Spirit W | Coping with change and uncertainty always takes the focus away from ideals of management: Adcom Pakistan's Mehwish Rafi

Looks like its a 'welcome back' time for the quite liked Spirit W section. With detailed search and research filled with numerous efforts our section is back with the core aim to hunt down the lovely talented and aspiring ladies from the advertising and creative fraternity and prove a platform to acknowledge their work and efforts.

Today we shall take you through the journey of Mehwish Rafi, Adcom Pakistan's, Chief Strategy Officer. Mehwish Rafi, a communication planner at the core, associated with advertising and marketing communication for more than 12 years. In the simplest words, she finds new points of views and ways of self-expression for brands, new means of engaging them with the people, and new motives to build stronger relationships with their communities. With her growing interest in social & behavioral sciences, searching for insights has become an experience of its kind and using it constructively is yet another. Her portfolio covers media neutral communication strategies that holistically address every stakeholder through multiple channels & touch-points, accomplishments in corporate communication, media relations, and crisis management.

Speaking about the start of her career, she said, "I started my career in 1998 with DHL in sales. After a little while, I realized that "sales' wasn't my cup of tea. Though it was a great organization to work with, I left DHL for Express Media Group. After a short stint in media marketing, I jumped in to ad world and have been around since then. There is no looking back, it's great so far!"

She says, "It's interesting that I have always taken more pride in what remains invisible that is my intangible contribution. A lot of my energy has gone in to creating environments where great ideas can flourish. People development, training, processes and planning tools are a few things that have consumed a lot of my time over the last few years. I believe I am still a learner or may be, getting closer to my ground breaking innovation. Once there, I will proudly put in on my credentials."

She has always been inspired by her mother for how she led her and her siblings through their teens.

When asked whether or not she feels that women have an edge over men in the media space, Mehwish quickliy replied, "No, there's no such thing. However, I do feel that women have more compassion needed to understand human behavior and the patience needed to nurture it."

ªGiving her opinion on whether the media industry organizationally lacks anything, she said, "ªCoping with change and uncertainty always takes the focus away from ideals of management. In my part of the world, media industry is still in its growth stage, the pace of change in technology isn't letting it rest. Much before organizational structures and roles are clearly defined, changes in external environment make them obsolete." Further elaborating she said, "Companies are rather chasing the trends, it will take a while before we have some examples of the new breed of media organizations. By the way, who knows what the future holds!"

She strongly feels that the work environments, in general, are becoming very impersonal. Mehwish says, "I am no exception but I try and invest in understanding people. Many times, especially in new work groups, my behavior is not decoded instantly but I give it time. No matter how much we deny it, reality is that half the credibility and respect we attach to an opinion depends on how we feel for the person who holds it. Empathy and a strong belief in human potential have always translated in great results at least for me. I do want someone to believe in my potential to be a rock star!"

She loves observing people, which she says, "one may call it as developing my sociological imagination." Mehwish's only material desire is good food, for which she spends good amount of time looking for ingredients that can help her in creating a great meal!

Mehwish who loves reading on social psychology, listening music, singing, writing lyrics, and dreaming of a Hollywood productions, has worked with Aviation & Travel brands like, Cathay Pacific, American Express; then Financial Services like American Express, Faysal Bank, EFU Life, Easy Paisa; Consumer Electronic brands like Philips, JVC, Samsung; then Personal Care brands like Johnson & Johnson, Clean & Clear, Neutrogena; F&B brands like Wall's, Lipton, Nurpur, Engro Foods, Young's, Shan, Ulker, Season's; then Healthcare brands like Life Scan, Aventis, Hamdard, Novartis, Green Star. Mehwish has also worked with Media services like; BBC World Service, Daily Express. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]