PBTO17: The role of a CEO is to Build, Own and Transfer an institution – @Anaggh Desai

• Marketing or Branding: 
  • It is critical for brands to ensure that the brand experience is consistent across all touch points that customers have with the brand.
  • Brands need to be transparent & consistent in their behavior.
  • Digital or social is still a very small segment of the market. There is still a large customer base which is not yet on digital or social. As marketers, we should not only understand this fact and hence our marketing mix should also reflect this reality.
  • An open mind is what can make marketers successful.
  • Marketing can not work in isolation from the organization. Its primary role is to bring new customer to the business.
  • It is critical to continue to ensure that the brands remain relevant.
• Transformation:
  • Listen to everyone but make your own judgement calls.
  • If you want to transform your organization, it is much more profitable to study and learn from different industries.
• For Start-ups: 
  • It is critical to manage cash flows and make investments in technology.
  • What matters most in a business is the product or the service itself and creating a bit of stickiness in the product/service itself.
  • Think long term. Valuation, by itself is not an end that one should look at.
  • Success needs you to beat the street by getting your hands dirty.
  • Hire right. If you are a small start-up, hiring people from the same industry can be more fatal than hiring no one.
• Customer Loyalty: 
  • The question with regard to customer loyalty is not about whether the brands know their customers or not, but what do they intend to do with the data.
  • Small mom-and-pop shops do much more for customer loyalty than most of the brands.
  • The very definition of customer loyalty needs to evolve with the consumers.
  • Should we reward customers to keep coming back or for introducing new customers to the brand.
  • You can’t be a carbon copy of any other loyalty programs. Each program needs to be individual to the brand and reflect the brand promise.
• Role of a CEO:
  • Build, Own and transfer an institution.
  • CEO’s focus is mostly outward focus – manage the stakeholders, customers, partners.
  • CEO should also groom someone as a COO, who is inwardly focused, improving processes, productivity and organization.
• Biggest mistake that CEO’s do:
  • Ignoring the importance of communication – with your teams, partners, customers and other stake holders, consistently and constantly.
  • What matters is how you solve the pain point & communicate and how you execute on the ideas.
• The overarching theme was that keeping things simple and common sensical is critical for success.

You can find more information about Anaggh and follow him on twitter @anaggh.

PS: This episode is sponsored by Audible. Visithttp://www.audibletrial.com/PBTO to download a free audiobook and a 30 day free trial membership.