Taking your Digital to the next level with Swati Jha Prakash

Enabling your brand and products on digital is an expensive game when you are investing and relying on a third party to get the job done. And obviously, very few of the business owners are particularly enabled with that skill. But the results of putting your business online can be life-changing for a company. And many small and medium-sized businesses have already done it. 

Selling directly through amazon or Flipkart is helpful to a lot of brands but they mostly take up around 30-40% margin from small and medium enterprises on each order, which is a lot to lose, right? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. 

Coming back to the point, rather than just reaching your customers digitally through paid and organic media campaigns, what are other ways to entice your customers and make a seamless product experience for them? 

Let’s find out with Mrs. Swati Jha, but first who is Mrs. Swati Jha?

She is a branding professional with more than a decade of experience in Branding, PR, and marketing communications, an influencer, and a mother of two. She has also been my boss who has taught me a lot.

QUESTIONS

• When did you start working and what was your first job?

I started as an English faculty at Delhi Public School. Three years was quite a good time to taste the waters and I realized that Advertising was my calling. I stepped into advertising in 2012 and there hasn’t been any looking back since then. My career today is a mix of 360-degree marketing and I cherish the kind of marketing campaigns that I have executed so far.

• Do you like your current job?

Yes! I am currently heading Brand Marketing for a Noida-based agency, Greenhonchos. Since fashion and lifestyle have always been a key interest area for me I thoroughly enjoy managing some of the top fashion brands of India.

• What is it like to work in a dedicated marketing agency?

It’s fun and requires a lot of passion for marketing. We work beyond working hours and extend our consulting beyond just digital. With integrated marketing invading the digital space, brands today are more inclined towards executing multi-channel marketing with an integrated plan. Marketing professionals today need to be well versed in all the different channels since backward integrations have replaced traditional modes of communication.

• Passion v/s Money, what should a person go for and why?

Honestly, I will go for both. I have my priorities aligned and both passion and money support that!

• How can a startup or medium level business, can market its products/software on digital at low cost?

I feel, instead of investing in a digital agency, start-ups must hire in-house resources for digital marketing. Since the market is flooded today with digital agencies, brands need to have at least a basic understanding of the digital ecosystem. Otherwise, it might lead to the burning of both time and money. Hiring a digital agency, at the second phase with better budgets and better understanding is a BETTER IDEA!

• What do you think which brand or startup right now is already doing an awesome job in marketing their products on digital?

Here, let me step out of a marketer’s shoe and step in a mom’s shoe. I feel the way Oreo has changed the landscape that was dominated by Parle and Britannia. I mean not just hiring a brand ambassador like Ranbir Kapoor to bring back the trend of cream biscuits, I feel they have done a massive job. Oreo has positioned itself in a way that it has invaded the deserts world massively. Today it’s a selling point for many shakes/cakes/chocolates and biscuits of course.

• Brands and businesses who are really already doing really well on digital, how can they take it to the next level?

I feel, with consistency a lot of upscaling happens. We see that brands are very active at certain times and then they go low on the push. That takes a toll on brand success since brands today need to be constantly visible, and occasional disappearance may lead to extinction.

To take their marketing game to the next level, I feel there is no alternative to innovation. Brands must innovate ways to get their marketing game on point and increase their reach and further engagements.

• Social media influencers stay online all day, and obviously they go through a lot of criticism. What should be the best defense for them?

Well, that’s quite tricky. Not all influencers are online the whole day. Their followers, however, may be active all the time 🙂

• You are also a beauty influencer, how is that journey going?

It’s going great. I am more of a Mom influencer and I aim to bring positivity to the lives of fellow moms, who feel drained out after having kids. There is more to our lives than just being moms or just being employees of xyz company. A woman has all rights to pursue her passion and she must never give up on looking good, feeling good, or chasing her dreams. Learn more here: https://www.instagram.com/alluringidol/.

• A lot of women in India are oppressed by their own families and peers, and you seem someone quite the opposite of that. What should a person do to get out of that oppressed situation and accomplish what you have accomplished?

I feel it’s very subjective. No matter what, women have always been criticized, for what they wear, for their jobs, for the way they manage their house, their social status, so on and so forth. I feel the way women must see it, is, they must accept it as criticisms and must counter them with their actions. An “ I don’t care” attitude answers it all. 

Being a mom of two daughters, I always try to give them an upbringing that emphasizes that women’s empowerment is not needed till the time women know their power. I feel women must do what they feel is right, judgements are anyways always there to guard against escalated actions.

• You are a mother of two and also a prominent brand manager, how do you juggle that?

That’s the crux of my life. A brand manager for different brands often juggles managing her brand. The struggle is real. But honestly, it’s manageable and it’s quite fun. I feel when you know to uplift the brands of others, your branding gets stronger too. There are days when extended hours at work give me sad children at home, who have been missing their mom. But there are also days when I am a full-time mom taking care of my kids and dedicating all her time to family. Such days are rare, but yet my work rewards me that on occasions.

• 70% of people hate their job, what do you think about it and why does it exist?

I love my job irrespective of wherever I have been. For me, that’s a prerequisite to continue working at a place. For people who hate their jobs, there is just one piece of advice, to become an entrepreneur, you must taste the waters of employment, else it’s tasteless. 

I would like to thank Mrs. Swati for being extremely supportive. I hope you guys enjoyed this line of questioning, I know reading is boring and most of us don’t like to read at all, but for what it’s worth, I hope this article adds value to your life. Let me know your thoughts on the same in the comment section.

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