Vineeth Viswambharan, associate vice president, marketing and sales, Adani Wilmar, usually manages to strike a balance between his personal and professional life. However, he is quick to point out the thin line that exists between the two given that he does not mind working late on Saturdays. “It is important to be intellectually honest at work and in life. It does not matter how big or how senior the audience is. You should say what you feel is important.”
In a conversation with Storyboard18, Viswambharan gave his take on toxicity, a peek into what his weekends look like, shared his insights, and much more.
The creator economy has taken the world by storm. So, which influencers and trends are you following currently?
There is content I follow that is work related, like podcasts. Then there are content creators I follow at a personal level. I listen to the podcasts on my way to and from work, which takes about an hour either way. It’s a very productive use of time.
The work-related podcasts offer practical insights into various aspects of marketing. Most of these influencers / content creators are ex-marketing people in various sectors in India and abroad.
Some of the content is distributed by the influencers themselves, and some are curated by publishing or content curation houses. In the last few days, I listened to ‘What drives growth or brands’. The speaker was talking about how penetration drives brands more than loyalty. Basically, a large proportion of flirtatious consumers account for a bulk of the volume of any large and growing brand.
Then there was something I was watching the other day. A person who has worked with many media agencies in the past was saying that our conventional approach is that you should look at what are all the media touch points the target consumer is exposed to, and have, like, a multimedia presence across different mediums. Or, you could just choose one of those media touchpoints that your target audience is experiencing every day or month, and on that one touchpoint, you dominate. Make an impact in just one media and let go of the others. Then there was a podcaster who said the purpose of the brand has to be rooted in its functional benefit.
So, that is one kind of influencer content that I am consuming.
Personally, I follow fitness and grooming influencers. This morning, I actually followed one male make-up influencer. I’m not into make-up yet, but I’m fascinated by the fact that you can actually use your face as a canvas and use colours, which is what make-up essentially is.
So I want to start exploring contouring at some stage, maybe.
(Contouring is a technique for sculpting and adding dimension to your face by using makeup that is slightly darker or lighter than your actual skin colour. It’s about creating the effect of shadow and light)
What marketing-related content do you consume in your free time?
When I browse, I look for things relevant to my work. For example, I have been watching the HBR podcast channel. I have been following TED Business and some other experts as well. This morning, I listened to something on how timing is very important in strategy.
At work, we are working on improving certain (product) categories. It struck me that we only think of the size of the category, or the growth, consumer trends, etc. We think of packaging, pricing, positioning, communication, and all that.
But, one very important factor is the timing. As per this influencer, timing is one of the factors which is most strongly correlated to success in trying to do something new. So that was interesting and got me introspecting on some of the stuff we are doing.
Very often, when you do something, it doesn’t work. Afterwards, you don’t say ‘We failed’. You say ‘We were ahead of time.’
A few days back I was listening to something on what drives satisfaction at work. One of the biggest factors was, ‘Are you doing what you are passionate about?’ You may be in a big company in a very important job. But at the end of the day, the single biggest factor correlated with job satisfaction is whether it is aligned with your passion. Otherwise, every morning is going to be Monday morning blues.
There is a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity, and hustle culture. What steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues, and what advice would you give to your peers, colleagues, and next-gen marketeers on this?
There’s a presumption that you should switch off at some point. If you love doing something, why should you have to switch on or off. If work can be your passion, then it can be your life.
Having worked for these many years in different sectors and organisations, the number one lesson for me is you will burn out only if you are not excited by what you’re doing.
Even in my own team, if someone is not excited about what they’re doing, if they feel that this is not where their passions lie, then they should find something else to do.
Even if it means that I have to lose some people that I work with, I would still advise them to do something that excites them, if not within the organisation, then without.
What creates a lot of stress and burnout is that we tend to work in a siloed manner. There’s a lot of functional conflict in an organisation, like passing the buck, etc. This tends to create a toxic culture.
That apart, I believe in something called the Dunning-Kruger effect, which is that the more experience you have, the more you discover how much there is to know.
When you are starting off, you have a simplistic view of things. If you do X, Y will happen. Because of that, you feel confident. But that confidence may be coming from lack of expertise and knowledge.
Experts are often unsure because they know there are a lot of complications and they also know that the solutions may not be easy. But even without 100 percent conviction or certainty, you still have to make a decision to move along in some direction.
Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice?
I run 5 kms and spend about 45 minutes in the gym every morning. On weekends, I normally play some sport with some colleagues, either tennis, squash, or badminton. You end up working out far more when you’re with a group.
What does your weekend look like?
The line between work and life is very thin. I enjoy my work, so I don’t mind working late on a Saturday. And then I have my appointment with my barber on a Saturday evening. On Sunday mornings I go and play my sport with some colleagues. Then I spend the rest of Sunday catching up on a lot of stuff on OTT.
What are you watching / streaming this weekend?
Right now, I am watching Scam 2003. I have also been watching Dubai Bling and some interesting content on history, culture on National Geographic.
Any work / life hack you swear by?
I try to live in the present. I used to spend a lot of time obsessing about planning, career, finances, investments, and savings.
My mantra is to live for today because I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. If you’re creating a brand or a product, if you’re in marketing, try to create something that people will love passionately.
If you start thinking too much ahead, and not about creating real meaning and impact today, then you may end up creating something very average.
Create something where if you stop tomorrow, people would be sad. When Citibank got acquired by Axis Bank, I was sad because I’ve been banking with them since 1998. I felt a very close bond with them. Or when UberEats shut down, I actually felt sad.
What are you reading? Any recommendations?
I like audiobooks and podcasts. I have not read since I discovered the power of podcasts.
Now, even at home, I have my Bluetooth speakers on and instead of reading, I’m listening. Right now, I’m listening to ‘Marketing with Vani.’
She is a marketer and has interesting guests who are also marketers. I have also been listening to some audio books. One of them is ‘How to Harness Creativity’.
A piece of wisdom you would like to share.
Be intellectually honest at work. Often, we end up saying things that we either think the boss wants to hear, or what we think is the opinion of our peers, in order to be popular.
It does not matter how big the audience or senior the audience is, it’s important to say what you feel.
The other thing is to be in a place where you’re able to express your mind and which aligns with your passions. I think that’s the recipe for happiness and success.