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Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch shares some invaluable leadership mantras

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6418916" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Glitch">Glitch</keyword> was recently consolidated into the nearly $1 billion global <keyword id="6911038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="VMLYR">VMLY&amp;R</keyword> network.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="2998892" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pooja-Jauhari">Pooja Jauhari</keyword>, CEO, The Glitch on what the recent consolidation will mean for the agency, how it fared during this difficult year, its recent account wins and her vision for the agency.</li></ul>When <keyword id="3054169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Duggirala">Varun Duggirala</keyword> and <keyword id="228356" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Raj">Rohit Raj</keyword> founded The Glitch, a digitally-led creative agency, in 2009, the idea was to create an organization that would help clients come up with smart solutions, therefore fix the glitch they were facing in communicating with their consumers (the agency had been founded around the 2009 recession and both Duggirala and Raj had been told it was the worst time to start the agency). Eleven years down the line, considering how far the agency has already come, in hindsight, it was perhaps the best time to start the agency. Today, The Glitch is one of the edgiest agencies out there, with an impressive roster of clients. The agency has made a name for itself by way of the differentiated work it is able to put out for its clients. Back in 2018, <keyword id="168456" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WPP">WPP</keyword> identified the potential in the independent agency and made it a part of its ecosystem and since then, the agency has only moved upwards. Recently, WPP also consolidated this young, edgy agency with VMLY&amp;R. We recently caught up with Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch to understand what the recent consolidation will mean for the agency, how it fared during this difficult year, its account wins and her vision for the agency. <div type="Video" msid="79760457" hostid="261" title="Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch shares some invaluable leadership mantras" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=79760457"></div> The Glitch’s 2020 journey Over the last few years, the Glitch has been witnessing healthy growth. It has also been churning out great content and campaigns. The agency has been working on many beauty brands under HUL, it is also the agency behind all the content <keyword id="128682" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> puts out. They also handle <keyword id="28120" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Linkedin">LinkedIn</keyword> and the premium portfolio of Diageo. Despite the year being challenging for most businesses, The Glitch had some impressive client wins. “Our focus this year was on tech businesses and we have succeeded in adding some wonderful brands to our portfolio. We worked on some projects for Facebook and won the accounts for Triller, Octro Inc and Microsoft,” shared Jauhari. While she said she would be lying if she said 2020 wasn’t challenging, the agency had fared well, against all odds. “At the start of the lockdown, we were all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But very quickly, that light disappeared because of all the uncertainty. However, I have great respect for the people that I work with - both my colleagues and clients, because I saw leadership at every level. And while the year was tough and the first few months were very difficult, we bounced back very quickly. We've had great business wins. All our top clients continue to stay with us. We've played an active role in helping them through this darkness, and there truly is camaraderie and partnership. We aren't yet back to where I would have liked us to be but bounced back we have!,” said Jauhari. While not sharing revenue figures for the year, Jauhari also said that there had been a dip in the initial months, but they're now on an upward swing. “And should the trajectory of the last few months continue, we should be in a very good place next year,” she added. The VMLY&amp;R consolidation About a month back, The Glitch became a part of the nearly $1 billion global VMLY&amp;R network. While talks between the two agencies were on for over three years, it finally came to fruition in November this year. Both the agencies will continue to operate as separate, individual brands. On what the consolidation would entail and the synergies that the two agencies share, Jauhari said, “Over the years, one feedback our clients kept giving us was that they love our organization for our people, our sound culture and our agility. Our creative and business strategies have truly succeeded in solving real-life problems for our clients. We truly believe The Glitch is a modern partner to our clients. And to be able to continue being a modern partner, we needed to add data and technology to our fold as well. And that was one of the key reasons VMLY&amp;R was so attractive to us.” “We share a lot of synergies with them. There’s always been a lot of camaraderie. As a network at large, they’re very entrepreneurial. And, when I talk about Glitch, we're all about being gender-blind, diverse, progressive, and we're high performance as a workspace. We happen to be an advertising agency. And that's the kind of language VMLY&amp;R speaks as well, which is why, people and culture-wise it was such a great fit,” she added. The vision for Glitch This year threw unforeseen challenges to organizations across the world. And most have come up with learnings that will help them navigate the uncertain future. On what were a few things that the pandemic taught the agency, Jauhari said, “We would be really foolish if we didn’t learn anything from this experience. One of the obvious thing we have pondered over is, can our industry actually bring about work-life balance, and can that balance come from spending a few days in office and then working remotely for a certain amount of time? So, we will try and bring about a remote working culture in our organization. Secondly, the experience also showed us efficiencies in the way we conduct our businesses, the kind of travel one should do or where to spend our money. For instance, I would rather spend money on our people than on massive office spaces. But the most important factor for me has been focusing on mental health, both for myself and my colleagues. And this is not something that your HR team should do. It's something that every person in the organization needs to imbibe and it starts with leaders. I often tell my colleagues that building mental strength is like building muscle strength, it needs practice. And, we have to focus on proactive mental health rather than reactive mental health. And that to me is a big change in the way I operate as a person and its also something I would do for my organization as we move forward.” On what is that one thing that she feels she has done right and is proud of as a leader, she said, “The one thing I'm truly proud of is our collective belief in being an organization that's gender-blind, truly inclusive, and highly progressive, and I don't mean inclusivity and being progressive only in the form of gender, but in the form of opinion, background and the kind of work we put out. As a company, we're all about normalizing and not cause-vertising. I would hate it if Glitch ever put out a piece of work that cause-vertised something rather than normalizing. For example, when we talk about same sex love, our focus is not on the same sex, it’s on the love. When we feature a transgender model in a beauty film, we don't highlight the model, we rather highlight beautiful skin, the beautiful people, a way of being. When we talk about men washing dishes, we just normalize it because we are in 2020, and its obviously normal. And that’s our key agenda and mission as an agency, which I'm very proud of.”

