Successfully branding a company is a complicated and time-consuming process since one needs eye-catching visuals for products and services, a unique tone of voice for marketing messages, and a clear set of values. An efficient branding strategy can help a firm position its brand and stand out from the competition. Traditionally a male-dominated sector, Garrgi Sarkaar is bringing her own leadership style as a brand consultant, with a hope to break down barriers for the next generation. Garrgi Sarkaar is a result-oriented Marketing Strategist and Founder of RA Brand Consultant. She is a Political Science graduate and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Sales and Marketing from NIS Sparta and MBA in Marketing from Amity Business School. RA Brand Consultants operates internationally in various regions such as Asia, UAE etc. Through RA Brand Consultant, Garrgi envisions driving exponential growth of brands in India and the subcontinent. Garrgi holds a proven track record of successfully empowering brands like Hero Honda, American Express, Kyndal, Absolut Vodka, Cointreau, Remy Martin, and more. She works with clients from India, UAE, St Mortiz among others.

In an in-depth conversation with Women Entrepreneur magazine, Garrgi shares with us her professional journey and the various lessons she has gathered on the way. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

What inspired you to establish RA Brand Consultant? Also, tell us about the underlying idea behind the venture.

I was inspired by RA Mundra, an Egyptian deity to establish RA Brand Consultant. RA Brand Consultant believes that very piece of communication can be delivered creatively from designing a card to delivering a speech. We make sure our clients achieve their goals and attain their brand value. We are not just a creative boutique but a brand strategist. And I work on Market entry strategy from different markets and help brands to build themselves in India as well as other markets GCC countries and UK and USA markets. We help customers to do market segmentation and help them launch their brands depending on the market dynamics, important aspect for RA Brand Consultant is to focus on the brief and create bottom lines for the brands.

What are some of the responsibilities you shoulder as the founder of RA Brand Consultant?

As the founder, generating business opportunities is the main responsibility as it ascertains the brand value of RA. Apart from this, creating the SOPS for clients for smooth operation by the execution team and maintaining a relationship with the clients on a long-term basis are some of the other responsibilities. I believe, being an entrepreneur is not a nine-to-five job but a 24-hour job since you need to stay on your feet and be vigilant of everything that goes on in the organization.

What are some of the key milestones that you have achieved throughout your professional journey?

I believe that I have been blessed with several professional milestones. The first one was getting the brand like Hero Honda on board of NIs Sparta. Second was launching Absolut Vodka in India and gaining 80 percent market share in the imported segment and 50 percent market share in the overall liquor segment. Third was the launch of Campaigns Blue flavoured water and making it a case study with 1000 condominiums. Fourth is the creation of St. Moritz Ice Cricket and holding a successful event in St. Moritz with retired BCCI players. I have also managed to launch a new Decathlon store in North India and launched and enabled a complete brand positioning of Russian Vodka, Kruto, Russian Spirit, Crocs India, Monaco Tourism Forest by the hills, GOELD frozen food with Genesis Films, and many more.

How do you see the Indian Marketing landscape evolving in the future? How does RA Brand Consultant aim to align with these trends?

We can see the Indian Market shift towards Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, and Digitalization. RA Brand Consultants aims to adapt to this evolution and adapt to the digital ecosystem to deliver market strategies with a focused approach with the help of our expert team.

 "RA Brand consultant plays a vital role in helping your company accomplish its purpose in the market"

Creativity is a part of the strategy which helps to deliver the bottom line for clients. I have taken the analogy from the story of Crow and the pitcher - When the crow found it impossible to reach the water in the pitcher, it used the ‘creative power’ in the form of pebbles and met its thirst by letting the water come up to it. How can we use this in Creative power If you have the thirst (brand building), want the pitcher (a bigger piece of the market), and fill it with water (prospects and/or customers), you certainly can use the pebbles (us) so as to ride on ‘the creative power of RA’ complementing your thirst rather easily anytime, anywhere.

What advice would you give to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future? My advice to budding entrepreneurs would be to identify the purpose and embrace the opportunities that life throws at you to grow. Be humble towards everybody but also be firm in your communication. Speak up when you have a valuable opinion. Also, treat men as your strength not a threat to your professional journey.

Garrgi Sarkaar, Founder, R A Brand Consultant

Garrgi Sarkaar is a dynamic professional with experience in leading multidisciplinary teams successfully to carry out marketing campaigns for brands. She aims to deliver and achieve corporate goals through research, creativity, and strategic marketing plans. She seeks advice from Prahlad Kakkar, the famed Ad Guru, on advertising films and big ticketed projects.

Awards of Recognitions - Women Leader of the Year by IIFL, Women Consultant of the Year by IIFL, Top Most Digital Marketer Leader by World Leadership Entrepreneur Forum, Best Practice Award by ABSOLUT VODKA (V&S group).

A business leader you admire - My father, Bipul Sarkar was a stalwart in the Tea industry. He was a tea taster and worked in the tea industry for 35 years. He believed in the policy of never giving up.