Who I Am and What Has Been My Journey!
Am a relationship, network driven, result-oriented professional who has worked in the corporate industry for over 2 decades now. My experience spans across the consumer industry in both urban and rural markets.
Having worked in retail industry with both modern trade and general trade, I understand consumer behaviour from its roots. I have always worked with the mindset of being a change agent and have embraced challenging roles in my career. I took a major step by moving out of traditional roles when the opportunity of setting up the e-commerce division. Having studied e-commerce in USA, I was able to bring all the learnings and best practices to impact clients across categories and established this division to grow.
Another area which brought his passion on the forefront is Youth Marketing. In his stint with Student Village, he worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between brands and students. He on boarded several brands to assist them on their youth centric needs and also gave the youth a real opportunity to learn and experience the brand first-hand both digitally and physically.
In his long journey, he has gained varied experiences in sectors comprising of Retail, FMCG, Wellness, Fashion, Pharma, Media and ITES. During his professional stints, he has worked across India ranging from a wide spectrum of large cities to small villages. These market visits comprised of immersion initiatives to transform, mentor and lead the team from the front. He has also been exposed to various International markets like the USA, Switzerland, Germany, France, South Africa, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok.
His deep experiences cover a wide range from top management strategic thinking to front end execution led initiatives and activations. He has worked on a vast range of aspects covering Business Strategy, Strategic Planning, Retail Operations, Sales, Buying and Merchandising, Category Management, Assortment Planning, Marketing, Promotions, Route to Market (RTM) Strategy, RTM Execution, In-store Execution, Customer Experience, Relationship Management, Key Account Management (KAM), Competition Analysis, Vendor Negotiation, Team Building, Business Development, Brand Visibility, Building Brands, Activations, Influencer Marketing, Engaging with Micro-Influencers amongst many more.
Vivek is a firm believer of the concept of continuous learning by being a lifelong learner himself and he drives this via a mix of classroom cum digital learnings and through real work by giving back to society on the social front.
He has undergone various professional learnings comprising of a mix of both corporate as well as self learning through various Management Development Programs (MDP’s) at IIMA, IIMI, and IIMK. He was selected to the prestigious ‘Group Study Exchange’ program as the young vocational member to represent India as the Goodwill and Cultural Ambassador to Switzerland in a group of 4 members identified from amongst 250 participants. He was also been selected to attend the WPP’s Maestro program for Leaders in addition to several other local and International immersions and learning initiatives. Being a fond writer, he was also bestowed as the Runner up in a recently concluded writing competition announced by the Global Writers Academy.
His quest for ongoing learning continues as he is actively contributing to the development of young minds by being being a Mentor to many and assisting them in taking the appropriate path for their lives!
He has been fortunate to serve as a visiting faculty in various premier institutions taking sessions on topics ranging from his core workplace knowledge to career guidance and workplace readiness. Being an optimist, he values to share his knowledge and equally learn from the youth and future leaders.
His values have always taught him to give back. He was associated with a series of social causes i.e., Child Relief & You (CRY), Help Age India and UNICEF during his school days. Having served as the youth wing of a Lions Club in the capacity of a President brought him closely in connect to the needs of the society. Since then, he has been an active social worker and has received numerous accolades in various capacities. He has also served as the President of Rotary Club and has also received Guinness Book of World Records for participation in Rotary’s Humsafar Awareness initiative on Organ, Skin & Eye Donation and Diabetes Awareness.
He is an approved member to Leaders Excellence Harvard Square and a Mentor on boarded at Intercell – Virtual Mentor Network.
Having the right mix of the above developed through education, experience, exposure & dedication, he is now mentoring and assisting individuals to become a better version of themselves as well as serving organizations as a growth cum change specialist in growing their business in the consumer space.
Learnings for Life!
