About me
Core Areas
Strategic Marketer in Digital Media
I am a Strategic Marketer in the Digital space. I specialize in subscription and freemium B2C & B2B Models. I manage digital transformation, P&L and work on ROI maximization
Scale & Growth Focused
I literally build skyscrapers on the numbers graph and deliver portfolio and business objectives MOM, QOQ, YOY. I deploy innovative techniques to drive business volumes through integrated marketing and automation
Balanced Stakeholder
I balance the need for infrastructure, automation and the team creative collaboration to see consistent ROI, ranging from 10% to 300% on successful marketing initiatives
Management
Proven ability to mentor and develop leaders with the organization. I build consensus that consistently creates momentum to implement strategic initiatives
Executive Leadership
My executive leadership competencies include strategic marketing, brand development, go to market strategy, customer acquisition, engagement, retention, advertising and promotions, business intelligence and analytics, website evolution and customer mapping for conversion improvement, device marketing, P&L accountability
Problem Solver
Focused on solving business and marketing problems for startups and organizations
Work Process
Objective Setting
Situation Analysis
Strategy & Ideas
Marketing Structure
Test & Launch
Optimize & Scale
Major Companies worked for
Fun Fact
15 Countries Visited
MANAGED $20M P.A. MARKETING BUDGET
4 Awards Won
20.000 Cups Of Tea
Resume
WORK HISTORY
2019-Present
Managing Partner, Marketing and Digital Consultant
DigiStrat Hub LLP Self-employed, Hyderabad
Setup the firm, DigiStrat Hub LLP, in 2020 and prior to that worked as an independent Marketing Consultant in the B2B, gaming and Cybersecurity space. Currently working as a part-time CMO & Consultant in the EdTech space through the firm and providing services for brand development, customer acquisition, engagement and retention, marketing technology & automation, product management and conversion scale, business modeling, team structure, data modeling & automation.
2017-18
Chief Marketing and Digital Officer
Shaw Academy, Bangalore
Managed Shaw Academy’s €11M annual advertising budget worldwide and team comprised of 15+ marketing employees to deliver 2X ROAS and building towards 3X retention, with 50% reducition in CAC; increasing subscription numbers across short and long term plans
2016-2017
Head of Traffic & Customer Acquisition
Amazon Prime Video, Mumbai
Managed end-to-end responsibilities for growth in traffic and customer acquisition for Amazon Prime Video, India, which launched in December 2016 and now a leading B2C Subscription Platform in the country. Accountable for developing and implementing digital/online marketing and branding strategies, market research, data analytics, budgeting, process improvements, advertising and customer engagement tools strategy and implementation, customer experience in device journey / automation, stakeholder and team management, budgeting & forecasting
2015-2016
Senior Director Marketing
Endurance International Group, Mumbai
Headed end-to-end marketing (Brand Mgmt., Customer Acquisition, Retention, Up-sell, Cross-sell, Analytics) and digital marketing for a cumulative $15m revenue / annum brands – Bigrock.in, Hostgator.in and Bluehost.in. Endurance was founded in 1997, and is today a $1B p.a. revenue company with 3600+ employees worldwide. The 3 brands are few of the leading B2B Subscription Platforms in the country
2013-2015
Senior General Manager Marketing
People Interactive Group (Shaadi.com), Mumbai
I was responsible for Customer Acquisition, Device Conversion / Marketing Automation, Special projects, Customer Engagement, Brand Awareness & Positioning, New Audience Segments, Development of New Markets. I delivered on organizational mandate of scaling up and growing the business numbers while operating in a saturated market environment. I formulated innovative marketing strategy which integrated all channels such as SEO, SEM, display/programmatic, affiliate, network, social and partnership amongst others. I revitalized the overall marketing and branding strategic blue print with focus on digital marketing; encouraged application downloads on user mobiles for growth in user acquisition:Mobile application usage went up and so did the organic portfolio.
Previous Main Experience
2011-2012
Infkruit.com, Mumbai
2008-2009
Perform Group, London, UK
2007-2008
Financial Times, London, UK
2003-2006
Bwin PartyGaming, UK
2001-2003
The Times of India, Hyderabad
EDUCATION
2019 – Present
Executive MBA Programme (PGPMAX)
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
1999-2001
Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management
Institute of Public Enterprise
1995-1998
Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
Osmania University
Strategy Skills
Business Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Brand and Positioning Strategy
Competitive Analysis
Go To Market Strategy
Channel Mix Strategy
Product Strategy
Global Strategy
Sales Strategy
Digital Skills
Marketing Communication
Customer Acquisition
Customer Engagement
Customer Retention
Search Engine Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Programmatic Media Buying
Display Advertising
Affiliate Marketing
Email Marketing
Web Analytics
Marketing Automation
Conversion Rate Optimization
Lead Generation
Other Skills
Accounting
Decision Making Under Uncertainity
Quantitative Techniques
Business Development
Customer Experience
Customer Relationship Management
Team Management & Leadership
Digital Transformation
Recognition
Awards & Recognition
50 Best Digital Marketing Professionals Award
While I was with Shaadi.com, I received an award recognizing 50 Best Digital Marketing Professionals at Mobile & Digital Marketing Summit, Mumbai in Nov’14 conducted by CMO Council & World Marketing Congress
50 Best Digital Marketing Professionals Award
While I was with ShawAcademy.com, I professionally scaled up to receive two awards:
(1) Top 50 Best Digital Marketing Professionals at Mobile & Digital Marketing Summit, Mumbai in Nov’18 conducted by CMO Council & World Marketing Congress and
(2) Top 100 Smartest Digital Marketing Leaders by World Marketing Congress in Feb’19
Online Marketing High Flyers Competition
While I was with Financial Times, UK, I finished in the Top 10 out of over 200 top professionals in an Online Marketing High Flyers Competition conducted by The Marketing Forum (in association with CIM) in the UK in Aug 2008
Highest Contributor Award
While I was with Bwin PartyGaming UK, I received the Highest Contributor Award for contribution to sales and revenue. This was a result of managing P&L responsibility for 4 years and maintained 50% revenue margin, lower than industry average CPA at US$150 rather than US$250 on global portfolio (PartyPoker.com)
While I was with The Times of India, I received the Top 3 Highest Contributor Award for my sales performance in Hyderabad’s first anniversary edition special issue.
