Interview with Dharini Mishra

Interview with Dharini Mishra – Global Head of Brand – Suzlon Group

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer?

DM: At Suzlon, we have always thought of digital communications and IT enabled platforms as key component our brand building and marketing strategies.

  PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology?

DM:  As a B2B  renewable energy company with sustainable development at the core of our ethos, Suzlon needs a unique balance of building a business brand and at the same time creating a corporate brand which goes beyond business and champions our vision. Our current focus is to leverage social media and digital communications to reach a wider, evolved audience who can drive change for a better tomorrow.

We aim to bring in more engaging and interactive tools to communicate with our stakeholders to give them the experience of a technology company committed to powering a greener tomorrow.

  PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention?

DM: Suzlon is one of the leading wind energy companies in the world and our customers are a highly evolved set, with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the wind industry. Most of our brand communications support is to create respect for the brand, rather than to simply drive sales. Our priorities are influencing global and national policy, creating awareness and demand for wind energy at the grassroots, and impacting key opinion makers. Many are aware of our brand campaign – P.A.L.S (Pure Air Lovers Society) and the in-depth digital component used for it, including the social media platforms. However, there are various other programs that we have been using to market our brand extensively leveraging IT and digital platforms. To pick an example, we ran the first ever smartphone marketing program in India and our constant online brand management programs which go much beyond advertising. Our smartphone mobile advertising program which was the first in India that went directly to our stakeholder group and not just marketed the company and drove up brand favorability rose by 160%.

 PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas?

DM: All our digital platforms and out-reach programs have driven leaders in emerging economies to look at wind energy as a serious option for building sustainable   economies