10 Thought Leaders Who Inspired Me in 30 Years

Three Decades in Marketing 1995 -2025

Marketing is: -

-???????? Understanding customer pain area (empathy)

-???????? Offering solutions, not products (problem-solving)

-???????? Serving your customer (spirit of service)

-???????? Building relationships (attract referrals)

-???????? Making the customer the hero of your story (storytelling)

-???????? A Human-to-Human approach (H2H)

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In the past 30 years, 11 thought leaders and giants from marketing and allied areas have shaped my marketing approach. While Seth Godin is my favourite, when it comes to marketing, there are 10 thought leaders I personally know. Here are some interesting facts about these leaders and the marketing lesson I learned: -

1 Mark Schaefer

Marketing Lesson – Human touch to marketing

Since 2012, Mark has inspired my blogs and content, especially the human touch he discusses. Mark has also been a great collaborator. My two guest blog posts on his website have been among the most viral content I have created. We also invited Mark to India for a talk on social media in association with Venus Academy, Mumbai.

The very punchline of Mark’s {grow} community is “Marketing. Strategy. Humanity”

2 Bryan Kramer

Marketing Lesson – Human to Human

Bryan came up with the concept of Human to Human or H2H. He shares in his book Human to Human H2H, “It is no more about B2B or B2C. It is all about Human to Human or H2H”. Bryan has also written an interesting book on Shareology, or why humans share at all.

3 Jennifer Sertl

Marketing Lesson – Heart-to-Heart Collaboration

“Alone I can SPEAK, But Together We Can TALK

Alone I Can SMILE, Together We Can LAUGH.?

Alone I Can ENJOY, Together We Can CELEBRATE,?

That's the Beauty Of Togetherness”?

Anonymous

When I talk about Heartfelt Collaboration on social media, I always give the example of my collaboration with Jennifer Sertl. She coached me for nearly two years, and her ideas on agility, transleadership, reflection etc have influenced me deeply. Interestingly Jennifer has been a part of three of my books so far in the form of Foreword, Epilogue or Chapter. It was a pleasure to write a joint blog series “Hug and Nudge” with her.

To read more about our collaboration, please read this blog.

4 Vikesh Wallia

Marketing Lesson – Understanding the Boardroom & its Nuances

When it comes to learning about board leadership and independent directors, the name that immediately comes to my mind is Vikesh Wallia and his venture Board Stewardship. He has pioneered several services for the Indian board community and is the leading voice on board leadership in India. You can read his story here.

5 Michael Margolis

Marketing Lesson – Power and Application of Storytelling in Marketing

When it comes to business storytelling, there is none better than Michael Margolis globally. He has worked with clients like Facebook, NASA, and Google, and I have learned so much from his ventures viz Story University and Get Storied, and each of his social media posts. Michael has exposed me to the applications of storytelling in different areas of business and even life. It was a pleasure to host his Kinship workshop in New Delhi.

6 Peter Sterlacci

Marketing Lesson – Storytelling in Personal Branding

Peter pioneered personal branding in Japan and I learned many of my early lessons from his initiatives and collaborations. We wrote a series on Japan and India, and how the respective cultures shape the approaches to personal branding. One of my best blogs ever on “Spirituality, Social Media and Personal Branding” was published on Peter’s website and was ranked No. 2 in a global blogathon, organised by Peter, with participation by personal branding experts from across the world. The first and the last e-book (free downloads) are the creations of Peter.

7 Harjeet Khanduja

Marketing Lesson – Spirit of Service

Harjeet is one of the finest human beings and collaborators I have encountered in India. It was a pleasure to feature him in my book Heroes Amongst Us. Personally, I resonated with his story the most, as our stories both focus on facing one obstacle after another. He also has a good sense of humor and amazing humility. His versatility, from poetry to HR, from storytelling to leadership, is inspiring.

8 – Dr Janet Smith Warfield

Marketing Lesson – Words carry Energy (Communication)

Dr Janet is truly a Word Sculptress and our joint blog series “Two Perspectives” was a great learning exercise for me. I learned how to add positive energy to words and choose words consciously. The nuances of word sculpting is a skill that Dr Janet has mastered.

Dr Janet also contributed an article to my book “The Seven Joys of Life” and has written a popular book “Shift-Change Your Words, Change Your World”, available on Amazon.

9 – Shalabh Mittal

Marketing Lesson – Creating Aha moments

Shalabh Mittal has gently nudged me as a speaker-facilitator to create “Aha moments” for the learners/ fellows of the School for Social Entrepreneurs India. He was able to bring out my best and has been a great collaborator too. He is truly passionate about serving the underprivileged by grooming social entrepreneurs and is one of the architects who have created the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in India.

10 Dr Anand Sapre (my PhD guide)

Marketing Lesson- Practice What You Preach

Last but not least, is my PhD supervisor Dr AK Sapre. Dr Anand Sapre has deeply influenced me as a friend, philosopher, and guide. He was not only a great PhD guide, but also a role model and epitome of humaneness.

Dr Sapre was my favourite teacher during my MBA studies, and I was fortunate to do my doctoral studies under his guidance. His strong sense of ethics has always inspired me, and he has always pushed me to strive for excellence.

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Brief Profile

Dr Amit Nagpal is a personal branding and storytelling coach with a special interest in brand storytelling, data storytelling, and social media marketing through storytelling. He has over two and a half decades of experience as a teacher and practitioner of brand management and media marketing including television, print, and digital/new media.

He has co-authored the Amazon bestseller, Personal Branding Coach, storytelling and Beyond”. He believes “Digital is Magical” and stories are the most powerful tool to build brands and bonds. He's often sought after for his innovative techniques that blend traditional wisdom with modern research and trends in storytelling. To know more, visit www.dramitnagpal.com

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