5 Incredible Professional Lessons I Learnt at BrandCare

Over the last one and a half years, I was extremely fortunate to work for BrandCare Medical Advertising and Consultancy Pvt. Ltd as a part of their digital team. The number of professional learnings that came with this incredible healthcare branding firm with a niche expertise and a huge repository on therapy insights cannot be quantified in words. 

The ways in which this company has shaped the healthcare landscape by positioning healthcare brands as category leaders are phenomenal and I was extremely grateful to be a part of the amazing team which makes the magic happen for numerous healthcare clients for decades through incisive and evidence-based strategies. 

Here are 5 amazing professional lessons I was able to imbibe from the incredible thought leaders at BrandCare.  

Improving efficiency with processes 

One can always brainstorm and arrive at a solution for a business problem. The challenge is to make these solutions timeless. The answer to this is creating processes that can evolve with time. Over the last one and a half-decade, Rashmi Thosar, The CEO of BrandCare has inspired everyone at BrandCare to create some of the most phenomenal processes. From project ideation to planning and all the way to delivery. Everything seems so effortless. The truth is that over the years there has been so much hard work put into identifying the challenges and creating processes for deriving solutions that executing projects is immensely systematic. Over time Rashmi ma’am groomed me so well to create process without even me knowing about it. Now when I look back I can see the result it had on my efficiency and productivity. I am incredibly grateful for this professional lesson. I don’t think any B-School can teach this art. 

Briefing the right amount 

The right amount of briefing is so important. One can be an amazing manager and practically draw a roadmap for the team members to manage projects. This has its own shortcomings. One never gets to bring his or her own ideas on the table. Pankti Shukla, the VP of BrandCare was so instrumental in pushing me to think out of the box. I will be honest, at times it was very frustrating and I did feel lost when I would come up with ideas and she would reject them. Having said that, she would always encourage me to think more, think hard and think out of the box. The result - an incredible amount of reading and research to arrive at a solution to a business problem. I developed the sensibility to look at a challenge from so many perspectives and come up with amazing ideas. I am so grateful to her for inculcating this habit in me. 

Speaking when the time is right 

One can be over-enthusiastic and believe that his or her idea is the best. Sadly, most of the times that’s not true. The key here is to be less rigid, open to feedback and being extremely flexible. R Subramaniam, the digital head at BrandCare once told me, “you should always be a better listener. Once you get into the habit of listening more, you will always be at a better position to collect your thoughts and ideas and present them in a much cogent way.” This was one lesson that not only helped me with the external stakeholders of BrandCare but also the internal ones. This is one lesson I think I will keep with myself for a very very long time. 

Positivity is the key to productivity 

When you interact with Bhavika Shankar, the group head for the digital vertical at BrandCare, the first thing you will notice is the unimaginable amount of positive vibes she exudes. I was extremely fortunate to be a part of her team. She would say, “Deb, we need to do this task, how we do it is on us - We can either crib and complain about it or take it as a challenge to improve ourselves.” I am so incredibly thankful to Bhavika to always inspire me to do the latter and fill me up with positivity. She also made me fall in love with excel sheets and task lists. If one thinks one is not organised enough, an excel sheet can do wonders for them, at least they did for me! 

Developing eyes for detail

Jaydeep Thosar, the Director at BrandCare took my interview that went on for more than an hour one and a half years ago. The interview spanned across topics that included the work I have done in the past and my professional aspirations. The interview did not even feel like an interview, it was more like a conversation. What I did not understand at that time is he was accessing me in so many criteria while talking to me. He effortlessly determined if I was a perfect fit for the job role I had applied for, if I was a cultural fit at BrandCare and if I will be a value add to the current team. I am sure he accessed me on many more parameters while engaging me in casual conversation. I learnt so much from this and implemented this in the conversations I would have with clients and it worked like magic! The casual conversations helped me to understand their pain points and how I can provide them with solutions to address them. This is also one of those skill set that I don’t think any B-school can teach. 

If you intend to make your career in the healthcare space, I would strongly recommend you visit BrandCare.net and check out the work they do! It’s a fabulous place to work and an arena where one can learn so much!

Lastly, I have an incredible amount of gratitude towards Rashmi Thosar and Jaydeep Thosar for having faith in me, giving me numerous opportunities to upskill myself and letting me be a part of BrandCare for the last one and a half years and all my colleagues at BrandCare for teaching numerous skills and inspiring me, and for allowing me to do the same.