» A FOCUS ON DIFFER ENTIATION

A FOCUS ON DIFFERENTIATION

Riddhi Anilkumar, Regional Marketing Manager, Omnix International has taken some standout initiatives in her role over the past couple of years and is relishing the responsibility of conceptualizing and executing them

What made you choose this career path? How would you summarize your professional journey so far in terms of meeting expectations, both yours and the organization’s?

Creative thinking, designing and a progressive career path stands at the core of what I would value the most in my profession and if there is one industry which offers it all, it is Marketing. The marketing landscape has massively evolved over the past few years and especially with technology marketing, there is immense scope for professional growth. Being a Technology Marketeer myself from the start of my career, I can tell it is like completing a puzzle with pieces of analytical data, insights, creative thinking, and innovation coupled with technology to devise an integrated marketing plan that not only has an extensive reach but also yields a measurable return. Marketing a software or service which is not tangible requires more than the regular marketing tactics and living in an era of ever changing technological landscape, marketeers like myself are also required to be technically versatile. Working with and for organizations and technologies that form the foundation of the next-generation, indeed, also allows me to upscale my skillset with a progressive learning curve. Moreover, creating a market for such technologies means challenging myself to bring my best foot forward by conceptualizing marketing strategies that are equally catchy and informative for the audience to grasp the product’s ability to offer a solution that addresses their challenges. Being an outcome-oriented individual, it is personally rewarding when I can measure the results of my initiatives in the form of new customer sign-ups, the extended reach of a product in a new sector and geographically, in a new region, and indeed the value of revenue generated through marketing initiatives to fuel the sales pipeline.

From your experience, is gender a differentiator in Marketing at all or are men and women similar in these roles in terms of the strengths they bring to these roles in conceptualizing and executing? Are women sufficiently recognized for their contributions?

I have been raised in the Emirates and as I embarked into my professionally journey, I was fortunate to not have encountered any gender bias in the opportunities that I was pursuing. Thanks to my parents, I am blessed to have the privilege of working in the Emirates - a land of ethnic diversities in all domains. It brings a sense of immense pride and accomplishment to see Women Leaders gaining their ground in other professions alongside Marketing that were generally dominated by the male industry like Architects, Engineers, Consultants, and Lawyers, to name a few. The U.A.E government has been extremely supportive of both men and women in critical roles. There may have been a gender bias in the earlier years. However, in recent years, U.A.E has made a rapid paradigm shift in bridging the gender gap related to disparities in pay and also in the number of seats held by men and women at higher roles like MD‚ VP, CISO‚ and more. Many organizations including Multi-nationals are increasingly inclined towards appointing female leaders in Marketing roles.

How has Hybrid work and accelerated digitalization challenged, changed and enabled your role in Marketing?

The hybrid business model and digitization of several business operations due to Covid-19 has revolutionized the way organizations work. In my personal opinion, the Hybrid working model has actually helped me boost my productivity 3x as I had the flexibility to work at my own comfort. I currently work in the

AEC industry where projects are conducted on premise. With increasing number of cloud-based technologies struggling to pave their way in to the industry, it was the perfect time for them to showcase their value. Majority of our customers that had their designing operations on premises, started implementing Autodesk’s cloud solutions to ensure seamless connectivity between all stakeholders. There was indeed a bit of uncertainty in how marketeers would practice their roles. However, thanks to digital marketing and the wide array of technologies available, marketeers like myself started developing and leveraging on digital marketing through targeted sponsored ads, conversational videos, case studies, and virtual event platforms to ensure continuity in marketing. On the contrary, with organizations around the world relying on the same digital marketing tactics, all at a time, it was a challenge to stay ahead of the competition and the only way to differentiate yourself was to have compelling content (re-emphasizing Content as the King) coupled with a touch of innovation in the existing way of doing things. For instance, I gained inspiration from Netflix and created a series with multiple episodes, that narrates a solution story along with customer testimonials as a closing note, as opposed to a regular webinar.

Briefly highlight some of the standout milestones from your current role and over the past?

Joining Omnix just 2 months before the Covid lockdown in U.A.E., I was definitely in a flux as all my plans had to be revamped and budgets had to be re-aligned accordingly. In an era where Field Marketing is most valued amongst other forms of marketing, it was challenging to attain the same level of partner and customer participation. However, I have been fairly successful in innovating the available options in my own manner for achieving the same results. Where all the customers were being bombarded with webinars, I introduced the concept of Strategic Virtual Breakfast Roundtables and Virtual Panel Discussions with a discussion-oriented approach. My team and I would nominate AEC Industry leaders to host these sessions, addressing challenges faced by end-users in the industry while also sharing best practices from their own experiences implementing solutions and strategies within their organizations. Simultaneously, attendees were sent Omnix branded breakfast hampers prior to the roundtable to harness the essence of a live event. I would also engage our channel partners to leverage on this by engaging their techies and customers. In a recent campaign with Abu Dhabi Municipality about the mandate of BIM in Infrastructure, I have been successful in positioning both Autodesk and Omnix International as the prominent BIM advisor in the region. Riddhi Anilkumar

Regional Marketing Manager, Omnix International

What would be some of the goals that you have set for yourself in the years ahead in your professional journey?

I started off my professional career as a Marketing Coordinator for one of the leading IT Mobility and Security Distributors in EMEA in July 2014. After 8 years, and 3 jobs, I have been very fortunate to have a progressive career path working with some of the leaders in Digital Transformation as a Senior Marketing Executive, Field Marketing Specialist and now leading the Marketing role as a Regional Marketing Manager for the Omnix Engineering division in Omnix International. I love to think out-of-thebox and it brings me immense satisfaction when I am able to add a measurable element to my outcomes so I can understand what works best and develop newer strategies for better results. In the years to come, I aspire to attain a leading position in the Marketing role for a Vendor Firm that is a major technology disruptor of the Next-Generation.