Marketing can have phenomenal impact on society: Niti Kumar, Starcom

Niti Kumar, chief operating officer of media investments company Starcom, has worked in the industry for quite a while and has seen her fair share of marketers come and go across companies. But some set themselves apart. Here's how.

"I think that the impact visionary marketers have is unparalleled," Kumar said. "The power to create brands which become a part of the day to day lives of consumers. The power to create brands which define the culture of different societies, different generations of consumers, as well as the power for a brand to become generic, where the brand's name is used as a synonym for the category, almost like a verb. That is the phenomenal impact that marketing can have on society as a whole. The great thing is that it’s for generations to come. We speak of so many case studies or fantastic marketing initiatives that have shaped who we are as consumers today. I believe that's the unparalleled impact that marketing has overall.”

The field of marketing and advertising is evolving at warp speed as disruptive technologies and platforms change how companies interact and connect with consumers. At the core of these transformational forces are people who are creating and harnessing new technologies and tools to drive industries forward. They are curious minds, thinkers, creators and doers fuelling the innovation that grows brands and businesses.

After the super success of YoungGuns, Storyboard18 and Network18 Group are launching The Visionaries. The three-city initiative will bring the focus on Visionaries from the world of brands and the commendable work they have been doing in establishing their organisations as leaders.

The Visionaries is an initiative that recognises the leading lights who have transformed our approach to media, marketing, and advertising. The marquee evening will take place at The Oberoi, Gurugram, on 27th October 2023.

Ahead of the Visionaries celebration, we asked advertising industry leaders to share their views on the impact visionary marketers have on brands, people and businesses as well as the necessary qualities a marketer needs to possess.

Here Niti Kumar shares what she thinks are the most important qualities and values a marketer should have and showcase.

She said, “The first quality that comes to mind, especially since you use the word visionary, is to have a vision. I don't think that's necessarily true of all marketers and having a vision that's really well planned out has a strong insight at the heart of it, really differentiates the great marketers from the good marketers.”

“The second thing that I would call out is visionary marketers who have really strong and diverse capabilities of people working with them. They are usually people who are able to walk across different workstreams with equally balanced, left brain, right brain, rational thinking with creative thinking. At the juncture of both is where fantastic marketing actually lies,” she added.

Kumar further said, “Thirdly, marketers who can really clearly define short term as well as long term goals internally within their organizations, externally, to partners like agencies or like publishers and so on, and even to sales teams, dealers, etc. All of this differentiates a visionary marketer from the rest.”

Kumar believes that the impact a visionary marketer has on businesses isn’t necessarily a hard impact. “The whole softer impact aspect in terms of how a brand is built, how consumers feel about the brand, and what are the motivations that drive consumers. That is one area where marketers have a tremendous amount of influence. And if it's a visionary marketer, he or she usually will really be able to bring the whole thing together to lift whatever efforts, whether it's sales, whether it's product, whether it's pricing, all marketing P’s. The promotion really comes in and blows everything out of proportion,” she said.

About The Visionaries

Storyboard18’s Visionaries initiative recognises the women and men scripting some of the most exciting chapters in Indian marketing, media and advertising. They are marketing leaders with responsibility for a category, brand or innovation-led practice within their organisation. They also exhibit a purposeful approach to building sustainable businesses and enduring brands, using the new bottomline, People-Planet-Profits, as their guide. For more, visit: Storyboard18's Visionaries.