Storyboard18 presents inspirational stories of women who continue breaking barriers and setting the precedent for other women marketers, entrepreneurs and communication specialists.
We invited the business and marketing community to step up and share their spotlight with women in their team or any other team, a new group or previous one, from a past work place or the current one. So many people came forward to shed light on the stories and work of exemplary women.
It was heartwarming to see the community come out and share words of praise and encouragement for each other, appreciating and acknowledging the contributions of so many people who make businesses, brands and workplaces better.
This is just the beginning of a long journey to spotlight individuals who are empowering others and bringing change and growth for all.
Read on to find out who shared the light with whom. And why.
Samit Malkani, Creative Manager, Google, shared the spotlight with a bunch of women leading Google India’s vision. Ankita Chemburkar, Brand Marketing Manager, Social Google was nominated for trying to answer the question: “How do we get people talking about us (in a nice way)?” every day. Mansha Tandon, Group Marketing Manager, Google was highlighted for leading marketing for YouTube’s slate of products in India across Main app, Music app, Premium, Shorts, and Kids app, to key audiences such as consumers, creators, and artists. Shalini Pillai Banerjee, Head of Gpay and NBU Marketing at Google, was appreciated for developing and managing marketing initiatives that drive customer acquisitions and experiences across Google Advertising Platforms for the Small & Medium sized business in the Indian ecosystem.
Roshni Rohira, Brand Communication Specialist, Eminence, endorsed Mitu Samar Jha, Chief Executive Officer, Eminence Strategy Consulting for her understanding of the business nuances, a vast network built over 20 years, and a distinguished approach towards services through attention to detail. Jha was also appreciated for her persistence. “’Try toh Karo; is what we hear from her whenever we feel like giving up,” says Rohira.
Alekhya Chakrabarty, an ex-Unilever and Nestle hand and currently a Freelance Brand Consultant, nominated Prapti Singh, brand and product marketing lead at Uber, for her empathy and stellar career growth since her days at Unilever. Singh said in an interview, “I have lived by the philosophy that ‘a ship is always safe in its harbor, but that’s not where it’s meant to be.’ After joining Uber, I had to unlearn a lot of things that I was used to, adapt to new ways of working (a digital-first marketing approach, a highly matrixed organization), but it gave me a chance to play a part in charting the growth of a once in a generation company…”
Shiv Prasad Singh, Associate Professor and Associate Director Programs (MBA – Real Estate & Urban Infrastructure) at Amity University, nominated Pratibha Singh for spearheading the Brand and Marketing function of Dainik Bhaskar. Singh is known for accomplishing the best possible within available resources and for treating everybody respectfully regardless of hierarchy.
Neha Mehta, Content Writer, AD Scholars, puts the limelight on Noopur Bapna, Media Manager, Marico Limited for her passion, perseverance and hard work. “She is always up to take challenges and outshines each time with her dedication. Her skills are her strength and it’s commendable that she empowers people around,” says Mehta.
Tara Kapur, Consultant, CSR, Sanofi India Ltd shared the spotlight with Shalini Raghavan, Group Chief Marketing Officer of Nykaa, Charu Gulati, General Manager at Tata Motors and Aparna Thomas, Sanofi India Ltd, Senior Director, Communications & CSR (India & South Asia). Raghavan is applauded for leading digital transformation across organizations, by embedding digital at the core of how brands connect with consumers. Gulati is admired for driving and governing critical customer experience initiatives that impact the voice of customers positively and build a customer centric culture across channel partners while Thomas was applauded for being an inspiration for younger professionals.
Harshil Karia, Founder of Schbang, spoke about Amisha Gulati, Executive Vice President (South & West) at Schbang for delivering growth-driven end-to-end solutions for the creative and technology transformation company. He also mentioned Anaa Peshimam, Head of Online Sales, Estee Lauder Companies Inc, for her contribution as Business Development Head in the digital solutions vertical at Schbang.
Parama B, Employer Brand Head, RPG Group, gave a shout-out to Ankita Israney, Assistant Brand Manager, Unilever for using digital marketing to disrupt traditional conversations to leveraging exclusive media partnerships and creating IPs for brands.
Shalini Bhattacharya, Corporate Communications & PR, LEAD School endorsed Neha Bhandari, Senior Brand and Social Media Manager, LEAD, for persistence, adaptability, accountability, proactiveness and multitasking as a marketer. Bhattacharya said Bhandari practices Brand Building based on Consumer Insight, Data-driven Marketing Approach, Identifying New media basis Market Dynamics & Innovative Thinking.
