E11 India to London - Rising To Chief Marketing Officer In A New Country | Raj Kumar
Episode description
Raj Kumar has over two decades of experience in marketing, having been the Head of Marketing, EMEA at Experian, Head of Marketing, Europe at Nokia and numerous manager roles at Siemens. He joined Aviva almost 9 years ago as Global Head of Marketing Strategy and Planning. Raj is no stranger to transforming companies and was promoted to Brand and Reputation Director in 2017. Raj is now Chief Marketing Officer of Silicon Valley Bank.
Growing up in India, by the time he was 18, Raj had moved nearly 7 times in and out of the country, this experience allowed him to develop the skills of building a network very quickly. He later went on to study Economics at University, but with a different passion, he then went on to get an MBA in marketing. This allowed him to start his career with the telecom company Siemens.
By the time he was 25, Raj was leading the largest private team and bringing in the largest amount of money in the sales department. This success was recognised, allowing him to travel to Europe to do the same. Despite this, Raj shares his challenges of adjusting to a new culture and environment. Later on, Raj moved to the UK to work for companies such as Nokia and Experian. The day before his first day at Experian, Raj’s first child was born. With team members flying in to meet Raj on his first day, completely sleep deprived, Raj decided to come into work, in which his boss said “What the hell are you doing here? Go back!”, a great lesson in being an understanding boss.
Approached by Aviva, Raj started a new role where he would be for nearly a decade, focusing on innovation and leadership. In 2021, Raj was named Campaign Magazine’s Top 10 UK marketers. In 2020 and 2021, he was named Marketing Week’s Top 100 Most Effective Marketers in the UK and voted Financial Services Marketer of the Year in 2020.
Now a Fellow of the Marketing Society and for aspiring marketers from BAME backgrounds, Raj emphasises being your authentic self, no matter who you are.
To hear Raj speak about his advice for young working parents, passion for marketing and learning how to love yourself, listen to this episode of How I Became. Would you like a coach to help you achieve your goals faster?
Chapters:
(00:00:00) The Challenges of Moving Around in India
(00:06:17) Building Relationships in Sales and Marketing
(00:12:38) Funny Language Misunderstandings
(00:18:54) Building Marketing Propositions from Scratch
(00:24:56) Balancing Work and Parenthood
(00:31:16) Generating New Ideas and Innovations
(00:37:33) The Role of a Partner in Company Strategy
(00:43:51) Being Authentic and Finding Your Place
(00:50:17) The Role of a Non-Executive Director
(00:56:46) Farewell and gratitude
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Episode Sponsor:
Gray Matters - A straight-talking business development consultancy that empowers agencies to position, market and sell themselves for new business success
Unity & Motion - A London based production company specialising in commercials and branded content
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This is a UNIFY Podcast. Produced by Unity & Motion
Credits:
Director: Charles Parkinson
Poet & VO Artist: Ashley Samuels-McKenzie
Sound Recordist: Paolo Neri
Editor: Catherine Singh