Right from childhood unknowingly ABG has been a brand that has been an integral part of my life. I can still remember when while in school my mother used to wake up early in the morning to prepare gobsmacking delicious food for me to carry so I am well fed and delighted during the lunch break in school. To maintain the freshness of her love and effort she trusted none other than ABG's Freshwrapp. This thin piece of meticulously made aluminium sheet ensured that the food that I had was rich in nutrients and free from external dust and harmful particles. After lunch, this same wrap ensured that was able to play cricket in class with makeshift bats out of tiffin boxes. These lunch breaks remain few of my happiest memories of the school where I bonded with so many friends for life and ABG acted as a glue for the same.
Fast forward that half a decade and I started doing my engineering from PEC University of Technology, first time out of a cocooned environment, into the real world, with a mother being a mother was worried how will her "raja beta" manage on his own, what if he needs someone around. That's when she got me a new HTC phone with an IDEA sim. The amazing connectivity of the brand ensured that I was always within a call's distance from her (something she utilised to mess with me all the time, but that' what moms do, right?). I also used the fast internet to learn about the subjects my faculty was not able to do justice to. This of course in addition to all the late night chats with friends. Once again ABG acted as the glue for me and my network.
While at college I developed a keen interest in marketing, and event management, a big credit for which goes to ABG. Watching their creative IDEA Telecom advertisements, and watching people talk about it made me realise just how good advertisements can go such a long way in imprinting a brand in the minds of the general public. Madura Fashion managing its portfolio taught the important lesson in brand management that how you can have multiple entries in the same field yet each having its own loyal following due to the unique brand positioning.
This love for marketing made me come to MDI, Gurgaon to pursue my MBA. With coming to such a B-school it was essential to stand out of the crowd to make my mark. How one presents oneself can go a long way in making the first impression. So my mother took me straight to Planet Fashion to get me a Van Heusen suit. With the immaculate fitting, it gave me a boost of confidence. On reaching here and getting ready for a session with our beloved alumnus Amit Boni, I was pleasantly surprised to see almost all my batch mates have either an LP suit or Van Heusen suit. This feeling of brotherhood even while looking distinctly unique was an ice-breaker for me to connect with all the batch mates.
Now when I talk to my mother in the little time I get from the hectic schedule, she always encourages me to get into GenMan role at ABG.
From school days when I was developing as an individual, to now, when I am looking to make a successful career, ABG has always been big in my life. Then be it through the assurance that the name provided my mother or how it assisted me to form my group of special friends.
ABG acting as my North star during the times I needed direction
After my graduation, I started my own event management firm willing to gain some experience before I get into a B-school. Now being new in this field I had a vision in mind but not the required resources to achieve my dream. Again ABG came to my rescue, its merger of Idea with Vodafone gave me the encouragement to collaborate with like-minded teams to achieve the common goals. I worked with many small and big organisations like Kommune, Mind Batteries, Battees, and Terribly Tiny Tales that opened my way to be being able to organise TEDx Chandigarh, and first-of-its-kind StoryFest, Chandigarh. During the events, our prime objective was to ensure giving a holistic experience to our audience and performers. We realised that food was an integral part of the experience and it's important to not compromise on its quality at all. Now the issue became on how to get the food of top most quality for our performers who would not be visiting the stalls set up at the venue, without contamination in the low-grade plastic bags. Once again we turned to ABG. FreshPakk took care of the packing the food so as to maintain its taste that delights the performers who in turn mesmerise the audience, while giving me the giddy feeling of coming a whole circle from carrying food in Freshwrapp as a child, to now carrying food for my brainchild project in FreshPakk.
Overcoming these small yet tricky hurdles has contributed to me making a long term association with all involved and making it big in my life.