Irrespective of the industry or vertical, business landscapes have today evolved to become highly competitive. As a consequence well thought out marketing and advertising campaigns have emerged as key components of a business’s growth. In a swiftly growing digital economy, brands have also drastically increased their digital marketing investment in an effort to gain more consumers. Ace marketer Neethu Paul believes that brands today face the uphill battle to standout in a highly saturated market and rise above the noise. Leveraging her deep industry knowledge gained over 18 years as a marketer, Neethu helps organizations do exactly that.

An award winning marketing leader & strategist, she specializes in working with Integrated Marketing campaign teams to successfully deliver high-impact integrated campaigns with large-scale adoption. Neethu is currently the Senior Program Manager, Global Integrated Campaigns Management Office at ServiceNow, an American software company that develops a cloud computing platform to help companies manage digital workflows for enterprise operations. She draws on her experience of having worked with several leading technology-based organizations such as Epicor, Microsoft, Autodesk, TechData and Worlds View Technologies.

Over the years she has helped organizations see a rapid rise both in its brand value as well as sales revenue. In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Neethu shares her expertise as a seasoned marketing leader, the major business challenges faced by her throughout her marketing career, and much more.

Take Us Through Your Diverse Industry Experience And The Various Areas Of Specialization That You Bring To The Table As A Leader In Marketing?

I bring to the table 18 years of extensive experience across various sectors such as Marketing & Digital Strategies, Demand Generation, Brand Building, and Customer Marketing programs implementation. Through the years I have led several Integrated Marketing campaign teams and successfully delivered highimpact integrated campaigns with large-scale adoption.

In my previous role as the EMEA Marketing Director for Epicor, I owned the EMEA Marketing Strategy and was responsible for leading a high-performing marketing team for delivering business growth, key new customer acquisition, repeat business, and customer life cycle management. I also possess proven records of increasing revenue and sales pipeline through brand building, creation of demand generation, and customer lifecycle management programs.

I have a flair for fostering strong relationships across all levels, functions, and geographies of the organization to drive change and have built a track record of creating notable bottom-line impact, building high-performance teams, a reputation for outstanding operational performance and transforming the marketing function to drive business growth.

As A Leader In Marketing, What Are Some Of The Key Marketing Tools And Strategies That You Leverage To Ensure The Best Business Outcomes? What Are Some Of Your Primary Focus Areas While Working On A New Marketing Campaign?

I am a big fan of dashboards and use BI tools and analytics extensively for planning, decision-making, and measuring outcomes. Renowned American marketing author, consultant, and professor, Philip Kotler once famously said, “Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose off what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value”. I believe the same. As a marketing leader my focus is to understand the target market and then device strategies to ensure the best business outcomes.

"As women, our compassion, strength and emotional intelligence can really set us apart as leaders, so hone these skills"

It is pertinent to understand that consumers opt for a specific brand or product for their own reasons and not yours. I place great importance in defining the target market and understanding it as customers are drawn towards things that interest and excite them. Having a clearly defined target market ensures that every detail of a product or service can be perfectly tailored to their needs and desires, resulting in happier customers. Further, by understanding your audience, every detail of a marketing campaign can be tailored to appeal to their interests, emotions, perspective, and journey.

Tell Us About Some Of The Most Pressing Business Challenges That You Encounter As A Marketer. How Do You Successfully Mitigate These Challenges?

Change is a constant and with it comes challenges and opportunities. The last 12 months have seen a rapid rise in digital spending like never before, owing to the widespread adoption of digitalization for businesses and consumers alike. Traditional media has evolved drastically and there has been a mass adoption of social media platforms for marketing efforts. This coupled with an explosion in number of brands & offerings has resulted in immense complexity and clutter.

In such a scenario the ability to stand-out in a highly saturated market and rise above the noise remains the biggest challenge for brands. The best way to mitigate these challenges is by staying agile and keeping the customer at the center while focusing on delivering an extraordinary customer experience every time.

In Your Opinion, What Are Some Of The Most Significant Milestones That You Have Achieved Throughout Your Professional Journey? What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Success As A Business Leader?

I have been very fortunate to work with various leading technology as well as financial organizations throughout my career. I consider each of the roles that I have fulfilled as a milestone, as it contributed greatly to the person that I am today, my leadership style, and to living my purpose. Each of these roles provided me with the opportunity to work with some amazing people who remain mentors, advisors, and friends to the present day.

The driving force behind my success has been the need to achieve beyond the expectations of my own as well as of others. It is what always pushes me to take my game to the next level, to keep learning, to better myself, and also to ensure people around me grow; after all, excellence does not happen in isolation.

Drawing From Your Experience As A Successful Business Leader, What Would Your Advice Be To Young Women And Girls Who Also Aspire To Become Business Leaders And Entrepreneurs In The Future?

Don’t be defined by what the world says, stay true to your conviction and be authentic! In a world clamoring to have their voice heard, one needs to have the courage stand out and pursue their vision. Dream big, fail hard but have the courage and resilience to rise up and use the learning to propel yourself even further, keep striving till you make it happen. As women, our compassion, strength and emotional intelligence can really set us apart as leaders, so hone these skills! And most importantly, your journey is unique, live the experiences and pursue happiness in all you do.

Neethu Paul, Senior Program Manager, Servicenow

An award-winning B2B industry marketing leader with over 18 years of experience in various sectors Marketing & Digital Strategies, Demand Generation, Brand Building, and Customer Marketing programs implementation, Neethu has worked for many reputed organizations and is presently working as the Senior Program Manager - Global Intergrated Campaigns Management Office at ServiceNow. A strategic global thinker who forges strong relationships across all levels, functions, and geographies of the organization to drive change, Neethu has proven records of increasing revenue and sales through the creation of demand generation programs, customer lifecycle management, and brand building using Integrated Marketing Programs & 360 Degree Marketing approach.