Sudeep Misra
Business Strategy and Planning
Hewlett Packard
Family Background
Originally for Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Elder among two siblings. Very close-knit family although Globally dispersed. Father works in State Bank of India. Mother is a homemaker. Sister is an HR professional in the NCR region in India.
Contribution to the field
Neo Group is one of the top 'Services Globalization' advisory firms & I report directly to the Founder/Chairman/CEO. A huge amount of learning, new challenges & flexibility are things I absolutely love here. Wearing multiple hats here, I get to understand how Global businesses work & what they value
Suggestions to aspirants
1. Assess your skills, your strengths & weaknesses
2. Understand the various parts of the subject - 'marketing' e.g. 'Marketing Analytics' in a B2B company is very different from 'Marketing Communications' in B2C company
3. Where do your skills fit? What makes you unique? What values do you bring to the table?
4. And remeber, Marketing is not just Advertizing - Marketing is all about numbers
Recommended Courses and Certification
Classic marketing answer - 'It depends!'. Well it really depends on the type of job, company, industry, geography etc. However, a keen understanding of the subject and industry is essential. Degrees in Analytics, Communications, Business etc really help depending on where exactly you are headed.
Importance of STP
I believe that 'Differentiation' & 'Positioning' are extremely important for any product in this highly commoditized market today. Depending on the target market & industry, 'Segmentation' & 'Targeting' are very important to get the right message (not 'messaging') across to the right customer.
Brief yourself
I am a Global business professional with Management Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing industry experience in Business/ Market Analysis, Services/ Product Marketing, Business Strategy and Planning, Marketing Strategy, Go-To-Market and Project Management. I am based in the San Francisco bay area. I am currently a part of the HP WorldWide Marketing Operations HQ, where I primarily work in demand and capacity planning – including current state analysis, forecasted future state analysis, benchmarking and gap analysis, encompassing people, processes and systems, using various analytical models. Previously, I was the Head of Marketing and Globalization/ Sourcing Advisor for Neo Group, a niche Management Consulting firm. I started my career at Infosys as a Business Analyst- Engineer. I have an MBA degree in Global Marketing & Strategy from Thunderbird (World's #1 'International Business' B-school), and an Engineering degree in Information Technology from India.
Branding
'Brand Management' is one of the key pillars of marketing all by itself & plays a pivotal role in creating & maintaining awareness (among other things) about a product/company/service/brand. In large companies, individual brands are treated as separate businesses, with their own organizations!
Importance of Marketing
As a part of the HP WorldWide Marketing Operations HQ, I primarily work in demand and capacity planning – including current state analysis, forecasted future state analysis, benchmarking and gap analysis, encompassing people, processes and systems, using various analytical models. This is a very important role as it prepares the organization in planning for and executing even in times of any unexpected demands. It also gives an opportunity for the organization to do a inventory of its current state, identify bottlenecks and improve the whole operational cycle.
Competitiveness
Marketing is a key component of any business. Marketing identifies who would buy your product/service, communicates this to them, facilitate a first sale as well as a future sales. Marketing also shares key insights to constantly improve the product/service and its delivery mechanism
Differences
Marketing facilitates sales but doesn't necessarily complete a sale. Marketing analyzes & implements which market to target to, how to position for each segment, messaging etc. Sales analyzes the customers' need for the product/service individually & then actually completes the sale