Pritesh Chothani, co-founder and CEO HiVoco Education & Learning shared the spotlight with Mansi Datta, Chief Client Officer, North & East, Wavemaker, for helping to shape consumers’ brand decisions and experiences through media, content and technology. And spotlighted Saumya Rathor, Category Lead, PepsiCo for her contribution to campaigns like the youth anthem “Rise Up, Baby” featuring Ranveer Singh.
Vishal Subramaniam, SaaS Product Marketing Leader, Freshworks, shared the spotlight with his colleague Deepthi Nagarajan, Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Freshworks for building and nurturing world class high performing marketing teams with fifteen years of proven experience spanning across B2B SaaS Product Marketing and Demand Generation.
Anuradda Banerjii, Marketing Communications Lead, Fulcrum Digital Inc endorsed Lavanya Jayaram, Executive Director, South Asia, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network for contributing to the growth of the social investment network.
Pawan M. who was previously associated with STOA shared the spotlight with his former colleague Sukita Tapadia, Chief Marketing Officer at Stoa for incorporating unique digital and content strategies in the field of higher education.
Akila Jayaraman, Head Sales Strategy, Reliance Jio, spotlighted Ragini Das of Leap Club for reinventing social-professional networking for women, Shilpa Dureja Puri, Director Marketing at Samsung for digital transformational leadership , and Chanpreet Arora, SVP and Head of Business, VOOT for leading Voot’s ambition to become India’s leading freemium multi-genre OTT player catering to pan-India audiences with innovation in content.
Read more: Women’s Day: Here’s what happened when we asked people to Share The Spotlight (Part One)
Smriti Raghunandan, Business Director, The Mavericks endorsed Rachna Anbumani, Marketing Head at Lotte India Corporation Limited for her track record of delivering exceptional growth and business results across FMCG, Consumer Electronics, Automobile & Hospitality in marketing and sales. Pooja Sriram, Associate Director, Content Marketing, Sprinklr, was endorsed as well for using her passion and skills in writing to bring out value for a brand, cause or campaign.
Namita Liz Koshy, VP – Contract Advertising spotlighted Kritika Arora, Vice President, State Street, for here expertise in the areas of strategic partnerships, campaign management, and branding, events. Koshy also endorsed Shreemoyee Ganguly, Head of Marketing at Obeetee Carpets for playing a role in creating a sustainable future through stories of design excellence, quality craftsmanship and process innovation. Divya Ayalasomayajula International Marketing and Communications Manager CFA Institute for simplifying communication, and building loyal communities that share mutual value in an era of global information overload. Aditi Sharma at Accenture for her digital marketing skills and integrated campaigns.
Ashwini Deshpande, co-founder, Elephant Design highlighted Nidhi Isaac, head, Communication Design Team, Elephant Design for bringing progressive, human-centred thinking to brands and businesses, creatively with a lasting impact.
Sayan Chatterjee, Manager, Media Communications, Protiviti India Member Firm, gave a shout-out to Nidhi Madan Verma, Senior Vice President, Acko for her strong track record in devising communication strategies for some of the leading brands: McDonald’s, eBay, Philips (Healthcare and Personal Health), Monster.com, Revlon, Dyson, Canon, Intel, and Microsoft among other brands.
Soumojit Basu, ex-WeWork employee, nominated former colleague Aditi Awasthi, Uber’s Corporate Communications Lead for India & South Asia, for making a distinct mark in the real estate, fintech and technology industries. And Namrata Parekh, CEO, Emami East Bengal for essaying various roles in different work capacities across organizations like JWT, Bloomberg UTV, Jagran Solutions and Procam International. Parekh also founded Meraki Sport and Entertainment, established in 2015.
Gaurv Bhatia, CEO, RISE and Deepna Arora, Head – B2B, RISE, nominated Kirtiga Iyer Kale, AVP, RISE for creating a distinct brand voice for RISE.
Swati Shukla Bhaskar, Reverie Language Technologies shared the spotlight with Parul Chhabra, Vice President Branding and Communication, House Of Diagnostics for transforming the PR and branding functions, and increased digital penetration by adopting new and disruptive ideas. Other women spotlighted were M.A. Nicholas, Marketing Specialist, Reverie Language Technologies, for helping to build Reverie’s mission of promoting development of multilingual applications throughout the globe; Shefali Khalsa, Head, Brand, Corporate Communications & CSR, SBI General Insurance, for living up to her role as the brand custodian and heading the marketing department and introducing creative out-of-the-box ideas and Moushumi Dutt for bringing out the value proposition for the most iconic brands like Philips and Fireside Ventures.
