Being Professional @ Protein Bars !

I got to understand the benefits of PROTEIN when I joined this Protein /Nutrition Bar company 5+ years back. Well the only place where you are not allowed to move out from the meeting without receiving a protein bar.

Wowwww ! First Day at the job and you get to taste 10 different nutrition and protein bars. What else do you need in life ! With advertising, street sales, high end sales, marketing, purchase (negotiations) experience , here I was just holding on this new category of Protein Bars. All I knew about marketing this category is "JO DIKHTA HAI WOH BIKTA HAI".

Hello (Hello! was just to make you attentive) so here, me the "marketing athlete" have to go through lot of "yes things" & "No things".

Yes Things :

1) Freedom to experiment & Innovate

2) Freedom to put forward the craziest ideas and get a YESSSSH on it

3) Freedom to say "NO" (when its really a NO)

4) Failures are accepted with smiles and lot of learning

No Things :

1) Budget constraints ( So my new currency was Products - Went to medieval age - started off with Barter )

2) Resources (We do our own work - we do not depend upon Agencies - We do not share our revenues with any agency)

Being a Brand Manager .....

• You must know what your market is all about! Go talk to your customer - one of the feedback I received when I was doing a survey for my new product launch - "Mam - how will you describe the taste of this new protein chips" .. Answer was really surprising ...shocking ...she said "Hot like you and spicy like me" ... well what analysis do i derive from here.
• You must know what your channel partners requires ! They are the ones who are are pushing your product in the market - ask for their support - "Poochne se sab milta hai ... so poocho(ask)". At one of the A class outlet in Colaba - Mumbai - I asked for some branding space for free of cost (Uffffff). Answer was ...."Aapko pata hai ek Tile ( pointing at the floor showing one single tile) ka cost kya hai .... 22000 ka rate chal raha hai, aaap kitna doge branding ka." Branding rates are now decided by the real estate rates :)))
• You must know what your team requires ! Its a Love and Hate relationship (not the literal meaning of it) There are no fixed rules that can manage your team. I follow simple things - Appreciate the best things, for feedback, suggestions, pin pointing, warnings - do it with a cute smile. I remember the Rule : Productivity will be more only if people are happy.
• You must know the required skills ! One man show requires the following - Negotiation (get it damn cheap for your company) - Design (CorelDraw - Photoshop - Premier Video Editing should be handy) - Creativity (Delete google for feeding your creativity) - Human Resource (Know how to handle people, get your things done) - Analytics ( Everyone love numbers - Excel sheet is must ) - Digital ( more than media spend plan - know the strategies and communication)
• You must know the vendors ! Pick up every call even if your phone is rings every 5 minutes. These vendors can be media, agency, manufacturers of merchandise & so on. (Blacklist those vendors who offers commissions & incentives for purchase orders - have come across lot of them & today they are distance away)
• You must know your sales team ! Your sales team should be your marketing team extension. Once a sales person asked "Humare idhar kuch marketing nahi hoti hai sir, sales kaise kare" This is not a question to discuss - to spend on major towns or spread your budget in each and every town. For which my answer was "Product mein dum hai, marketing ki itni zaroorat nahi"... But yes to take it to next step you need to invest in marketing ... which we are doing it very wisely. Proud to mention that we are the ones who have launched, created and nurtured nutrition & protein bar category in India.
• You must know to unlearn things ! For the protein category - the traditional marketing does not work. You need new concepts - concepts that touch individual people as opposed to mass marketing. Mantra for cracking this industry - " Reach out to every single Individuals in Masses"(Events & Activation) & "Joh Dikta hai woh Bikta hai" (Visibility)
• You must know to Network (Socialize) ! Meet ! Meet ! Meet ! Speak ! Speak ! Speak ! Exchange Visiting Card and your work is done. Lot of new ideas are generated. If in case you are at times too lazy - you can just sign in to LinkedIN
• You must know to take it in writing ! Corporate Rule - Everything should be Written ! People can change their words anytime, any decision taken should be documented. Somewhere in my previous projects - I was asked to stop the work of a client ( one of the biggest client for the agency) as they had not paid their previous month dues. I asked my VP to send me a mail to stop their work. The mail never came, i didn't stop the work. And seeing the best work out of the agency - the client retained this agency for the next 1 year too, paying the amount in advance every month hereon.
• You must know to simply things ! Corporate Today : You should walk upto the car, open the door, start the car, push the clutch pedal, slide in the first gear, slowly release the accelerator pedal, car moves ahead, if raining start the wiper, at night on the headlights, take left, take right, go straight.......(mostly unproductive talks ...long meetings)...... Ideally it should be: Car should reach from point A to point B - keeping it simple.

Some Achievements ( of course with the support of my entire team )

• Launched 4 New Protein Bars Brands
• Re-launched Nutrition Breakfast Bar
• Launched India's first Protein Chips (Non-Fried & Non-Baked)
• Successfully Launched India's first FIT CINEMA FESTIVAL - Season 1 for Cyclists ( this will be monthly affair now )
• Launching a Innovative Tour - Mumbai Tour (Athlete Visiting Premier Gyms in Multiple Cities)
• 1200+ Events in the span of 5 Years ( This year 250+ Events across India )
• 15+ Popular Athletes with the company
• Lot of Influencers & Celebrities promoting our company
• 5+ Strong tie ups with Popular Health Apps
• Every 6 Months to 1 year - a new product is out for launch

& much more......

Ending Note ( Some hot tips )

• Love your Work - if you don't feel like getting up in the morning and heading to work - find a new job. It's better to be called as founder (for the time till you get a new job) ... now a days a gap between your career is completely fine... today it is known as Entrepreneurship Gap ... i.e tried starting a business , failed and now back to job.
• Be Humble - Be more of "Listen" Person rather than "talk" person. Moreover if you listen, the person on the other side feels so happy about it. Spread Happiness. Try out.
• Learned from one of my MBA student - The way to simplify life is to accept that somethings are beyond our control, have to leave those things to time, destiny or whatever. Say to yourself, she said "No matter what - ill be happy" , "ill do anything and everything in my power to make my present worth living" , "Once you align and make your present worth living, your future would automatically become worth living", "Just decide to be happy". Finally her statement ended with "Hogaya mera bolke" :)

Signing off ! Do connect at [email protected] - Happy to Help !