Unlocked 5.0

Balaji is an integrated marketing communication professional with over 16 years of extensive experience in building brands for both global and Indian companies.

In his current role as Marketing Director, CEEMEA for Franklin Templeton, Balaji is responsible for marketing strategy and building brand SOV for the CEEMEA region. The region covers over 20 countries across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa and focuses both on institutional and retail businesses.

Prior to this role, Balaji was Deputy Head – Marketing for Franklin Templeton India and was responsible for leading all key brand initiatives. Balaji has been one of the early adopters of leveraging gamification, video content and storytelling in the mutual fund industry to promote investor education in the online space. His deep understanding of consumer marketing and customer lifecycle journeys have won him multiple awards in India and globally across creativity, content, innovation and effectiveness. Very recently, he was conferred with the citation of “Marketing Influencer of the Year” by DMA Asia at the 2018 DMA Asia Echo Awards.

Piali Dasgupta is currently Senior Vice President, Marketing, at Columbia Pacific Communities, India’s largest senior living community operator. Columbia Pacific Communities is part of the Seattle-based Columbia Pacific Management. which has presence across USA, Canada, China and India. Piali started her career in journalism with The Times of India, and crossed over to Marketing and Communication with playing key roles in creating impactful content marketing strategies for Myntra and later Amazon. She was responsible for creating Myntra’s very popular style makeover series along with celebrity style chat show series. In a career spanning 14 years, Piali has created a number of award winning marketing campaigns and served on juries. She is on Social Samosa’s Top 40 marketers under 40 list for the year 2019-2020 and has also been awarded the Content Mogul title by CMS Asia (Content Marketing Summit Asia) and has been named one of the top 10 Content Marketing Leaders in APAC in 2020 by CMS Asia. She has also been recognised as the Woman Marketer of The Year at MCube (Masters of Modern Marketing) Awards 2020. She was also part of Social Media Superwomen 2018, that recognised the top 50 women in
marketing in India. She has worked across print media, e-commerce (Myntra, Amazon), retail (Aditya Birla Fashion
Retail) and real estate and is currently building a compelling brand narrative around senior care inIndia.
Her core expertise lies in content marketing, storytelling, building brand narratives and strengthening
brand positioning through storytelling. According to her, good content is one that is purposeful, uplifting and has the ability to startconversations and believes that we are long past the age of “vanity content” or content for the sake of content. Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, is a voracious reader, spends time sketching and is also a
strong mental health advocate, doing her bit to remove long standing stigmas around mental illness.

Nikhil Bharadwaj is the Head of Corporate Communications at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance for close to 6 years now. Apart from handling media relations for the company, he is responsible for aligning the communication strategy (both internal and external) with the business objective. He acts as a communications advisor for senior management and all the departments to devise a long term strategy that effectively communicates the brand story. His aim is to ensure positive brand visibility across all stakeholders by not just producing the right content, but also by adopting an agile approach in line with the changing communications environment. Nikhil started his career with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance as a Management Trainee in 2006 and since then has worked across various profiles. With more than 16 years in the General Insurance industry, Nikhil is a seasoned professional with extensive sales experience in Bancassurance and was the Head of Online Sales as well, prior to joining the Corporate Communications Team of the company. Nikhil has done PGDM in Marketing & ERP from IMDR Pune, MDP in Digital & Social Media Marketing from IIM Bangalore and is also a Licentiate in General Insurance. He has authored various thought pieces on corporate communications in renowned publications and has been often called to interact with young students by various academic institution

Amiya Swarup Heads Marketing Advisory and is Partner for Ernst & Young. He has nearly two decades of experience in fostering collaboration within the intricate web of marketers, media agencies, martech partners, and media houses, building a better working world

An energetic result oriented Brand, Media and Marketing Strategy enthusiast with over 15 years of experience in leading media organisations. Enjoy conceptualizing & executing innovative integration concepts via a creative, dynamic, & challenging mix of media platforms.

Worked extensively with advertising and media agencies on multimedia marketing approach and consumer and trade centric brand connect advertising solutions.

Specialties:
Corporate Communication, Brand Strategy, Product Marketing, Media strategy, Media Planning/Buying, 360 degree marketing campaign, Pricing, Innovation, Account Planning, Agency Handling, Sales Planning, Research, Customer Insights, Data Analysis, Product Marketing, Negotiations & associations, Team management and development

Leverage 4Cs (Category, Competition, Customer & Consumer) insights and analysis to drive better effectiveness and efficiency

Ms. Kavita Jagtiani is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and she is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing strategies across all product categories and channels, and driving the organisation to new heights. At L&T Finance, she leads the marketing, brand, corporate communications, digital marketing and consumer research function.

She has a proven track record in strategic planning, category creation, innovation, consumer insights, in-market brand activation and integrated marketing campaigns.

Ms. Jagtiani has over two decades of experience in brand building and marketing. Prior to joining L&T Finance, she was serving as the Marketing Chief – South Asia, Middle East, Africa & CIS at Pidilite Industries. She has also held various leadership roles at leading companies including Pidilite Industries, General Mills, and ICICI Bank.

Jagtiani holds a Master’s Degree in Business/Commerce from University of Mumbai and she has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education.

She also holds a ‘Digital Strategies for Business’ certification from Columbia University, New York and Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Commerce from University of Mumbai.

Madhumita Phukan is a Marketing, PR and Corporate Communications professional with over 19 years of experience in various industry verticals. Madhumita is currently working with Tech Mahindra as the Global Marketing Head for AI Businesses. Prior to Tech Mahindra, she worked with Concentrix as Associate Director, Marketing and with IBM as a Brand & Communications Leader – India/South Asia for Global Technology Services Client Innovation Centres, Labs, Social Media, CSR, Crisis Management.
She is an alumnus of MICA, IIT Delhi Management School, Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania, USA), Amity School of Communications and Guwahati University. Besides, she is also an independent Blogger. She loves to write about her personal experiences, short stories, different social issues, opinion articles and review various products and services. Many of Madhumita’s blogs, poems, articles and stories have been published in different portals and publications e.g, Women’s Era, Business World, Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, StoryMirror, BeyondClassrooms etc.
Madhumita won many pan India Blogging Awards, and she was among the TOP 5 Bloggers in India in WIN 2015 and also, she won National Award in All India Cartoon Contest, 2003.

A Core Business leader with a Deep understanding of the products, marketing, Sales & consumer.. He is called as the “Go Getter” who deals in hardcore numbers and assure that every Penny spends attributes to a Business goal & a value for consumer. A Highly Agile Marketer with great ability to adapt with the changing trends of Digital Marketing.
He started his carrier at the age of 22 and assured that he has a deep hands on experience across Business lifecycle & he acquired a great experience in across domains like:
> Product development & Management, Brand Building, Digital Marketing, Establishing Ecommerce & D2C Businesses, Content & Influencer Marketing, Consumer Acquisition & Retention, Leadership Skills with Team Management. A complete Entrepreneur stints.

In this passionate 18yrs of professional journey, he has been rewarded with multiple excellence awards in every organization worked in;
 One97 (paytm) : Best Sales person of the year
 Times of India: Chairman Excellence award
 Cheil/Samung: Most innovative idea person, recognized globally.,
And have recently received the prestigious award of Business world marketer 40under40.

An extra ordinary individual with a blended experience of working in a Startup , Leading Media Houses , Aggressive & Innovative Media Agencies , leading Brand Side of a highly competitive market of smartphones, he has gained & adapted an diversified approach, growth Path & organization cultures.
With such a great Mix of Sales, products & marketing he has worked with over 70 Brands & 500+ successful marketing campaigns.
He is now in working with vivo India Pvt Limited as General Manager, Head of Digital Marketing , which is a market Leader is the Smartphone Industry. Assuring that the brand is scaling to New heights in the Era of Digital Marketing wherein the consumer is the king & brand Serves the best value to consumer & its Partners.

Neelima Burra is the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Luminous Power Technologies. At Luminous, she is steering the company onto strategic innovation and business transformation pathway for propelling the organisation to greater market dominance in the energy space. In a career spanning over 20 years, Neelima has emerged as the leading voice in Indian business landscape. She has been recognized as a top influential women leader in India by Femina as well as amongst the 100 Most Influential Marketing Leaders by the World Marketing Congress.