Manisha Dokania, Deputy Vice-President, Edelweiss Asset Management Limited and founder Chitrakathii Art, highlighted Snehi Jha Mehta, Head, Product Marketing, Meta Inc for taking Meta to Ad Leadership position in India.
Myron Braganza shared the spotlight with Liva Emmatty, Account Director, CCgroup – B2B, for creating noticeable communication campaigns in the B2B technology domain including enterprise technology, cybersecurity, IoT, automation, marketing technology amongst others.
Neha Agarwal Haria, Head Marketing at NAVNEET TOPTECH endorsed Neha Gupta De, Chief Growth Officer and Co-Founder, VouchPro. Gupta De is known for her strong numerical acumen as well as consumer insights; she has contributed to the top line as well as the bottom line of many businesses.
Malini Menon, Assistant Editor at The Times Of India shared the spotlight with Chanda Dewan, Deputy Manager, TOI Brand at Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd for the latter’s proven experience of managing and coordinating brand campaigns, delivering sales growth via targeting new verticals, sourcing contacts, developing messaging and delivering innovative campaigns. Ankita Kanungoe, Associate Analyst, Collateral Production, Lowe’s, was also spotlighted for her role in providing groundbreaking solutions that enable an unparalleled phygital retail experience for Lowe’s and Arushi Kaushik, Assistant Brand Manager Marketing, Times of India, was nominated for building the brand leading up to its growth.
Dipti Sudhir shared the spotlight with Asha Kharga, Chief Customer & Brand Officer, Mahindra Group, for building trusted brands that include new category adoption as well as driven exponential growth on large brands. Kharga believes that solidarity between women can be a potentially transforming force and hence helping young women leaders reach their true potential is a personal motivation. Sudhir also endorsed three other women working at Britannia Industries in various verticals – Archana Balaraman, Category Manager, Riya Joseph, Head of Media and Pavni Kumar, Group Product Manager for leading Britannia’s growth in various capacities.
Hemant Mandaliya, Creative Director, Hybrid Mumbai highlighted Nayab Contractor for her experience working in television and broadcast media with leading conglomerates in India – CNBC-TV18 and Network18, Zee TV, and Star Network in various roles with expertise in Brand Development, Marketing and Events. As an entrepreneur, Contractor founded Bohra Pantry, a brand of spices for Bohra cuisine in the USA. She also co-founded Indian Food Trail, a food-tech platform that provided micro-entrepreneurship opportunities to Indian women to serve home cooked food to customers in their homes, allowing users to try a variety of regional Indian cuisines
Anand Narasimha, Advisory Board Member at BabyChakra – Good Glamm Group nominated Palasha Kumar, Senior Brand Manager, BabyChakra for her demonstrated experiences in brand building Lakme & Ponds, Unilever and currently BabyChakra. Kumar is also a certified International Yoga Teacher and certified Scuba Diver.
Ritu Puri, Sr. Executive Secretary at American Express Banking Corp. shared the spotlight with Palak Khanna, Chief Executive Officer, Break the Ice, for her achievements including being India’s 20 under 20, becoming Regional Officer for Asia Pacific, featuring on LinkedIn News, and being felicitated by Gen (Dr.) VK Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Minister of Civil Aviation for Social Impact. “She’s 19, a dynamic young marketer yet to be tapped on by many. A representative of the youth, she is a force to reckon,” says Puri
Sharjil Shaikh, Co-Founder Arsh Communications LLP shared the spotlight with Sheetal Ray, Founder & CEO, Arsh Communications LLP for being “one of the best Digital marketing and branding mind in town” and Nazneen Shaikh (Lead, Corporate Communication, Indian Oiltanking) who “understands oil and gas marketing and communication like no other.”
Khushboo Benani, Johnnie Walker Global Lead for Culture and Entertainment at Diageo shared the spotlight with Surabhi Negi, Vice President Marketing & Corporate Communications, Reliance Brands Limited for initiating growth-driven effective communication strategies.
Read more: Women’s Day: Here’s what happened when we asked people to Share The Spotlight (Part One)
Know anyone you’d like to share the spotlight with? Join the movement, give them a shout-out on LinkedIn and tag Storyboard18 so we can take it forward.