As a company, we're all about normalizing and not cause-vertising: Pooja Jauhari, The Glitch

<ul><li><keyword id="6911038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="VMLYR">VMLY&amp;R</keyword> network employs over 7,000 people across 75+ offices across the world. </li><li><keyword id="2951846" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Glitch">The Glitch</keyword> senior leaders, including CEO <keyword id="2998892" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pooja-Jauhari">Pooja Jauhari</keyword>, Co-Founder &amp; Chief Creative Officer, <keyword id="228356" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Raj">Rohit Raj</keyword>, and Co-Founder &amp; Content Chief, <keyword id="3054169" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Duggirala">Varun Duggirala</keyword> will now report into Tripti Lochan, Co-CEO of VMLY&amp;R Asia.</li></ul>The Glitch has joined forces with global experience agency VMLY&amp;R. The new entity taps on the strengths of both WPP agencies, creating a stronger expanded offering through the best of technology and creative expertise. <keyword id="10219305" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-glitch-and-vmlyR">The Glitch and VMLY&amp;R</keyword> India will continue to operate distinct brands and organisational structures while working together. This will allow clients to experience their combined proposition of marketing talent, capabilities, and experience, while maintaining the simplicity of their current communication cadence with each agency. The integration will see The Glitch become a part of the nearly $1 billion global VMLY&amp;R network, which employs over 7,000 people across 75+ offices across the world. These include three offices in India, based in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. The Glitch senior leaders, including CEO Pooja Jauhari, Co-Founder &amp; Chief Creative Officer, Rohit Raj, and Co-Founder &amp; Content Chief, Varun Duggirala will now report into Tripti Lochan, Co-CEO of VMLY&amp;R Asia. In addition, the Glitch leadership team along with <keyword id="7792201" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="vmlyr-india">VMLY&amp;R India</keyword> CEO <keyword id="293465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anil-Nair">Anil Nair</keyword>, will form an India leadership council to manage strategic decisions for both companies. The council will be headed by Anil Nair. Founded in Mumbai in in 2010, The Glitch stands as one of the leading, digitally-led creative agencies in India, employing over 300 digital strategists, technologists, content creators and planners, delivering award-winning campaigns for a wide spectrum of clients including Netflix, Hindustan Unilever, LinkedIn, Lenovo, Diageo, and most recently Microsoft and Triller among many other global brands. With offices in Mumbai and Delhi, The Glitch services clients in India and many other regions of Asia. VMLY&amp;R embodies a hybrid blend of brand creativity with a deep digital heritage, manifesting in a comprehensive understanding of the entire customer journey. The agency has accolades reflecting both its creative excellence and digital expertise. VMLY&amp;R India’s business-first team is known for delivering digital excellence for blue chip brands like ICICI Bank, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, IDFC, Ford, Swaraj Tractors, IDBI Federal and Marico, delivering transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience, data, platforms and commerce. “WPP's aim is to provide clients with a simplified and integrated offer to help them grow their businesses holistically. The Glitch over the past ten years has grown to become a digital and content powerhouse, and when combined with VMLY&amp;R’s capabilities in digital transformation and customer experience, can help clients make an impact in their transformation journeys," said CVL Srinivas, Country Manager, India, WPP. On joining the VMLY&amp;R Network, Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch, said: “We have flourished alongside WPP in the past 3 years. The founders and I are delighted that we’ve now found a great permanent home for our brand, our company and most importantly, our people. The Glitch is a gender blind, inclusive and progressive high-performance workspace and with this marriage, we’ve found kindred spirits in VMLY&amp;R when it comes to driving the same vision. We’re eager to explore our complementary capability sets for the benefit of our clients’ businesses. With this union, we believe we are in the best position to help our clients be more agile, sharper and ready for whatever the future may bring.” Anil Nair, CEO, VMLY&amp;R India, said: “This union spells great news for clients looking at building digital-first brands. In addition to cutting edge solutions such as customer experience (CX), commerce , technology, innovation, AI/ML, data, media innovations and good old culture impacting creativity, we will now be able to add new weaponry to our arsenal, including powerful capabilities in brand experience, new-age content, youth marketing, connections thinking, brand publishing, and live creativity amongst others. This makes us the most relevant agency group in the market with best possible capabilities to help our clients future-proof their businesses and succeed in the new paradigm.”