Neelima has consistently driven organisations towards business excellence in diverse sectors, including Hospitality, FMCG, IT & Consumer Electronics, OTC, and Consumer Durables. Her extensive experience encompasses both the Indian market and specific markets across Asia. Before joining Luminous, she was at the Oberoi Group, as EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, successfully leading its business revival amidst Covid-19 challenges. She was also the Co-founder of Ganymede Business Ventures, spearheading the world’s largest ‘Food on Street’ service chain. Her previous experiences include managing leadership positions and key roles in HP, Cargill, Usha International, Whirlpool Corp and Britannia.

With her profound understanding of strategy, marketing, sales, and operations within the consumer goods space and services industry, Neelima is playing a pivotal role in transforming the brand while driving growth and profitability. With sustainability being a subject close to her heart, she is known driving organizational restructuring and for implementing ROI-driven conscious business strategies.

Beyond her professional achievements, Neelima nurtures a deep passion for gardening and embarks on solo travel adventures. Her love for food, particularly street food, inspired her to launch her own food tech startup. As a mother to a daughter and proud owner of two delightful pet dogs named Bruno and Kiro, she finds immense joy and fulfilment in nurturing her loved ones.

Prasad stands for Pragmatic, ROI driven, Analytical, Segmentation & Automation focused Digital way of doing business. He is a firm believer in the process of ideation – experimentation – learning fast – succeeding faster & scaling up cheap. A Chemical Engineer from UDCT & MBA from JBIMS, Prasad has 16+ years of experience in brand & product management, customer acquisition, customer life cycle management, strategy, business planning and research across insurance, telecom, banking and engineering sectors. Prior to HDFC Life, Prasad has worked in Tata Docomo, Vodafone, ICICI Bank & Kotak Mahindra Bank.

A seasoned marketing professional with 25+years of work experience across the FMCG and media industry with a deep understanding of content marketing, driving content subscriptions and ad monetizing. In my professional journey, significant time has been spent in product marketing and business partnerships, leading to pioneering work in creating and implementing the strategy for revenue streams for the content distribution platform.

Marketing professional & Automobile Industry Expert with 11 years of successful track record in Brand Development, Product Marketing & Planning, Marketing Communication, Category Management, Marketing Operations, Strategy and Media Advertising. Outstanding performance in CFT leadership, Brand Communication, ATL/BTL, Product Development, Product Launches, Special Editions, Events & Sponsorship, Media Planning, Digital Content, Agency leadership, Celebrity management, Retail Marketing, Luxury & Sports Marketing, Business Planning & CRM. Currently heading Marketing & PR for Harley-Davidson India. Was associated with Nissan Motor India as Head – Marcom for Datsun brand. Prior was Sr. Group Product Marketing Lead & Country Chief Marketing Manager for Hatch, Sedan, Luxury SUV, Sports, Electric Vehicle & Connected Car(Intelligent Mobility) segments leading the product, pricing, Go To Market and project management strategy for Nissan India. Before Nissan, was Sr. Category Brand Head – Commuter motorcycles for World’s largest two wheeler manufacturer (Hero MotoCorp- formerly known as Hero Honda), taking care of brand development, marketing communication, strategy, digital content nationally for the 10-brands portfolio along with key corporate marketing and global business projects. Started career as Marketing Lead for North with focus on regional media, BTL activations, rural, sales support & CRM. Part of strategic projects as a CFT member/leader like CBU Business model, Intelligent Mobility, Scenario Planning, DMS, Dealer websites, Marketing Planning & Budgeting Software, QBR – Commonwealth Games, IPL, MTV Roadies, HIL, Hero World Challenge, FIFA, ICC, Employer Branding, National Dealer Conclaves, Auto shows, Factory Launches, International Marketing & CSR. An MBA in Marketing & Operations; Also a Mechanical Engineering Degree holder along with Executive programs in Digital Marketing & Leadership. Ad Awards Jury & Globally certified GT-R instructor as working with Hero MotoCorp

Qualifications – PGDM (Marketing) from FSM – Delhi, BE (Mechanical Engg.) from MSRIT – Bangalore, Digital certification from IIM-L, Executive Course in Leadership from Vanderbilt University – USA