Written by Prerna Daga is a passionate and result-oriented Marketing strategist with over 16 years of well-rounded experience in managing integrated PR, Marketing and Communication functions with a proven record of driving revenue gains and brand awareness through intelligent use of offline marketing and digital and social media.
Her experience of having worked across diverse industries and sectors such as Hospitality, Cinemas, Sports and Luxury Lifestyle, Luxury Real Estate and applying her trade with marquee brands has been an exciting and progressive learning curve which has honed my expertise and knowledge of all media channels for brand development and management.
Her leadership and people management skills make her a strong team player. Having an exceptional eye for detail and a strong aesthetic sense; she believes in the power of engaging communication, visual identity and words. Connecting the dots to be able to weave larger stories and get them across as engaging themes to varied stakeholders, she keeps her passion for storytelling and the power to influence the brand front and center. She believes in doing the right things without losing sight of the bigger picture; coupled with a sense of urgency and a bias for action, that goes beyond pure-play marketing or communications, to make things happen. Over the years, she has made a sincere effort to effectively use her multi-tasking abilities to manage multiple projects on strict timelines while adhering to brand identity, value and taking operational challenges in stride.
“During my career journey encompassing over 16 years, I have taken over strategic roles to fuel business strengths in complex scenarios & strengthen media & public relations. I have steered innovations through best-in-class content strategies, complex marketing & corporate communication modalities along with having leveraged strong collaborative & flexible leadership at the helm to build high performance teams, forge alliances and align stakeholders towards the big picture.” said Prerna
The year 2020 and the first few months of 2021 so far, have indeed been those of learning, unlearning and evolution. Effective mentoring, guidance and support have been instrumental in steering all of us through the rough patches of 2020 and helping us achieve whatever we have been able to, so far, for the respective roles. As a Marketing leader, Prerna played a crucial role in the performance of the organization by driving workforce engagement through internal communications programs. In some ways, the pandemic has left marketers unable to predict audience and user behaviour. This results from the restrictions placed on their work and home life, on interacting with family and loved ones, and especially with a fear of the unknown.
“We are in the same storm. Not in the same boat.” This simple line effectively conveys the privilege that many of us hold. This Lockdown life wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ but those who had the means to sustain themselves, had it relatively better and could also support the cause to uplift others in need, as well.
One thing is for certain, leadership was being re-evaluated under the harshest of spotlights. The golden rule for Prerna was to communicate, communicate, communicate.
She believes – that its an opportunity in disguise, this Lockdown gave us time to introspect and identify areas for personal enhancement. Learning what’s necessary and long due has added new dimensions to both personal and professional domains of life. “Covid-19 has also made us aware of our interconnectedness with each other and with nature, aware of the delicate balance of the global ecosystem and of our collective participation in creating conditions that are driving it. As we emerge from this pandemic, we will have the best opportunity we have ever had to reinvent our economies, societies and behavior. We have to ask, when all this is over– do we want to continue to willfully ignore the consequences of our actions, or do we want to learn from the lessons this time provides? Whichever direction we might choose – and we will have to choose – the decisions we make today can no longer rely on ignorance as an excuse for inaction. We must respond to this wake-up call with a conscious commitment to change. It might be the last one we get.” says Prerna
Vision for the future of Marketing & Communications:
Throughout history, moments of crisis and uncertainty have galvanized new innovations and shifted views on what matters most to people. As our world went through rapid changes, we recognized a need to dig deeper into the evolving milieu to better understand how consumers and executives are responding to their new environments. The role of Marketing Communications has evolved multifariously in the last few years. With digital transformation accelerating overnight, the role of Marketing Communications is all the more key, with the continual need to keep nurturing interpersonal relations within the trade, with key stakeholders, media, influencers etc. along with exploring newer avenues for increasing market reach share, to foster revenue growth despite the current market scenario and adversities. In times to come, with the fast evolving digitally focused era- one would be required not only to engage with the customers/ guest but also equally with the internal stake holders. Also today- consumer expectations have skyrocketed in terms of what brands can do. The customer expects so much more than just a seamless digital transaction- they want anticipatory, personalized experiences across the entire customer journey. Customers no longer hope you have what they want; they expect you to have exactly what they want. Personalization—and the empathy and connection that go with it—are more critical than ever.
