Feb 2019 – Present · 7 yrs 1 mo · Pune, Maharashtra, India · Remote

• Rough Paper is a two-person and two-cat consultancy that Divya and I run.
• We help brands with brand positioning, brand strategy, website content, and digital / content strategy. We've also done video scripting, voice-overs, upskilling workshops, brand audits, pitch deck development, blogwriting and more.
• We've worked on B2C, B2B, D2C, B2B2C and every other acronym. We've worked on music festivals to fintech, designer homes to design studios, IT to an actual IIT. We've worked on all kinds of briefs and deadlines.
• We love drawing on references from all kinds of sources outside marketing (we have a LinkedIn newsletter called Inspired by Anywhere), we like asking interesting questions that elicit "that's an interesting question" from the client, and we're insistent on being useful rather than provide confusing jargon.
• TCS, TCS Research, OML, BookMyShow, CARS24, IIT Madras, cult.fit, the Aditya Birla Group, FAE, Spectal, Spotify, Hyperlink (Independence Rock, Aadyam, Mahindra Blues), Axcend, Seshaasai, Enerdyne, Parentheses Studio, Soulkatha, Inspiriko, Kulfi Collective, and many more!
• Also, you get to see our cats on video calls!

Aug 2016 – Feb 2019 · 2 yrs 6 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · On-site

• After having enough of making PPTs and trying to sell social media to insurance companies, I decided to do something completely different - and work in events.
• I joined OML - a company I've admired since my first NH7 Weekender - as part of their marketing team. Eventually, our team transitioned into what became Insider, which then became PaytmInsider (which subsequently got sold to Zomato). I handled communications for both companies’ roster of events, which included some of India’s largest live events, such as NH7 Weekender, The Coalition, the IPL, ISL and several comedy properties.
• I spearheaded brand content & SEO efforts, which increased Insider’s organic traffic substantially and got me several high-fives from the paid marketing team. I developed processes for content & marketing that met the exponential scale-up of listed events from a few hundred to thousands - a fun way of saying that I recruited, trained and oversaw a team of young writers and freelancers.
• This was certainly a role with a lot of variety - from pitching to brands, to recording radio scripts, to going backstage for events, to hunkering down with Wordpress' backend and filling in tons of SEO stuff... Surrounded by some of the brightest, most energetic people I've been around - many of whom are still a key part of live events in India today.
• And yes, I got to go to some events for free.
• No, I can't tell you who's headlining the next Lolla.

Sep 2014 – Aug 2016 · 1 yr 11 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · On-site

• Indigo is the digital wing of Leo Burnett in India. I was responsible for conceptualising digital marketing strategy for the company’s roster of clients, and for new business pitches. My major accounts and wins included Bajaj Auto, Star Sports, Amazon, BYJU’s, Reliance Jio, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank & Rejoice.
• Around this time, I realised my major skill was really acting as a bridge between clientspeak and creative ideas - and I built my slides with glee and a lot of animations. And sometimes I'd sneak in some indie music riffs in there too.
• At Indigo, I also set up and executed knowledge sharing and research initiatives within the company... A fancy way of saying that I started "The Daily Byte" - an almost-daily case study compilation I would send to the entire organisation. Folks have told me it was useful, and it definitely was a precursor to a lot of the content projects that I would end up doing.

Nov 2012 – Sep 2014 · 1 yr 10 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · On-site

• I led digital media strategy and analytics for Ogilvy's roster of clients and new business initiatives – both digital and integrated. My major accounts included ICICI Bank, Diageo, L&T Mutual Fund, Hockey India League, The Economist, Castrol, and Hindustan Unilever. It was certainly an interesting time to be a digital marketing strategist in a "big agency" and I learnt a lot.

Feb 2012 – Dec 2024 · 12 yrs 10 mos · India

• I've taught various courses in digital & content marketing over the years.
• Most notably, I was an adjunct faculty at FLAME University - teaching Introduction to Digital Marketing, Social Media & Content Marketing, Digital Futures and other courses. I enjoyed myself here (trying to corrupt young minds by playing Pink Floyd between sessions) and it allowed me to explore a lot of my own thinking.
• I've done full courses at TAPMI (Manipal), SIMC (Pune), GIM (Goa) over the years. I've also taken workshops and sessions at MICA (Ahmedabad), NMIMS (Mumbai), LIBA (Chennai), IIM (Ahmedabad and Udaipur), IBS (Mumbai).
• I taught the digital marketing sprint at the erstwhile Stoa School for multiple cohorts.
• But my most fulfiling teaching assignment was a course that I designed and ran on my own for working professionals, called The NoFaff Sessions - for over 200 participants. It was well-received, and gave me the confidence to do a few more things in the marketing space. I hope to revive it some day.
• My emphasis has always been learning by examples, first principles and easy-to-use frameworks which I come up with.
• I have taken a break from teaching - since my focus is now more on Rough Paper and The 6% Club.

Aug 2009 – Nov 2012 · 3 yrs 3 mos · Mumbai, Maharashtra, India · On-site

• Here is where I cut my teeth in the world of communications and branding. I was responsible for mapping, developing strategy, pitching and acquiring clients for the agency’s social media services. I was involved in winning several of the company’s key businesses - Infosys, Lavasa, Sesa Goa, HDFC Bank, HSBC Bank, GE, Yardley, Sony Music, the Kochi IPL team (yes!), eBay, GMR, Loop Mobile, Huawei, Ginger Hotels, ITC Hotels, ITC Classmate, Lakmé Salon.
• I had a reputation as a PPT whiz and while that may or may not be true, I did end up wearing out my keyboard by the time I left. I had a great time here though.

Aug 2006 – Apr 2007 · 8 mos · Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India · On-site

• Was part of the testing team for a major American financial services client. Responsible for online testing, detection and rectification of errors for the website of a major American bank. Became quite adept at listening to Iron Maiden while pretending to work on a giant Excel.