Bhaskar Bose is currently the Director for Meltwater for India. He is one of the reputable speakers we have lined up for the Delhi NCR Brand Summit & Hot Brands 2019. Read his thoughts on what makes a brand hot!
- What is the one factor that took your brand from good to great?
I think the key to Meltwater’s success has and will always be the people. The first 500 employees of the company were actually personally hand-picked by our CEO. There is a lot of care taken in cherry-picking the type of candidates that work with us. Some of the qualities we look for are management potential, being a team player, personality, drive & stamina- values that contribute to sourcing top-quality individuals. We never hire managers or directors. Everyone starts out as a consultant and their merits pave the path to the top. By the time a consultant rises to the rank of a manager or a director, they are accustomed to the company and the culture within their teams and become strong ambassadors of the brand. This way the core values of the Meltwater family – Fun, Winning, Respect and Responsibility – are carried through the generations.
This creates a truly cohesive, dynamic environment that simplifies the execution of strategies and achievement of goals, thereby enabling the success of the brand.
- What role does technology play in making and keeping a brand hot?
The advent of technology plays a very critical role in keeping a brand hot. For example, when we launched Meltwater back in 2009 in India, it started off as a simple concept of online intelligence and quick news alerts relevant to an executive’s business. But as social media gained prominence, Meltwater’s role evolved from a media monitoring tool to a complete online intelligence and reputation management suite. Today, Meltwater can not only help you with cutting edge analytics on competitor behaviour but also define your influencer engagement methodologies. Contrary to the past when technological innovation was triggered based on needs, today, it is the technological innovation that pushes brands to deliver stronger products and experiences.
The advent of IoT is forcing consumer-centric brands to re-invent their offerings. Backed by AI, search engines are now more intuitive, and the advancement of technology is pushing the boundaries of customer experiences further every day!
- How has data become the essence of business/marketing?
Ignoring data while making business decisions is like driving with a blindfold on, in this day and age. The critical intelligence that exists today within the ocean of unfiltered data online can put your business ahead of the curve. Almost every campaign, movement, or decision that an organization takes leaves breadcrumbs online – for example, a competitor putting out a Digital Manager job opening indicates an upcoming campaign, a consumer complaint could spell an opportunity of sales for a competitor, an important influencer’s retweet could make a simple campaign successful overnight. All this is possible through effectively mining business-critical data from the right channels and making it part of every important decision.
- What are your thoughts on the need for digital transformation?
Digital transformation has become a business imperative. If companies choose not to change with the times, they risk stagnation and might soon become obsolete. Measuring and managing your reputation in the digital age has seen a similar transformation. Relying on newspaper clippings alone to gauge your brand equity isn’t going to cut it anymore.
The bigger question is how transformation manifests itself for each business? Brands need to identify the trajectory of their vision and utilize various technologies at hand to aid their journey.
For example, if a consumer goods company needs to stay relevant and profitable, it must implement technological upgrades that allow you to tap into consumer opinions and carry out effective campaigns that reflect the brand’s value. Or, if a traditional corporate wants to stay relevant, it must figure out the multiple avenues available today to tap into their consumer base via different forms of media while keeping their product line up to speed for their evolving customers.
We are at a point where a company’s success depends on how fast it can adapt to the rapidly changing global environment. In my opinion, this process is the first step of any digital transformation strategy that a brand wants to undertake.
