Ad land’s Young Guns: Ravi Kumar, AdLift

Ravi Kumar is a Digital Marketing Consultant and currently working as Assistant Vice President - Sales and BD with AdLift. Riding on the digital wave while serving companies likes AdGlobal360, mydala and Digital Monkeys, Ravi has experienced the digital world as a universe that provides the perfect blend of applied strategy and creative flair. Successful and appreciated completion on digital marketing projects has increased his enthusiasm and continues to bring together individuals, companies and brands to produce creative digital solutions. Ravi is also very active in sharing his knowledge via webinars. 

His expertise includes Internet Marketing Consultancy, Digital and Integrated campaign strategy, Digital Business and marketing strategy, business analysis and processes, online learning, pitches, mentoring/ training junior team members. 

Apart from his digital proficiency, he has also participated in events like India : AdTech, IAMAI events, iMedia, Retail Congress - Francise India, Click Asia Summit, Singapore: clickZ, Digital Travel Summit, AdTech, eTail Asia, etc. 

What does it takes to climb up the ladder in digital marketing? Here’s Ravi Kumar in his own words... 

How did you get into the role you are serving?
My journey of sitting at my current position is full of fluctuations. I am a hard-core sales guy with sales being my passion as well. Starting my career from a non-digital background, I was never afraid of the path that was coming through my career. Initially, I started my journey in digital marketing industry by working with companies like mydala.com, Adglobal 360 and Digital Monkeys, where I learned how to sharp my sales skills in digital marketing and applied same at AdLift that helped me in cracking some of the big names in the market as clients. 

What particular skill sets do you think you bring to the table?
I always believe everyone in this world is talented ‘har kissi ka Apna Apna talent hota hai’, it’s just you need right mentors in your life. I consider myself lucky, I've always being trained by the best of the industry. Today, I work with one of the most influential marketers who believes in executing things instead of waiting for them to happen, that makes me proactive instead of being reactive. Always try new things as change is the essence of life. Not being afraid of failures is the next step towards success, and finally, always play on the front foot - If you think defensive, you will react negatively. And always have faith in yourself - if you really want it, you will do it even if not today then tomorrow for sure. 

One campaign that you have worked on which, you were particularly proud of? Please take us through the making of the campaign.
There are a lot of campaigns that I can think of, but this one is special. Like I said earlier, always keep on trying to achieve success. We recently started a company called Yral with YouWeCan ventures, which is a Yuvraj Singh fund management company. After successfully executing few campaigns, we thought of marketing Yral. We attended an event where there were about 80-100 brands along with few other agencies. So, we invited Ssumier S Pasricha aka Pammi aunty for a fireside chat with AdLift and Yral Co-founder & CEO Prashant Puri at the event. The real fun was not Pammi aunty sharing her impromptu jokes, but we made her endorse a brand via Facebook live from her Facebook handle, which got a fantastic response in half an hour's time. That campaign got close to 10k views and approximately 100k impressions. 

While working on the creatives how do you prepare yourself? What goes on in your mind?
Creatives are very dynamic. It's not possible that two people with similar interest, age group, geography will respond, like, share or comment to the creative in the same way. So, it's imperative to brainstorm and always come with two options and test with two different types of creatives for the same audience. Although not many people practice this, we feel this is the best way to have a maximum impact from the original. You can't actually list down what goes in our mind, and there is no correct formula, but few hygiene factors that one should be aware of are – TG, the level of interest, the communication and the objective of that creative. 

Who are the icons in advertising you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work?
I admire Prashant Puri, Co-founder & CEO, AdLift and Yral a lot. Not because he is my reporting boss or currently I am working under him, but the learning I have received from him in the last two and half years is implausible. It is a privilege working under him. Mr Puri has spent a good number of years in the US pursuing his education at Columbia University and then worked with companies like eBay and Bookrenter.com. While starting AdLift in India, Mr Puri was very clear about keeping the amalgamation of the US and Indian concept of running a company to get best of the results as per the client’s requirement. I feel incredibly fortunate that I am working with him. 

Jordan Belfort - We all know Wolf of Wall Street Guy because of mentioned qualities.

Take action, learn to sell, become unconsciously competent, set your goals high, have a vision, be honest with yourself, get rich quick, master your inner world, try your hardest, create your destiny. 

What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine?

1. Get up early in the morning
2. Take care of your fitness as a fit mind responds pleasantly even on your worst day
3. Follow to-do list
4. Spend half hour on learning/ improving
5. Plan for the next day

Do you think a career in advertising is a viable one in the long term?
Absolutely - there is no doubt about it. I guess from last one century, apart from traditional modes, advertising has got another medium in the form of social media. It is quite vibrant, and responses on it are intense. The New Gen is very active on social media and responds honestly about everything. Therefore, those who are looking forward to being part of this industry will receive many codes to break into this career. 

What does it take to succeed in a career like advertising?
You should be smart, creative, observer, thinker and quick learner to succeed in this industry. 

What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry?
First and foremost, identify your talent. Ask yourself if you are the right fit for this industry. Because more than learnings, this industry needs passionate people who are geeks for creativity. There is no space to repetition here, so you always need to be on your toes to lure your clients with your work. 

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I don’t work on 5-year plans, I go with the yearly plan that is further broken in quarters, monthly and then weekly - so that I can have proper check-ins in between and celebrate small wins and be motivated for the next goal. Although, there is one thing that I would like to do for sure, which is joining an underprivileged school in a village and giving whatever I possibly can, that's like a dream. 

Is there any agency/ organisation that you would like to work with in the future?
I think what elevates your career in every agency is the learning that you are getting there and implying for your job growth. For me, AdLift is a company that I find the best place to work at. The quality of learning you can get here is impeccable. We have an open working culture that simplifies the cross-departmental approach. Our desire is to make AdLift such a company that it should fall into the desire list of companies to work for industry giants.