In an age of consumerism and free market economy, it is an obvious conclusion that everyday we are affected by the brands around us. Interestingly though, it is surprising to think that how little attention we pay to these brands. For a brand like Aditya Birla Group, the countless number of lives they touch in some form or the other is their claim to being recognized as a colossus of the Indian landscape. As I share my views on this issue, it is worth noting that any online research that I have done for this is by consuming data provided by Vodafone-IDEA, my current service provider and one of the most successful merger stories of our generation. Happiest moments of my life, however, have been offline. As I received my interview call from my dream college for an under-graduation course, I realized that I had no formals for the occasion. Luckily for me, the nearest PLANET FASHION outlet was a few hundred meters away. And I did convert that call. My first day at my first job happened to be during peak winters. With no formal piece of warm clothing, my elder brother came to my aid and loaned me his formal sweater. I recognized that sweater at one glance as a Van Heusen product because of the iconic V symbol. As I begin my journey at a Business school, I have learnt lessons from my past and amassed an adequate collection of formal clothing. These same experiences of the past have ensured that most of these formals happen to be from the brand that I have come to know and trust dearly. It will be impossible for anyone to share each and every experience that they have had with an all-encompassing conglomerate like the Aditya Birla Group. So, as a conclusion and a parting thought I leave you with this – In a world and age as fast paced as ours, one of the few unadulterated sources of love is your mother and her care. We all have enjoyed the food she prepared for us and sent with us in our tiffin boxes. Its only fair to credit Aditya Birla Group and their offering Freshwrapp, who ensured that the love and care of a mother remains well preserved in the form of the food she sends. I believe that any brand that can touch our lives at such a personal level will always occupy a special corner in the hearts of many just like me.
MY CHALLENGES AND HOW I OVERCAME THEM
In my opinion, an individual’s life is defined by the challenges that he faces and overcomes. These challenges manifest themselves in various shapes and forms. In fact, these challenges can often times be individual specific and as a result the magnitude of any challenge may vary from person to person. I, too, have faced challenges at different stages of life and I could share all the details for those times. However, I believe that every individual face one defining challenge of his life against which he can measure all other hurdles of his life. This is my account of that occasion.
For my first job I got an opportunity to work at a media house in New Delhi. For most media platforms, the source of revenue are the ad campaigns run by various advertisers. As a Business Development Executive, one of the clients allotted to me was an airline brand and my job was to bring them on board for their future media campaigns. This brand had refused to run their campaign on our station as the ad agency handling their marketing operations was apprehensive about our perceived limited reach in audiences. I was lucky enough to have seasoned senior colleagues around me who expected results from me but at the same time were willing to guide me and not letting me get discouraged. With the agency not helping, I finally decided that I had to meet the brand manager on my own. It was a risk as it may have irked the agency, however, it was a risk worth taking. After many attempts, when I was finally given a meeting, I knew I had to make it count. I prepared a presentation highlighting the lack of efficiency in the brands previous campaigns run on other platforms and how we could improve on that. I tried making them understand that as a brand they were better off running a campaign with us where we would treat them as a premium client at a competitive rate instead of any other platform which might have a higher perceived reach in audiences but is unable to execute the campaign efficiently. As I was hoping, the brand manager instructed the agency to include us for the next campaign. What gives me a lot more pleasure is that long after I left my job, this brand still continues to advertise with my previous organisation.
This experience taught me the value of perseverance and bold approach but more importantly I share this as my aforementioned defining experience because when you work for an employer you understand the concept of action or inaction and its consequences. I believe that this was one occasion where I fully took up the onus on me to deliver the result and the satisfaction I got after succeeding made this episode a cherished memory.