The need of the hour is to thoroughly review the marketing and business strategy and tailor it to adjust to the ‘new normal’. Apart from bringing creativity and innovation to the table, today it is imperative for marketers to always keep in sync with the constantly evolving marketing landscape through focused research. Conveying your brand message to today’s know-all consumer is a multifaceted progression that necessitates fine-tuning our efforts to match emerging trends.
Marketing influences today’s customer not only from the front, but also very subconsciously and it is very important that we as marketers shoulder responsibility of the messaging we push out. We are trying to achieve for ourselves a favorable share of consumer mind space across all generations amid a plethora of other brands, so the messaging also has to be pin pointed that way. I’d like to say that pre-pandemic a brand was perhaps at best competing with its competitors. Post pandemic I feel – as brands we are all competing with the last best experience that your consumer had.
It is imperative that we stay connected with guests through social, email, and digital content that adds value to maintain a strong brand relationship with empathetic, positive, and uplifting messaging. Providing the right content can strengthen the brand relationship long-term.
It is also essential to ramp up marketing efforts focused on brand awareness and fueling new guests into the booking funnel and to reach people beginning to daydream about rebooking and planning vacations. We should focus to lower-funnel intent as well as targeting the right demographics and feeder markets with the right messaging and content.
I believe that the near foreseeable future of marketing is concentrated around everything digital, virtual and on the web. The world is in literally in our hands these days, as almost everything can be accessed on the mobiles and gadgets that are inseparable from us in today’s world. The power lies with us on how to optimally manage to tailor make the messaging that customers derive through their gadgets that they have access to at all times. To sum it up – The picture we paint of the future is beautiful. It can be best described as a marriage of creativity, technology, personalisation and data. A “coming together” like nothing we’ve ever seen. In the next few years, what is really exciting is that most things will be frictionless. Everything will be purchasable. Everything will turn from product to service. And, marketing will no longer be just another factor important for growth- it will be at the center of the growth agenda for the full C-suite.
About Power 25 Marketing & PR 2021
Hoteliers Web announced their Power 25 Marketing & PR leaders list from Asia, Middle East and Africa in a virtual live event on 26th September 2021.
It has been an incredibly tough ride and COVID-19 has truly put our community to the test as we work together to combat the effects of this global pandemic. In these challenging times, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude, support and solidarity with our Marketing leaders, and their loved ones.
Over 85 shortlisted nominations raced to make it to the Power 25 List of Marketing. The event was presented by Pooja Rajpurohit & Biljana Jovanovic for Hoteliers Web. Also joined by some industry experts, it sure raised the bar for the hotelier fraternity. We take this opportunity to thank Sandeep Walia, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East for Marriott International, Mehul Sharma, Founder & CEO for Signum Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd, Vineet Mishra, Complex General Manager for Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, Rahul Puri, Multi Property General Manager for The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi & The Westin Sohna Resort and Spa, Sunil Kumar, General Manager for The Westin Goa & Rachana Bahl, Director Global & IMEA Luxury Brands for InterContinental Hotels Group for delivering their motivational messages to the Marketing talents in the race.
“The virtual event and this power list is one of hotel industry’s first, and at Hoteliers Web we believe it’s a great beginning. We are extremely proud to be the first in bringing recognition to unsung heroes of hotel industry.” Said Rama Torgalkar, Co-Founder at Hoteliers Web.
We are extremely proud of and grateful to our Marketing talents for being a pillar of strength, by helping us take significant steps to safeguard and support the business recovery. Also, they have partnered so well by constantly supporting, guiding and leading the industry’s recovery process. Thank you for what you have done already to weather this crisis. The commitment of these stalwarts really makes all the difference to everyone in Hotel Industry.
The jury looked at the most influential leaders from these regions who have contributed to not just their hotel units and worked largely for the fraternities and Regions. “The ability to bring change for our teams, the hotel and the region, was very important to us during this unprecedented time. This recognition will certainly add fuel in taking the marketing functions to the next level.” Said Snehal Dobarkar, Co-Founder at Hoteliers Web.
These top 32 leaders have played a major role in shaping the industry’s new marketing strategies and steered through this pandemic in great success. We also recognised 25 more leaders in our Rising stars as an addition to the Power 25 series.
Here is the link to our live event for those who missed: