Seeking to create evocative brand experiences steeped in culture and layered with meaning.

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Wandering Koreatown I found a welcoming watering hole._edited.jpg

I am an experienced New York based brand strategist with a love for problem solving, storytelling and human behavior. With close to 15 years of advertising experience in both the account handling and strategic planning disciplines, I bring a unique understanding of clients' business challenges and brand priorities. Of Indian origin, raised and worked in Dubai, educated in the US and empowered by constant wanderlust, I have an informed global perspective and an impassioned point of view that aids an integrated creative process.

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EXPERTISE

BRAND STRATEGY

TEAM LEADERSHIP

NEW BUSINESS PITCHING

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

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BRANDS

CADILLAC

Despite its status as an American cultural icon Cadillac had become an outdated brand globally. This image issue was more acute in the Middle East, where it didn’t enjoy the same cultural relevance or historical equity as the US. This was only compounded by the clear preference for German cars in the luxury automotive category. Cadillac was perceived as lacking on technology, performance, styling and sheer badge value. These barriers to entry were addressed via a four pronged strategy at both the brand and dealer level. Localization of the new global Dare Greatly platform, product education, test drive activations and culturally relevant experiences designed to contemporize the brand and connect with younger millennial audiences across integrated channels.

Lead Strategist New Business Win - Brand & Dealer

THE RITZ-CARLTON

Dubai is amongst the top five hotel markets globally. Competition is stiff and swift in the luxury hospitality industry, which meant that The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai, a 17 year old resort, needed to reposition itself in order to remain relevant and sought after. The repositioning process entailed immersion with key stakeholders - Ladies & Gentlemen, industry experts, hotel guests, F&B customers, luxury experts - to assess the resort's strengths and to create a framework for further amplification. Identify the white space amongst the competitive set where the hotel could further own a meaningful territory. Outline the areas of enhancement and investment in order to make the guest experience more relevant and premium. Develop a positioning platform that the resort could consistently activate against across all its offerings.

Lead Strategist

PEPSICO

In a rapidly changing corporate and consumer environment, the 'how' and 'why' is just as important as what you do. Big business comes with big responsibility. In the Asia, Middle East, North Africa region, PepsiCo suffered a poor reputation with its brands commonly associated with health and environment issues. In order to change these perceptions the company's Performance with Purpose mantra needed to be packaged and talked about in a way that would be understandable and engaging, banding together myriad stakeholders from share holders to regulators, employees and consumers. With an inside-out approach at its heart, a movement idea was created to inform, inspire, engage and mobilize to ensure mutual responsibility, action and benefit across multiple channels.

Lead Strategist New Business Win

DUBAI TOURISM

For Europeans, Winter is the enemy they have conceded to. They know it's coming, they know it will be vicious, they just have to find a way to survive it. And one way is to start planning their first getaway post Christmas - Easter. Dubai despite its proximity, isn't always an obvious choice. Apprehension about climate, culture and geography tend to prevail. The task was to shift Dubai from being a 'some day' destination to a 'today' destination by tapping into a variety of consumer path-to-travel micro moments. To move Dubai to the top of the bucket list, an enduring and immersive platform was created to highlight everything 'sunny' it had to offer. So sunny that the feeling stays with you long after the vacation.

Lead Strategist New Business Win

MERCI CHOCOLATES

A legacy Storck brand in Europe, merci was failing to make an impact in the boxed chocolate category in the Middle East. To find its way into the grocery basket, it needed to gain relevance, penetration and visibility. The opportunity lay in its name - to position merci as 'the' thank you brand. Research showed that despite its rich cultural roots, the fast pace of modern society was compromising even the simplest of traditions. Gratitude had become reserved for occasions. The task was to put the heart back into every day thank you's in a way that brought the brand closer to Arab consumers.

Lead Strategist New Business Win

OLAY

Olay is a challenger brand in a highly competitive and fragmented Middle East skincare market that is divided between anti-aging and whitening products. Skin whitening is the primary desire for Arab women with the whitening market dominated by legacy brand Fair & Lovely. To counter this Olay had to unearth and tap into an unmet need - not just fairer skin but healthy, glowing fairness. This insight along with several other communication and shopper strategies across the brand portfolio resulted in Olay Arabia becoming the second largest P&G market globally.

Lead Strategist & Business Head

CADBURY

In non-legacy markets like the Middle East, Cadbury struggled with low brand awareness and poor product knowledge of even its iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk. The task was to establish both share of basket as well as share of heart through the global Free the Joy platform. To do so meant understanding what joy meant to young women in Saudi Arabia, the largest market. In a changing society where the natural instinct is to curb any form of spontaneity, how would the release of joy manifest? What cultural tensions could the brand tap into to encourage joy in a credible and meaningful way? And how could these be married with product truths as the brand portfolio grew?

Lead Strategist

ABU DHABI COMMERCIAL BANK

In line with its tagline, "Money can't buy ambition," ADCB had big ambitions. To create unassailable advantage in a highly commoditized, over-banked market. Despite being a leading bank in the region with enviable reputation and scale, the brand needed to increase acquisition, consolidate, improve their cross sell ratio and create affinity with the wealthy local sub-segment. A strategic roadmap was created to place 'ambition' at the heart of the brand promise, not just in communication but also in product and delivery channels, be it online or inbranch. From merely talking about ambition to envisioning, enabling and empowering ambition.

Lead Strategist

MAI DUBAI WATER

Water is water is water, right? Doesn't have to be. Mai Dubai launched in 2015 amongst giants like Masafi who dominated retail, home and office. Within a year the brand had a 5% market share, went on to become the in-flight water on Emirates airline and won several marketing awards in the beverage category. So how do you create distinction in a sea of sameness. You lean into the origin story - not glaciers and springs - but the same spirit that makes every drop clearly Dubai.

Lead Strategist New Business Win

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