The Glitch becomes a part of the nearly $1 billion global VMLY&R network

<ul><li>Ad &amp; Media Insider in partnership with <keyword id="1959531" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wattpad">Wattpad</keyword>, hosted a 2-part webinar where we brought industry experts to discuss what makes this generation different from others before them, how marketers need to approach them differently, if they want to become a part of their lives.</li><li>The panel was moderated by <keyword id="2998892" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pooja-Jauhari">Pooja Jauhari</keyword>, CEO, <keyword id="2951846" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Glitch">The Glitch</keyword> and had <keyword id="138476" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mohit-Joshi">Mohit Joshi</keyword>, CEO, Havas Media Group, <keyword id="10210068" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="archana-tiwari-nayudu">Archana Tiwari-Nayudu</keyword>, Director - Content &amp; Communications, upGrad, <keyword id="4970814" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vikas-Bagaria">Vikas Bagaria</keyword>, Founder, Pee Safe and <keyword id="3747310" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="devashish-sharma">Devashish Sharma</keyword>, Country Manager, Wattpad India as panelists.</li></ul>GenZ, the tech-savvy, digital native generation that is often blamed for having an attention span which is even lesser than that of a goldfish, is also a difficult target group to decode, from a marketing perspective. GenZs are visibly different from previous generations of consumers. True they have shorter attention spans but if they feel a particular kind of content resonates with them, they will stick around, even if it is long-form content. They are also on the lookout for brands that go above and beyond just selling their products. They instantly connect with brands that they feel are socially and environmentally conscious. To find out more about this often difficult-to-please consumer set, Ad &amp; Media Insider in partnership with Wattpad, hosted a 2-part webinar where we brought industry experts to discuss what makes this generation different from others before them, how marketers need to approach them differently, if they want to become a part of their lives. The panel also discussed the role good storytelling plays in ensuring that GenZers like a particular brand. The panel was moderated by Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch and had Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group, Archana Tiwari-Nayudu, Director - Content &amp; Communications, upGrad, Vikas Bagaria, Founder, Pee Safe and Devashish Sharma, Country Manager, Wattpad India as panelists. Millennials vs GenZ – The key differentiators The conversation started with charting out the major differences between GenZ and the preceding generation, Millennials. The textbook definitions of these two generations are anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 39 in 2020) are millennials whereas people born between 1996 and 2012 are categorized as GenZ. Explaining what he thinks defines GenZ and differentiates them from millennials and other generations before them, Sharma said, “What differentiates GenZ from previous generations is that they are digital and mobile native, they are great at creating content and they are also people who genuinely want to connect on social causes.” Adding to Sharma’s opinion, Joshi said, “GenZ is socially conscious but also very ruthless. When it comes to choosing a brand, they go beyond the functional benefits and look for the social benefits. And you have to be really fast when talking to them because their attention span is abysmal.” “This is a generation that believes in being real and bold,” added Tiwari-Nayudu. On how stories are an important part of engaging with this audience, Sharma said, “Memes to movies, stories can link brands to culture. While in the past, brand jingles used to help consumers connect with brands and build a recall, today things are different. Today memes do the same job. What has changed is, jingles used to be a one-way communication whereas memes are much more participative and that’s what GenZ is looking for,” added Sharma. The importance of consistency in customer experience For this generation, the kind of experience they get while talking to a brand is very important. Therefore, customer and brand experience becomes an important factor when it comes to this set of audience rooting for a