ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

BCom: Mithibai College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai

MBA/PGDM: Lala Lajpatrai Academy of Management Studies, Mumbai

PROFILE SUMMARY

Senior marketing and business growth leader combining brand-building rigour, media investment depth and commercial accountability. Experienced in building and scaling marketing functions, owning marketing P&L, advising founders and CXOs, shaping go-to-market architecture, and translating positioning, performance and media investment into business growth across consumer, education and media businesses.

CONSULTING EXPERIENCE

1 years

EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Self-Employed
Independent Brand & Business Consultant | Fractional CMO Jun 2024 - Present
Partnering with founders and CXOs to design and execute marketing strategy, GTM architecture, and growth systems. Current and recent advisory engagements:
Axis My India · Atomberg Technologies · MuSo · ResearchAyu · Sukoon Healthcare · Brainly Inc · Sage Universities
- Designed end-to-end GTM strategies — ICP definition, positioning frameworks and funnel architecture — tailored to each company’s stage, category and competitive context.
- Conducted media and performance gap analyses identifying optimisation levers that improved brand reach and reduced unit economics.
- Re-architected brand narratives and communication frameworks to sharpen category differentiation and support expansion into new segments and geographies.
- Advised CEOs and founders on marketing org design, capability building and leadership alignment.

Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd. - Byju’s
SVP & Head of Marketing Jan 2018 - Oct 2024
Led all marketing for India’s largest EdTech company — ATL, BTL, digital, analytics, consumer insights, media, and partnerships — with full P&L accountability across four product formats: Online, Offline, K3, K9, and K12.
- Scaled Byju’s to 100M+ subscribers across four product formats — Byju’s Classes, Disney Byju’s Early Learn, Byju’s Tuition Centres, and Aakash Byju’s — through disciplined GTM architecture and multi-channel execution.
- Delivered 30% improvement in conversion rates and 20% reduction in customer acquisition costs while managing one of the largest marketing budgets in the Indian internet ecosystem.
- Elevated brand awareness (TOMA, Aided, Unaided) from mid-20s to high-90s — one of the most significant brand transformations in Indian EdTech.
- ₹150 crore in media and marketing cost savings over five years through disciplined investment governance and smarter trading — without compromising reach or brand equity.
- Led the world’s largest school contact programme — 6 million students annually across 50+ markets — contributing ₹160–170 crore in annual top-line revenue.
- Launched and scaled 80+ Byju’s Tuition Centres — designing the full GTM framework, local activation strategy, and brand experience from ground up.
- Negotiated global strategic partnerships with BCCI, ICC, FIFA, Disney, Discovery, Google India, and Meta India.
- Integrated marketing operations across six acquired entities — WhiteHat Jr, Toppr, Great Learning, Aakash Byju’s, and international subsidiaries — into a unified, high-performance marketing function.

Sequoia Capital India
VP & Head of Media Jan 2015 - Dec 2017
Strategic GTM and media advisor to Sequoia’s India portfolio across EdTech, FinTech, D2C, Consumer, B2B, and B2C categories. Core team member in positioning Sequoia as a thought-leadership brand within the Indian start-up ecosystem.
- Led GTM strategy, media planning, and brand architecture for 60+ portfolio companies — including Zomato, Ola, Byju’s, Freecharge, Practo, Healthkart, Go Colour, Craftsvilla to name a few
- Conceptualised and executed the first-ever PAN India advertising campaigns for several now-iconic consumer brands — building playbooks that took them from regional presence to national scale.
- Developed and deployed crisis communication frameworks across the portfolio — enabling investee companies to identify, contain, and recover from reputational risks.
- Designed long-term reputation recovery roadmaps leveraging brand storytelling, media strategy, and strategic partnerships.
- Acted as trusted advisor to founders and CEOs at inflection points — fundraising, product launches, category creation, and competitive escalation.

Hindustan Unilever Limited
Media Director, South Asia Mar 2008 - Dec 2014
Managed Unilever’s annual media portfolio of USD 700 million across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Led brand media strategy for Dove, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakmé, Lux, Surf Excel, Lifebuoy, and Closeup.
- Delivered 8–9% annual media cost efficiency improvement through new trading templates and strategic negotiation models — translating to hundreds of crores in savings without reduction in reach or brand visibility.
- Negotiated first-of-its-kind content collaboration agreements with major South Asian broadcasters — delivering 10% higher media efficiency and 25–30% improvement in brand recall metrics.
- Pioneered Unilever’s digital transformation in South Asia through the POEM framework — integrating ML-led audience insights with programmatic buying, delivering 30% increase in digital ROI.
- Won 3 Cannes Lions (2014) for the Mobile Radio Station campaign. Named MMA Global Advertiser and Business Leader of the Year the same year.
- Selected for Unilever–Meta exclusive leadership exchange programme, Palo Alto, CA — one of a small global cohort for digital acceleration immersion.
- Created and scaled digital-first intellectual properties — Beauty Encounters and Green GRPs — adopted across South Asian and Southeast Asian markets.

Colgate Palmolive India
Country Media Manager Jul 2007 - Feb 2008
Led media strategy, planning, and buying across ATL and digital platforms within Colgate’s rigorous, evidence-driven marketing culture.
- Designed data-driven media strategies grounded in awareness tracking, consumer insights, and competitive benchmarking.
- Established multimedia accountability frameworks introducing structured ROI measurement discipline into Colgate India’s media function.
- Forged strategic content partnerships with broadcasters and digital platforms — integrated media relationships at lower cost per impact.

Mindshare Fulcrum
Business Director Jan 2000 - Jun 2007
Seven years leading 360-degree integrated media planning for Unilever’s Oral Care, Male Grooming, and Skincare portfolios — the professional foundation from which all client-side leadership was built.
- Delivered sustained market share growth and share-of-voice leadership across multiple Unilever categories through 360-degree campaign execution.
- Pioneered innovative trading templates and digital revenue models delivering measurable cost efficiencies for Unilever.
- Built deep expertise in Unilever’s proprietary benchmarks and planning methodologies — one of the agency’s most trusted voices on Unilever business over seven years.

Indian Express Newspapers
Senior Sales Executive May 1998 - Dec 1999
- Achieved the highest revenue realisation in the team — securing premium ad placements and long-term advertiser contracts.