Developed, maintained and updated new product development “Concept to Customer” process toensure a group of new concepts/products are available to be introduced and commercialized onan annual basis to include:o Ideation Captureo Funnel to Focuso Stage Gate Managemento Performance Evaluation6. Initiated and continued new concepts/products “Ideation” activities. Activities to include:o Ideation captureo Strategic alignment assessmento Ideation prioritization7. Initiated and continued new concepts/products “Funnel to Focus” activities. Activities to include:o Proof of concepto Market viability validationo Business case developmento Resource requirements8. Championed or prioritized new concepts/products through the “Stage Gate” development process.Activities to include:o Formulary and costingo Internal product/process validation testingo Specification data disbursemento Test pilot operational runo Customer/Market testo Production Scale up

Defined the product strategy and roadmap for Exterior Category of Decorative Paints.Launched the whole range of waterproofing products.Deliver MRDs and PRDs with prioritized features and corresponding justification.Work with external third parties to assess partnerships and licensing opportunities.Be an expert with respect to the competition (Competition Landscaping and Benchmarking).Develop the core positioning and messaging for the product.Perform product demos to customers - planned and executed various GTMs.Set pricing to meet revenue and profitability goalsDeveloped a monthly revenue forecast template, and achieved accuracy of 100% month on month.Developed sales tools and collateral.Proposed an overall budget to ensure success.Briefed and trained the sales force at quarterly sales meetings and conducted continuous engagement or knowledge transfer sessions.Successfully curated the media brief and achieved highest SOV and significant market share.

Managed and developed P&L and driving market growth. Launched the NPDs for Medimix and Cuticura brands.Maintained a company or individual’s public image through the implementation of marketing initiatives.Made decisions about the cost of branding and analyzing trends in customer spending.Built relationships with influencers, journalists and media outlets.Overseen social media accounts and ensure brand consistency.Planned and executed BTL activations in Singapore, Malaysia and GCC markets for Medimix brand.

Expanding Sales into new geographies, generating revenue through Newspaper and other subsidiary channels were the major KPIs. Events and Activations, Cross selling, Tie-ups with the external media houses for brand integrations etc was also integral part of the job profile.

Key KPI was - revenue generation through various media vehicles of BCCL, ie: TOI, Radio Mirchi, Times Now, Times OOH, Brand Capital deals, New Product Launches etc.