brand. Sharing his thought, Bagaria said, “This is a generation that is looking for a solution and not just a product. This is also a generation that is vocal. They will talk to you and they will tell you what they want and the more you talk to them and give them solutions and information, the more they will stick to you.” Relevance and meaningfulness is important for GenZ added Joshi. “If you want to build a brand for this younger generation, it has to be built in alignment with their values and beliefs,” he added. Joshi also gave the example of recent campaigns Havas Media Group had done for Durex including ‘Mutual Climax’ and ‘Durex Jeans’. “These campaigns happened because we listened to the brand’s consumers and created a narrative around that. Today it is all about creating a product which this generation wants. For them, engaging with a product doesn’t make sense unless it’s been made for them. Therefore, successful marketers have to build a product bottoms up,” elaborated Joshi. “Listening to consumers on every touchpoint is extremely important,” added Jauhari. Throwing some light on how a marketer’s approach towards crafting communication is also changing today, Tiwari-Nayudu added, “I am very happy to see that today, everybody is thinking of a pull model rather than a push model. In the pull model, storytelling is at the core of everything you do. You have to connect with the audience in a way that it is immersive and engaging because you want the audience to be a part of your storytelling." Authenticity in storytelling upGrad recently came up with a campaign that showed people in an office kissing a donkey. The campaign took the phase, kissing ass literally and created a campaign around it. And the ad went viral, owing to both the novelty of the story and the way it was told and also because a lot of people related to it. “When we were working on the idea, we had several rounds of discussion to understand how to go about it. We wanted to be real and authentic. What we came up with resonated with the audience. SOo it is very important that you use a language that your audience understands and tell it in a way that they relate to it because they want real stuff,” shared Tiwari-Nayudu. The conversation also steered towards ‘Causevertising’, which is a term used for brands who create communications around a cause. When asked if GenZ believes in cause-vertising, Joshi said, “For GenZ, cause-vertising is a bad word. They are aware of everything so you can’t really fool them. They will see right through you. At Havas, we have come up with a notion of meaningfulness and there are 3 parts to it. When consumers look at a brand, they look at its functional benefits, that is, what are the basic functions of the product. They look at the personal benefits, which means they see how it is helping them personally. Then thirdly, and this is the most important one for GenZ, they look at the collective benefits.” Giving a recent example, Joshi spoke about Baba ka Dhaba and how that initiative was all about meaningfulness. “Once the conversation started, Swiggy and Zomato got into it and added Baba ka Dhaba to their platforms. That’s something that GenZ considers meaningful. It wasn’t cause-vertising but it was meaningful advertising. They are asking what are you as a brand doing for the industry and the community? They also want to see what you’re doing and if you are able to convince them about your authenticity, they will buy your product. In fact, they are ready to pay more for products that have higher collective benefits,” explained Joshi. Bagaria also shone the light on the importance of creating products by listening to your consumers. “Ours is a brand that is by GenZ and for GenZ. We have come up with so many products just by listening to this young generation. Therefore, it is very important to take a bottoms up approach. Listen to your consumers and then create your products. If you do that much, you won’t need to advertise. Your products will sell automatically,” he said. On what a marketer should focus on in the future to be able to connect with this set of audience, Sharma said, “User-generated content is something that works well for GenZ and that is something marketers should look at. Today, its not just about targeting a direct audience but also about giving a push to these creators through whose content you can unlock newer audiences.” Watch the full conversation here: <div type="javascript" title="Facebook" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div>

