M&A go-getters express gratitude towards their role-models on Teacher's Day

Social Samosa's Teacher's Day special features a few industry mavens to know their true inspiration beyond the walls of a classroom into the Media and advertising world.

Auto industry icon Lee Iacocca once said – “In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for less”.

September 5 - a day dedicated to celebrating the existence of teachers in our lives. While most refer to it as playing the role of a teacher in its academic capacity, we must agree that the definition of a ‘teacher’ is not only restricted to it. Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to wish Happy Teacher’s Day to his trollers and agenda-driven journalists, propagandists for teaching him to be resilient, becoming a better and stronger person each passing day.

A friend, a philosopher, a guide – the person could don many hats and still teach, inspire millions to be and get rightly informed with an abundance of knowledge. Going beyond the walls of a classroom, the teacher can be your best friend, a colleague at work, the ultimate boss or a mass influential personality. One such industry which boasts of many such individuals is the media and advertising world which abodes intellectuals with distinct creative tastes and intelligence.

Whether it be the knacks of digital marketing or the secret to a successful advertising campaign or the apt technique to make moolah and sustenance, a cross-section of industry experts shared with Social Samosa their role models from the M&A industry whom they look up to for inspiration to move one step-up of the success ladder.

Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO & Co-Founder, Gozoop 

Sir Martin Sorrel is one person in the M&A world who has left an
indelible mark on me.

Recently over a dinner meeting, I got an opportunity to pick his brain on how Mergers & Acquisitions in the advertising industry has evolved over the years and what is the best model for the current market.

He is the pioneer of mergers & acquisitions in the advertising industry, had invaluable advice and perspectives to share. 

I came back not just with great food, but actionable wisdom which will
benefit how we further grow the GOZOOP ecosystem inorganically.

Since our inception, we have acquired and partnered with 5 promising creative & technology entrepreneurs and we look forward to welcoming more in times to come.

Also Read : Teachers’ Day brand posts enlighten the socioverse

Deep Mehta, CO-Founder, Digichefs

For me, a role model is someone I admire the values of, helps me
understand my true potential, brings across several perspectives in my mind
that I would have otherwise never thought of, and of course, is someone that I
look up to be like one day. 

The role model I've been following for the past 3 years is Simon Sinek. He's best known for his TED video where he popularized the concept of 'Why' - which I believe is the foundation of marketing and advertising! The video became the third most-watched video on the TED universe and opened my eyes, changed the way I delivered marketing campaigns at DigiChefs. 

Understand 'why' your customers do whatever they do when they come across your communication is the key to further improve your campaign. The insights can be experiential led or data-led, but it's wise to understand the gravity of 'why' it worked or it didn't! Being in the digital space, it sometimes saddens me that many have removed the 'marketing' out of 'digital marketing' and it has become a set of tactics & best practices. Digital marketing is in fact 'marketing' in the digital era!

The clarity of thought with which Sinek explains the fundamental principles of human psychology is what makes me his big fan.

Also Read: Teachers’ Day brand posts enlighten the socioverse

Unmisha Bhatt, Chief Strategy Officer & Director India & MENA region, Tonic Worldwide

I look up to multiple people and have been inspired at different stages by different people. I have been fortunate enough to work with some inspirational people closely who have mentored and encouraged me to look beyond the obvious and push the envelope.  One such individual is Navin Talreja who I worked with during the early years of my advertising career and I am inspired the way he has managed to distinctly make his agency and work stand out and redefined the category. I am also very inspired by Bob Greenberg, the founder of R/GA . He's constantly been reinventing R/GA and is way ahead of the times.

Last but not least, Beena Koshy, who has been doing great brand work on both the agency side as well as the brand side. I have constantly learned from her and looked up to her for her leadership skills.

Aanchal Arora, Founder & CEO, 1702 Digital

Although it’s difficult to choose one guru or role model out of the many that have brought a revolution in the Marketing and Advertising industry, I do have a couple of favorites.

When it comes to digital advertising, Spike Jonez' understanding of space and exploration of how the human mind works is pretty inspiring. 

Not discounting the legendary Piyush Pandey and his contribution to Indian advertising, I still feel that exploration in the marketing industry is still in its nascence, in India.

Understanding customer psyche is one part of the game but the content format of ads is equally important when it comes to innovation. Innovation in ad formats, innovation in media copies, innovation with the way videos are used for analytics is what inspires me.

Role models are those CMOs and CEOs across the globe who can take bold and gutsy decisions. They are the ones who will push their teams to not just give innovative ideas but also have the courage to ahead and execute them.

The risk-taking capacity and disrupting-status-quo attitude of certain marketing heads are what is sexy."

Let me know if it gets to the page. Looking forward to hearing from you
for future opportunities.

Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO, and co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea

My first inspiration is Madan Sanglikar. He was the first person to introduce me to Digital Marketing. In an era where people were discussing TV, he taught me things about the future. His ability to simplify the most complex of things helped me quite a lot during my early days. My second inspiration is Akash Chawla. Lessons from Akash when at ZEE included marketing and business conduct. His no-nonsense demeanor and discipline at work taught me a lot. His ability to quantify & analyze creative work made me fall in love with the concept of data in creativity. My third inspiration from the M&A world is Tarun Katial. I had the fortune of working with Tarun in close quarters at RBNL. His ability to envision the next, to make things happen, fearless approach and sense of urgency helped me in my entrepreneurial journey.

Saurabh Mathur, Head,
Strategy & Planning, VMLY&R India

I have been incredibly lucky to have fantastic bosses who ended up doubling up as my mentors as well. Without making an effort I seem to have gravitated towards amazing bosses more than amazing roles.

As a young professional, you look for someone you can look up to and learn from. I have tried to imbibe different leadership styles from these various individuals. And to this day I continue learning from them every day.