Pallavi Chopra, chief marketing officer, redBus, who enjoys observing people and human behaviour, has helped foster a people-first culture at redBus which stands on pillars of hard work, humility and honesty.
Storyboard18 caught up with Chopra where she touched upon the steps taken to avoid toxicity at the workplace, her take on redTribe, her reading recommendations and a lot more.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
The creator economy has taken the world by storm. Which influencers and trends are you following?
The creator economy has revolutionised the way individuals can monetise their passions and talents, offering a platform for content creators to turn their hobbies into full-fledged careers, fuelled by audience engagement, sponsorship deals, and innovative monetisation strategies.
I’m thrilled to see how the creator economy has evolved, and at redBus we’ve embraced this trend to launch redTribe, a pioneering travel influencer program. With redTribe, travel bloggers and influencers have the unique opportunity to travel the country for minimal costs, while creating and sharing brand-integrated travel vlogs on their social media platforms.
By partnering with and nurturing influencers through redTribe, we’re not only enhancing their travel experiences but also effectively promoting our services and destinations directly to the audience which is relevant to us. In a sense, we also nurture them, given that a lot of these creators are also quite young and upcoming, so sometimes it’s their first experience working with a large brand. It’s a win-win collaboration that capitalises on the creative potential of content creators in the travel industry.
There’s a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity, hustle culture, etc. What steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues? What advice would you give to your peers, colleagues, and next-gen marketers on this?
As an organisation, redBus has a people-first culture which stands on the three pillars of hard work, humility and honesty. We take pains in doing a people-job profile fitment as that is fundamentally the key to employee happiness in the workplace. When you love what you do, unhappiness has no place.
That’s why it’s not just a workplace, it’s more like a second home. Problems like ‘burnout’ or ‘toxicity’ have no meaning when you are at home. We work hard at maintaining this environment and some steps we have taken at redBus at an organisational level which I also follow with my team are:
1. Regular, ground-level engagement: I make it a point to stay connected with each of my teams on a weekly basis. Real-time engagement helps me understand challenges and progress, ensuring that we remain agile and adaptive without imposing unreasonable expectations.
2. Flexibility: We encourage our team members to adapt their work schedules to better suit their needs. Providing flexibility in work timing or leaves is essential for work-life balance.
3. Ownership and recognition: We operate from a culture of ownership and teams take responsibility for their work. I ensure that my team’s efforts are recognised and celebrated. Set objectives and give teams the autonomy to implement them in their own way.
4. Openness to ideas: Being receptive to diverse perspectives and fostering an open, collaborative culture is crucial to preventing workplace toxicity. I don’t follow a top-down approach for decision making, but a collaborative one.
What marketing-related content do you consume in your free time?
In my free time, I love observing people and human behaviour because the best marketing insights come from there. Whether it’s inside a grocery shop or at a bus boarding point or at a pub.
Apart from that, I follow Seth Gooden and Guy Kawasaki. And I love to binge watch ads on YouTube on the weekends.
Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice during the week to steal a few minutes of ‘me time’ for yourself and keep the momentum on?
The day feels incomplete without yoga.
What does your weekend look like?
Spending time with my children. Going to a flea market if I get the time.
Share one work hack and one life hack you swear by.
Lead with your heart. Bring empathy to the workplace, for others and yourself.
What are you watching/streaming this weekend?
The Elephant Whisperers.
What are you reading currently? Any recommendations?
Inward by Yung Pueblo. ‘Clarity & Connection’ by the same author is next in the line.
A piece of wisdom you would like to share?
Every problem has a solution. You just need to be at it.