Why good storytelling is the perfect tool to connect and communicate with GenZ

<ul><li><keyword id="2998892" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pooja-Jauhari">Pooja Jauhari</keyword>, CEO, <keyword id="2951846" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Glitch">The Glitch</keyword> writes how having an atmosphere of inclusivity and <keyword id="9616459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="diverse-teams">diverse teams</keyword> with Glitch has helped take the agency where it is today.</li><li>She firmly believes you cannot get success from putting similar people together, rather putting together different, courageous individuals can lead to simple, impactful, remarkable solutions. </li></ul> Diversity is the key to everything. It impacts how we think, behave, feel and react. With this balance, we become aware and I read somewhere awareness is like the sun. When it shines on your mind, you are transformed. So, my mantra for The Glitch has always been to do with confidence, learn for awareness and audit to self reflect. This clarity comes from our diversity. It comes from our different opinions, back stories, ambitions, motivations and it is all aligned to one thing - Our diversity is a great force towards creativity. This drives our cycle of self-realisation and constant growth. Building a company isn’t for the weak of heart, especially when you so often don’t fit in a traditional box. This is where balance is required. You need different sets of people who through their shared and individual experiences can be resilient enough to move forward with confidence. I enjoy the company of people who don’t fit in a box or stay between the lines but whose integrity is greater than any rule book. When you put a diverse set of people together and celebrate their individuality, you create something that can last a lifetime. I often say that any company that fails to harness the collective strength of diversity is setting itself up for a huge disadvantage in the new world. I’m so often in awe of the people who choose to work at Glitch. Now creativity is more than just being different and disruptive. Making simple awesomely simple, that’s creativity. That doesn’t come from putting together individuals that look, sound and behave the same. It comes from putting together different, courageous individuals and most of all, individuals with different opinions that choose to create opportunities for learning which leads to simple, impactful, remarkable solutions. The biggest impact of diversity is its effect on the bottom line. When people across the organisation know that their gender, personal choices and preferences will not impact their growth, it breeds freedom and conscious confidence. Diversity is our engine to creativity and with that engine powering our supersonic train, we move with speed. We have stops, yes we do! People get in and get off, but the mission stays strong. It’s the combination of every single person that got on this hi-speed train at some point or the other that propels the engine to move forward. Diversity helps more so when the world is in crisis. I recently read something about companies and crisis that stuck with me. 'Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, good companies survive them and great companies are improved by them'. With diversity, being great is easy. It’s easy to understand different life situations. It’s easy to be empathetic. It’s easy to allow each other to be weak and strong together. So, let’s strive to be great in this crisis. Leaders flourish in times of crisis. I have seen that in so many interactions with my colleagues over the last four months. Leaders across levels choosing to pick up and move forward. What resonates with all of us is that being challenged in life is inevitable, but being defeated is optional and it’s a little easier to win when you have a unique diverse set of individuals by your side.

