Indian Companies have great opportunities to tap newer markets through Marketing Agility, Nestle India Head, Mr. Suresh Narayanan

~COVID has helped companies change, adapt, and become agile~

~Need to go back to the roots, to make marketing more interesting~

~Agility can be TRANSFORMATIVE and COMPETITIVE​~

~Role of leadership is important in propelling change~

Mumbai: 20th December 2022: Just like the national leadership can be a key factor for promoting agile marketing in a country, senior leadership too can set the tone for the organization and encourage an environment of experimentation and risk-taking, as well as provide guidance when necessary.

Speaking at the 6th CII Marketing Leadership Summit 2022 titled – ‘Marketing Agility in the Age of Uncertainty’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Mr Suresh Narayanan, Chairman CII National Committee on Food Processing Industries and CMD, Nestle India stated that during the pandemic, people connected digitally across the system.

Mr Narayanan stated that to activate marketing agility, organisations need to sense and read consumer minds, understand trends, analyse data and macro environment with a need to inject ethics and values as a part of your brand strategy as the world is getting digital.

Marketing agility is helping companies by allowing them to rapidly respond to changes in customer demand and market conditions which has allowed it to tap new market segments, stated Mr. Suresh Narayanan Chairman, CII National Committee on Food Processing Industries and Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India

He Further added, “There were 250 million recipe searches and almost 10 million subscribers to food channels. There are almost 7000 food groups with 100 million members on social media. The business landscape is completely changing. This is a new space to be in,” he said.

He stated that through agile marketing practices, companies can quickly adjust their strategy and tactics to target the right customers and maximize their ROI.

According to Mr Narayanan, the basics of marketing will continue only the perspective will change. “There is a need to go back to the roots which will make agile marketing more interesting,” he informed.

“Companies that have adopted agile marketing have seen numerous benefits, including increased customer satisfaction and faster time-to-market. Additionally, agile marketing has helped companies save costs and reduce customer churn,” he added

Mr Narayanan informed that agile marketing also promotes cross-team learning, allowing teams to share best practices and insights from each other. Finally, it allows for more flexibility with campaigns and strategies, as teams can quickly pivot and adjust, when necessary, he said.

Mr. Rajesh Ramakrishnan Chairman, CII National Committee on Marketing Leadership and Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India stated that organizations that can successfully employ VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) marketing agility will be better equipped to anticipate and respond to changing customer preferences and market conditions, allowing them to stay ahead of the competition. Currently organizations can also adopt VUCADD (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity, Disruption and Diversity).

“This involves anticipating and understanding changes that could impact the organization, as well as having the necessary capabilities and resources to quickly react to those changes,” he said.

He pointed out the leader’s ability to be able to take a high-level approach, looking at what is happening over the long-term and setting goals accordingly, while also being able to zoom in and take a more detailed approach, focusing on short-term initiatives and acting as quickly as possible.