Event – Marketing Continuum, IIT
I love to present in Marketing events. In 2014, I presented the latest in Digital & Marketing trends, technology and industry best practices (the topic being: Digital Marketing in the Connected World) to the students of IIT Mumbai at the Marketing Continuum 2014 event.
Event – Digital Influencers Conclave for Women
In 2018, I presented my thoughts on Influencer Marketing, as a Masterclass, at the Digital Influencers Conclave for Women organized by WSquare and Jobsforher.com
Testimonials
Testimonials on LinkedIn
Gourav Rakshit
President & CEO at Shaadi.com
Aashish is an aggressive business professional who takes pride in delivering on challenging business targets. He has a wealth of experience within the digital marketing domain having worked for a varied profile of companies, and delivered success across them. He is a good corporate citizen and demonstrates alignment with the goals of the organization he represents.
Scott Newton
Chief Communications Officer at Shaw Academy
I worked closely with Aashish in Shaw Academy developing the Marketing Communications Strategy and have always admired Aashish’s Leadership and Ownership . I learned so much about Digital Marketing growth for a high performance B2C company from Aashish. A true growth and marketing powerhouse, an excellent addition to any company and will surely be missed in Shaw Academy! Best of luck in your next endeavor Aashish!
Mohammad Mohsin
Vice President at Interactive Avenues
I had the privilege of working with Aashish to manage Amazon Prime Video’s digital business. Aashish is proactive and result oriented. Aashish brings exceptional analytical and leadership skills and consistently drives his team and partners to deliver high quality out-put, meets deadlines, and assists his team and partners at every opportunity. Aashish, is always ready to put all his energy and time to get the job done with-in tight deadlines.
Reggie James
Founder, Digital Clarity UK & Exec Director DBMM Group Inc, US
Aashish is a consummate, diligent and ambitious digital professional.
Having worked together with him as an agency partner on a variety of online projects, I have found him to be a tenacious and thoughtful individual – always striking the right balance between achieving results and integrity.
I’d recommend Aashish to anyone looking for someone whose advice they can trust or looking to get an idea off the ground. I’m always happy to catch up with him and ask for his views on the industry.
I have enormous respect for what he has achieved so far in the online world and on top of this, find him to be an excellent chap.
Nick Hirst
Managing Editor at The Perform Group
Aashish developed and implemented the marketing strategies for the Omnisport website while I managed the editorial content. Aashish brought a vast knowledge of the online and e-marketing world to the role and applied an almost forensically scientific approach to the process of online and affiliate matketing. I learnt much from him every day and recommend him wholeheartedly and would not hesitate in working with him again.
Richard Clayton
Affiliate Marketing Manager at BwinParty
Working with Aashish I found him to be a team player who although was senior in position, saw himself as part of his team rather than above it. Under pressure he was always able to keep himself and his team calm and maintain clarity of thought as his knowledge in his field is highly impressive and he knows how to get the job done swiftly and efficiently. His hard work ethic also could not help but rub off on his colleagues in order to achieve our goalds together. His integrity, humility and personal values made it a pleasure to work with him and I would consider myself honoured were I to have the opportunity to work with him again.
Anirudh Rao Gauravaram
General Manager, Online Marketing & Operations at Bwin
There are very few people I know who are as passionate about their work as Aashish is. A go-getter by nature, he is someone you can always rely on when the going gets tough. His holistic understanding of Online Marketing and knowledge about the emerging trends in internet & digital media is second to none. An excellent mentor, an ever supportive colleague, an extremely dedicated resource … Aashish will be an asset for any organisation he works for in any capacity.
Colin Doree
Managing Consultant – Marketing at Blue Pelican
I had the pleasure of representing Aashish recently to a number of our clients. I personally found him incredibly knowledgeable, with very good listening/consultative skills, adaptive and would go that extra mile to ensure he outshone his competition.
If there were areas that required preparation, revision or were outside his remit, he would be sure to revise these areas in particular prior to any interview. Client feedback always stated how impressed they were with the thoroughness of his research and his overall knowledge and presentation abilities.
Arun Srinivasan
Media Buyer at BwinParty
I reported to Aashish for almost a year at PartyGaming, He was a great manager who struck the perfect balance between giving me space to grow and encouraged me to take my own decisions and also being there to lookout for me. It was my first full time job and I don’t think I could have been even half as successful in my role without him.
Aashish is extremely driven, and even used to work on weekends and after hours and I think I built a strong work ethic because of him.
Joshua Iverson
Director, Sales/Strategic Accounts at Classmates.com
Aashish consistently communicated his advertising and business development needs and priorities. Because he brilliantly involved me (the vendor) in his own problem solving, we were able to implement a very significant program on Facebook for almost 4-months. If more clients worked like Aashish, their programs would more than double in efficiency.