Impact of a gender inclusive workplace on a marketing and brand communication business

<ul><li>We are living in unprecedented times when all we knew about work culture has completely been turned on its head. While the agencies have thrived on togetherness for years, when it comes to meetings, pitching and brainstorming, the last few weeks have taken everything to the virtual world. </li><li>However, we know that this isn't our permanent state of being. We will soon come out of it. </li><li>There is a need to prepare for an uncertain future which might give rise to a completely new work culture. And this is the time to prepare for it, writes <keyword id="2998892" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pooja-Jauhari">Pooja Jauhari</keyword>, CEO, <keyword id="2951846" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Glitch">The Glitch</keyword>. </li></ul>Do I crave an office? My colleagues? A warm meeting with a client we worked with for years, the thrill of meeting a new client we’ve worked so hard to get. Lunches in office, beers on Friday, long brainstorms and healthy arguments, airports and hotels and just about everything I took for granted in my 'old life'. I miss all of it. Even the Monday blues. But, it’s also taught me to prepare for continuous uncertainty. That this virus may not be the first or last of it’s kind. That we need to be prepared and hence be responsible for the sake of our colleagues and clients. I would rather be prepared than just hopeful. So let’s also prepare for what it will take, to make a new work culture. Rewrite something that has always been built on strong social and human connection? I believe in human being’s ability to learn and grow. To find ways to connect, we are social beings and also the biggest innovators in the world. One may call it an old way vs a new way. But it is a way we need to learn to work with. I would want nothing more than to meet all the people that have helped build The Glitch in person. However, the future is not black and white. What is the point of this experience if we don’t learn from it? We are not going to be in this level of intense <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> forever. So what does a new work world look like? And when things ease what can we take from it? <ol><li>That you don’t have to always work from office. Remember the people we spoke of at lunch, who quit their jobs and packed their bags and headed to the hills and could work for various companies from the comfort of their home/hill or beach. We could have that too! Planned WFH days, but with a balanced structure. Time to tune in and out. Time to get off the grid and back on it again. The possibilities are unlimited. We could attain true balance in life. </li><li>That while meeting in person feels so good and can still happen when safe, we can do so well on video calls and celebrate success and learn from our failures. We can make our kids say hello to each other, talk about our dogs and work out together and still love and respect each other’s professional abilities as much. That when we meet, even if between long breaks that meeting is meaningful. </li><li>That if we take care of our company and keep it tight, we can still keep our people protected and give our clients a motivated, happy and secure team to work with. That keeping our team mentally healthy and physically safe will have a lasting impact on the company we build. </li><li>That this will end, but when? Let’s stop thinking about that but instead focus on how to make the world work better. Build a company that is geared to handle another crisis of this proportion. To make our clients feel confident that we are great when all together in an office but equally great when forced to work remotely. That we can be true partners in this new world because we are prepared and we adapted. </li></ol>There is no new world or old world, just your ability to pick up and move, forward. - This column has been authored by Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch.

