17 days in marketing is all I could take

Some memories, good and bad, always remain etched in your mind.

After spending 15 odd years in advertising, I was keen to move into marketing and brand management.

Off those initial 15 years in advertising, I had the good fortune of handling two-wheeler brands throughout those 15 yrs. Rajdoot, Yamaha, LML Vespa and Bajaj. In some ways I had become a two-wheeler communications specialist. It was by chance, but it helped me specialize in an important, exciting and growing category. (Today, when I have left advertising after 40 years, 32 odd years was spent in managing two-wheeler brands. HERO itself was for 15 yrs.)

I started getting offers from two-wheeler companies to join their brand management and marketing teams. Some even considered me for their corporate communications. But somehow, I wasn't prepared to or lacked the courage to leave the wonderful world of advertising. Because I found my comfort and security here.

And then it suddenly happened.

I got a huge offer from Hero Motors, to join them as Head of Marketing. Hero Motors had just acquired the marketing rights of BMW motorcycles. They got 100 units and had to sell them at a massive price of 5 Lacs. In the mid-90s, 5L for a bike was a huge amount since it was mostly commuter biking which was popular. Adventure and power biking hadn't yet caught on in India, other than for a few young industrialists.

My role was to create a marketing and distribution set up and sell these initial lot of BMW motorcycles.

I moved from Mumbai to Delhi. I was based at their factory near Ghaziabad. I was initially put up at a hotel in South Delhi. Besides the opportunity of setting up and working in a two-wheeler company, on an iconic brand like BMW motorcycles, I was excited to bring all my 15 years of advertising and two-wheeler experience into this new job.

My first 3-4 days was getting into the groove. Understanding the task and challenges and getting used to a job which was very different from advertising. The formal corporate culture in the office, the silence, the boring atmosphere of people glued to their desks, no mixing or talking with each other was a huge culture shock for me. But I accepted it and tried to condition my mind to this new world.

From the 2nd week, I started visiting dealerships across the country. That was exciting. I felt very important when dealers laid out the red carpet to welcome me. I was the Marketing Head of Hero Motors.

After a week of traveling, I got back to my desk, started formalizing the marketing strategies, developing creative ideas with the ad agency and planning with my marketing and sales teams.

But I was missing the advertising culture. I was not being able to enjoy this work life. Not being able to fit in, even though I tried very hard. Every evening, when I got back to my lonely hotel room, I started feeling restless, depressed, unhappy and it started dawning on me that maybe I am not cut out for this work.

And then came the trigger.

I realized the management culture did not fit into my scheme of things. I was not used to some of the decisions being taken. It scared and disappointed me. It broke me.

I packed my bags and literally ran back to Mumbai without telling anyone. Put in my resignation and quit.

Just 17 days in marketing and I realized that it's not my cuppa a tea.

I went back to advertising, my love, my passion and most importantly, my comfort zone.

A few years later, I was in an agency that was handling Hero Honda. I was worried that my experience at the sister company Hero Motors could come to bite me and in turn my agency if they got to know that I was the same guy who ran away from HM and now would be managing their business.

So I decided to tell my boss and together we went and met the MD of Hero Honda and informed him about the Hero Motors experience. He was cool about it and told me not to worry about it. A huge load was taken off my back.

But what the 17 day experience in marketing taught me is that I was not cut out for anything else but advertising.

So here I am, 40+ years in advertising, more than 32 years of handing two-wheelers and still loving it.

Because advertising taught me communication, marketing, sales, developing brand strategies, building brands, creating exciting ideas, teamwork and most importantly how to have fun at work.

For me, it's the best job in the world.

#advertising #marketing #sales #brands #branding #corporate #communication #twowheeler #marcomguru #marcommasterclass