Jyothsna Yalapalli — Head of Design
Jyothsna, as a young girl growing up in a small town by the Bay of Bengal in South India, wanted to be the Roald Dahl + Quentin Blake of Russian children’s books. But, her lower middle class dad’s big dreams and her grip on Maths & Physics, put her on a different route and she became an Engineer and then a(n) MBA. The first chapter of her career was not that upbeat – but she persisted, while surviving the condescending attitude of urbanites towards small-towners, in the urban corporate life. And then, after a good load of struggle, she reached her dream world, Advertising, where brands are crafted, anchored, and sustained in human truths, stories and culture. She is fortunate enough to work with some of the best global advertising networks like Lowe Worldwide, JWT, Havas Worldwide, FCB, DDB, McCann etc, and also with the rising star, the Womb Communications (founded by Ex-O&M seniors), on some truly enviable, highly process oriented portfolios of Global brands and prominent Indian brands. As part of her strategic planning on Pepsi Foods, Bharti-Walmart, Reckitt Benckiser (emerging markets including India), Britannia, Titan, Marico, Unilever, MORE (Retail), Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, Honeywell, Diageo, Godrej Foods, etc, she travelled across the overwhelming diversity of India, interacted with people from every class of the society and age group, indulged in many free flowing conversations with them, absorbed the culture and the society that shapes their ‘self and being’, and carried back their stories, nuggets of wisdom etc, to her work table (where she ensured/tried to ensure consumer-centricity throughout the thinking and ideation process on her every brand portfolio). The 15yrs+ long rigorous planning phase has groomed her on ‘upstream brand thinking’ – going beyond communication campaigns to handle clients’ deeper-lying business problems. She may not be the most awarded advertising strategist, but she has led thinking (or was part of) for brands when they were reviving themselves, or accelerating their growth or sustaining their category dominance, or when they were expanding their portfolio or were evolving from a concept to a brand. Oh yes, she did get a set of Gold and Silver Effies (Advertising Efficacy awards). A keen follower of behavioural economics, cultural anthropology and sustainability, she thinks she is a late-bloomer and her best is yet to come; With this belief, she stays on as passionate as her wonder-eyed younger self who walked into the world of brands and advertising.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Brand Strategist with expertise in consumer behavior and market research within the Advertising industry.
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Experience: 18 yrs 1 mo
Skills
- Brand Strategy
- Product Innovation
Career Highlights
- Over 15 years of experience in brand strategy.
- Led strategic initiatives for top global brands.
- Expert in consumer behavior and market research.
Work Experience
Muffins AI
Brand Head (1 yr)
The Womb Communications
Strategic Partner (1 yr 9 mos)
Havas Worldwide
VP Strategic Planning (2 yrs 8 mos)
JWT
AVP Strategic Planning (3 yrs 11 mos)
McCann Erickson
Senior Planning Director (6 mos)
LOWE Worldwide
Senior Planning Director (1 yr 9 mos)
DDB Mudra
Manager - Strategic Planning (2 yrs 3 mos)
FCB Ulka
Planner (1 yr 7 mos)
Research International
Senior Researcher (2 yrs 8 mos)
Education
Master of Business Administration - MBA at University of Madras
Bachelor of Technology - BTech at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada
Certificate Course in Customer Analytics at Wharton Online
