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Optimization of Marketing & Product Lifecycle Technology - Development in Progress

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Govind Singh, Group CIO, Dalmia Bharat

Govind has an extensive experience in managing both in-sourced and outsourced IT models, as well as coordinating and communicating efficiently with internal organizations and third-party vendors.

Tell us about your experience with marketing and product lifecycle in technology, but what and how it contributed to the progress of development.
I have worked in various industries right from manufacturing to automobile companies to FMCG companies. While working for Gillette, I had contracted with Asia tractors and moved to retail. I was working for a German retail company called Metrication Curry. From there I moved to a few international companies and finally joined Levi's.

Can you just tell me about your experience, how was the marketing and product lifecycle related to technology.
Product lifecycle related applications are generally implemented in an environment, whether it's a technology company or it's a user company like our manufacturing company to ensure the overall age of the product in the context of a retail environment. Manufacturing depends on the appearance of an end-product and the environment of the longevity of the product lifecycle in the market and from the manufacturing timeline.

A product has to be marketed across different geographies and should be closed out because sometimes products manufactured by tech companies such as Apple iPhones depend on the product’s market growth or how much money the business company is making, both in the terms of top and bottom line. The popularity of the application is an example from Microsoft and phone manufacturing companies/ automobile companies will be cannibalizing their old models and launching the new models. There is a lot of science and art behind this when completed manually. It may not be the most appropriate way. Utilizing a lot of inputs from big data sources social media can help in customer feedback and help in interview conducts. Mystery audit is completed in the retail industry quite a lot. The product life cycle is determined through sunset product or the increasing/decreasing market value.

There are various algorithms and analytics that are utilized for manufacturing and specific product life cycle management applications or PLM applications are utilized. Depending on the requirement of an organization, businesses choose the companies and starts manufacturing. On the limitation to the size of the business and demand in the market, manufacturing completes either manually or automated. For larger companies, it is always advisable andrequired to have a good PLM application in the market.

Could you tell me the kind of strategies being

implemented in companies to stay ahead of the competition in the market?
Being in the manufacturing industry mainly cement, now, instrument innovations are possible. For example, we can have a simple product like cement can also create a lot of difference in the mindset of the people causing environmental damage. So, we're working on something where we want to become carbon neutral. Carbon-negative in the next few years from now is possible by 2040.

We want to become carbon neutral or carbon negative or if not carbon negative entries. It helps to position business products better. In the case of cement, carbon footprint comes from furnaces, in form of coal, where it is sometimes further killed and can cost you more carbon footprint or less carbon footprint. Depending upon what kind of fuel is used, reclaiming of the exhaust gases is complete. Exhaust gases temperature gets into the technology, but in general, when exhaust fumes are coming out of your chimney in a plant, you use that heat to preheat some of the things. Maybe a lot of water is required to be heated in manufacturing plants for various reasons to generate electricity.

What are the breakthroughs in brand design brand new key integrated communication development, brand activation, P&L Management you have witnessed during your corporate experience?
I've been fortunate to have worked with the finest auto companies globally also in the country. What I have seen in my experience is that large companies or reputed companies mostly keep their mission and vision statement in line with their product life, product lineage, and the way they operate and treat their customers and employees. For example, our mission is to become carbon negative by 2040. We want to become carbon negative in the next number of years. Every activity includes a data center for hosting applications and as a parameter for reclaiming their energy, some of the data centers are using seawater to cool their environment. We also push our customers, suppliers, and vendors to use similar steps which make us overall carbon negative. And this is how you will be impacting or tweaking your overall PNL, financials, and so on.

Can you tell me how retail design expansion and trade marketing are invented and how you recognize excellent business solutions?
The most beautiful example of brand images is the Apple logo on an Apple showroom or an online Apple store. Brand recognition is a combination of various factors in life, which includes the quality of our products, to begin with. Beautifully created or curated quality products align with a company's mission and vision statement. Let's say, in the modern world environment is the major factor for any business to start production. If I'm using paperbacks there, it is aligning with my market image. Now waterless (a product by Levi’s) means products need not be washed very frequently, because they have antibacterial properties. They are treated in such a way that instead of washing, all you can work them, let's say twice, as compared to other products.

Can you tell me about the future of effective communication marketing, the future of effective communication, and marketing?
In this pandemic, we have learned, all nations like us. Typical Indian organizations or manufacturing companies used to be mandatory to be physically present there, and those meetings and people used to travel from all parts of the country to our head office. What those important critical meetings and all that this pandemic has taught all of us, as individuals, Indian and international companies, that working remotely, must be sitting in some other city and answering in some other city. We can talk to each other, communicate, with my views/ideas, and effectively utilize them. For example, when I have a town hall for my function for my department, there 'll be 100 people and 130 people sitting/ delivering suggestions to take. So, what I'm seeing here is that the digital way of communication is gaining more and more prominence there. And the marketing, the digital marketing is also going to be gaining more and more prominence there.


While looking at the future of marketing, even the sales initiatives have many sales pitches. These are done online. When businesses are converting more and more digitally, marketing also has to be moving them in the same direction. Like a lot of CRM, programs are coming up with collaborative CRM programs.

As an IT technology professional, this pandemic has changed the minds of a typical technology professional also in such a way that we can get the deliveries done from a remote location. The second part is it has given a lot of boost to the economy of their two and tier three cities.

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