Quick Chat with Meera Iyer

It’s not often you come across a person whose every attribute is as enviable as the other sweeps you off your feet! Ms Meera Iyer, Head of Marketing at bigbasket.com is well one such person. The recent opportunity to interview Meera was a personally enriching experience as a fellow marketer while also reinforcing my pride in being a woman. Needless to say, I was awestruck at the clarity, precision and passion in Meera’s views on areas that ranged from organic reach, the future trends in marketing and the challenges of balancing family and career.

What is the one marketing aspect that is most important to you as an innovator?

I would say today, its Digital marketing. This is because its evolving so rapidly and also increasing in terms of ability to reach larger audiences reasonably well! So innovation in media planning (rather than traditionally the product) is something that’s vital to me.

What you think about Instagram as a digital tool? How can a brand be benefited by using Instagram?

In my opinion, Instagram got popular on the insight that people like to watch pretty/ memorable pictures, share it & feel good. Its visual & transcends language barriers. And obviously, it worked better than all other applications at the time in terms of user experience & hence left the others behind in the race. So long as brands remember the insight that makes the platform click & use it effectively, they will do well. All marketing platforms work better if you approach it from a consumer stand point of why are they into this behavior in the first place? What would make them care & share something? Answering these questions before you set out to use a platform can be the difference between success & failure. 

 Which one works better: established influencer or microinfluencer?

Its easier to execute an established influencer campaign – I will look at it not just from point of view of impact but the effort to create it. Obviously, more the people talking about you the better – makes it spread & to multiple microcosms of customers but it’s a difficult one to manage.

 Some people would say that an idea has no worth unless it gets executed. How do you approach the two sides of innovation; the ideas and the execution at BB?

I have always maintained that “Well Done is Better than Well Said”. An idea is meaningless if it does not see the light of the day through good effective execution. I look for doers rather than “strategisers” and “creative thinkers” only. At bigbasket, with us being in the service business, the execution & customer experience becomes paramount to our success. We follow strong project management practices at bigbasket to ensure that winning ideas deliver results through flawless execution. 

Do you suggest TV or Digital if you wish to aim youth? why ?

If I have the choice both! If I don’t, TV over digital. Its still the medium that gives maximum credibility & lowest cost per reach!

Do you believe in organic reach? Which brand, according to you, is working with that strategy and what would be your inputs on the same?

Of course there is organic reach. The whole publishing industry benefits from organic reach. The music, film & entertainment industry at large are others that get a lot of organic reach. The “viral” dream is all about organic & you have had a reasonable number of campaigns that have benefitted out of it.

What are the 3 things you want consumers to remember about your company?

1. We deliver high quality groceries to families and help them live healthier.

2. You can trust us to deliver a fantastic customer experience from order placing to delivering to post delivery calls.

3. We are a responsible organization that believes in doing well by doing good!

The challenge of balancing family and career.

It is a challenge – and you deal with them & conquer them, like with any challenge. That said, you need to actively form support systems for you to fall back on. A lone man/ woman army will leave you just exhausted & bitter. So invest in community building & have a group that is always watching out for you!

What is your favorite activity outside of work?

As a personal activity, it would be reading books. But as a family, we love travelling & playing together.

What are your 3 favorite Digital Marketing Tools?

1. Google keywords planner/ Google Adwords

2. Facebook Ads

3. Similarweb

How do you stay updated on the latest trends in Digital Marketing? What are the Digital Marketing resources (like blogs, websites, apps) you visit regularly?

I depend on Google & Facebook account management teams to really keep me updated on these 2, which anyways get bulk of the spends. Learning from peers & “organic” sharing of resources plus a bit of learning through the various conferences & seminars one attends is the other popular way to get updated on this. A lot of times, you see a particular campaign, like it & go about figuring how that was made possible.

Your views on :"2018 will be all about clean label"

I agree but not sure on the timelines. With product differentiation getting lesser & lesser on many consumer products, people will choose brands basis its principles & ideals too in addition to all other factors. You see that in developed markets already & India will also catch the trend eventually.

And yes I am a big basketeer too!

 Read more about Meera: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/meeraiyer/