India team marketing day: Insights from Adobe, AWS, and Salesforce Leadership

Within the ever-changing landscape of marketing, staying ahead of the curve is essential for organisations aiming to drive growth. Yesterday we hosted a marketing team day in Bangalore and we had the privilege of three extraordinary external guests to attend and answer some of our burning questions. Joining us was Anindita Veluri, CMO at Adobe, Japnit Kaur, Head SMB Marketing AWS India, and Gourav Sinha, Senior Director - Product Marketing at Salesforce. This article will walk you through some of the insights they shared.?

The conversation panned around many topics. All three marketing leaders emphasized the customer experience in their marketing strategies. This commitment to customer-centricity is highlighted by key figures within marketing leadership, providing valuable insights into their approach and success. Anindita stressed the importance of focusing on the customer and investing time in direct selling to help improve customer empathy. This is a point I particularly resonate with. Keeping the customer at the centre of everything you do is imperative to the success of a business.?

Adaptability is a key player in having a growth mindset. Gourav noted it is important to run experiments to ‘to drive efficiency and get more productive’. Being willing to change leaves openness to continuous improvements and letting data lead the way with marketing tactics.?

Anindita had a perspective that underscores the pivotal role marketing plays in revenue generation. She noted that marketing is not merely a support function, but a driver of revenue, earning its place at the decision-making table. By providing value through customer-centric strategies, marketing becomes a key part of the business, controlling revenue streams and influencing overall success.

Of course, we couldn’t have a discussion without AI being mentioned. Japnit stated that AI will lead to faster marketing and can be used to scale. But Gourav and Anindita raised that companies should assess how responsible their AI use is. Balancing the scalability of AI with its impact on creativity and ensuring responsible use underscores the organization's commitment to ethical marketing practices. A use case of AI for personalization was highlighted- AI was used with data to significantly personalize user journeys on the brand website. For one leader, having Gen AI in the marketing function is now a mandate due to the many use cases and benefits. AI tools have also been integrated into products. For example, a tabloid dashboard that is heavily AI enabled providing vital real-time insights.

Failure emerged as a prominent theme throughout the discussion. The consensus among all three leaders was encapsulated by the phrase 'fail fast.' This shared perspective underlines the recognition that failures offer invaluable learning experiences. The approach also encourages a culture of experimentation and learning without fear of repercussions.?

Our India team marketing day proved to be a powerhouse of insights, unraveling the magic behind successful marketing strategies as shared by the industry experts—Anindita Veluri of Adobe, Japnit Kaur from AWS, and Gourav Sinha of Salesforce. Navigating the realm of marketing requires marketers to stay ahead of the curve. Thank you to Anindita, Japnit and Gourav for joining us and sharing your invaluable insights and thank you to our Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Jaggi A L, for arranging the session!