Looking forward to a new work culture, in the post-Covid world

<ul><li>The biggest task for today's marketers is to abolish gender roles and work on an honest <keyword id="1616270" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="portrayal-of-women">portrayal of women</keyword>.</li><li>We reached out to a few leading women from the advertising, marketing and media industry to discuss a few stereotypes they are tired of seeing, how we can change the portrayal of women and making the industries more inclusive.</li></ul>The advertising industry was infamous for perpetuating gender stereotypes -- from a sacrificing mother to a man being the bread-earner, the portrayal of women has remained very shallow for years. How brands depict women and their role in society has evolved today, she is independent, she has a voice and is slowly learning to care less about society’s judgement, but we haven’t taken a big leap yet. She is still a woman who is ‘aesthetically pleasing,’ fair-skinned, doesn’t come from a minority community and is a little far from real. We are limping towards <keyword id="2414535" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="INCLUSIVITY">inclusivity</keyword>. It is only when there’s an equal representation inside Indian advertising agencies and media organisations that we will have diverse voices in a brainstorming session, which ultimately gets reflected in a brand’s communication. Recently, women have faced greater economic hardship through the Covid-19 pandemic, disproportionately losing jobs and income. LinkedIn’s report shows how Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women’s careers. Our latest Opportunity Index findings show that 85% of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender. Women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68% of women and 74% of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than 7 in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in their way of career progress. So, it is safe to say that we are far away from building an inclusive environment for employees of all gender spectrum. We reached out to women in leadership across media, brand and advertising industry to understand how we can bridge the gender gap and improve <keyword id="10891888" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="portrayal-of-women-in-advertising">portrayal of women in advertising</keyword>. Here is what they had to say: Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3" retweetcount="1" status="#iwd2021: @followtheglitch's CEO, @PoojaJauhari talks to us about nurturing an inclusive environment at work and sh… https://t.co/JVNVXS4kO2" createdat="1615008600000" id="1368071342319235075"></div> Malini Agarwal, Founder of MissMalini and Creative Director at Malini's Girl Tribe <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2" retweetcount="0" status="#IWD2021: @MissMalini's Founder @MaliniAgarwal on how the messaging of beauty ads can damage young girls by forcing… https://t.co/o3o34sMRxV" createdat="1615209968000" id="1368915943628316673"></div> Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing, Direct Revenue &amp; Analytics: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="11" retweetcount="3" status="#InternationalWomensDay: @ALTBalaji's @dxtdvy's team is made up of 90% women. She shares a few skillsets that women… https://t.co/c2n5SGOZAM" createdat="1615197601000" id="1368864070548520962"></div> Juhi Bhatnagar, Strategy &amp; BD, India, Snap Inc: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="5" retweetcount="0" status="#InternationalWomensDay: @juhibhatnagarr, Strategy &amp; BD, India, @Snap Inc shares how we can make the AdTech industr… https://t.co/JlpD7yIzuE" createdat="1615188600000" id="1368826317010055168"></div> Shradha Agarwal, Co-founder and COO, Grapes Digital: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="0" status="#iwd2021: @GrapesDigital's @shrads_agarwal tells us why it is important to have more women in leadership positions.… https://t.co/4HvUb3vL5m" createdat="1614941492000" id="1367789870916063237"></div> Unmisha Bhatt, Chief Strategy Officer &amp; Director - India &amp; MENA region, Tonic Worldwide: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4" retweetcount="0" status="#InternationalWomensDay: @TonicWorldwide is run by 60% women. Tonic's Chief Strategy Officer &amp; Director - India &amp; M… https://t.co/GJBePGhc5Y" createdat="1615186801000" id="1368818774376247297"></div> Rajni Daswani, Director, SoCheers: <div type="twitter" handle="admediainsider" handlename="Advertising and Media Insider India" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1281482517443305472/8RPcjmow_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4" retweetcount="0" status="#InternationalWomensDay: @TheSoCheers' Director, Rajni Daswani on how portrayal of women needs to change in adverti… https://t.co/PIXba4KRaR" createdat="1615184655000" id="1368809772527480833"></div>

Leading women from the advertising, marketing and media world on making the industry more inclusive

<ul><li>While the ad industry has a lot of womentoday, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours, or the flexibility to work from home.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li><li>There is also a need to relook at the way employee’s performances are evaluated, coming up with newer ways of assessing talent in a time where the way of doing business has seen a complete overhaul.</li></ul> In late 2019, a report by Credit Suisse stated that women’s representation in boardrooms in India increased only by 4.3% between 2014 and 2019. The report further stated that the current female representation on boards is only 15.2% which invariably led to dialogues around the conspicuous lack of women leaders in the upper rungs of the corporate world. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media is one industry that has seen a lot of women in roles of leadership. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. Conversations with most women leaders from the industry led us to believe that this is an industry that welcomes women to be a part of the workforce. However, it is during their mid-career levels that a lot of women drop out of the workforce, leading to a dip in women who take up higher positions. We reached out to some of the most influential women in the industry currently, to gauge what are the reasons for these drop-outs, and what needs to be done, as an industry as well at individual organizational levels, to ensure that women are retained, and even if they drop-out, are encouraged to rejoin the workforce. We received an overwhelming response to our queries from across the sector from women who made some really compelling points. These women who feel passionately about the subject laid their hearts bare, telling us ways they think the industry can evolve, to become more inclusive. Here are some of the most prominent voices. Building a culture of inclusivity It is often noticed that while a lot of women are joining the workforce, many of them take the decision of quitting once they decide to get married or decide to have children. Many find it difficult to come back, due to the lack of flexible working hours at their workplaces, or even due to a certain amount of judgment where people look at them a little differently after they come back from a long break. Most of the women leaders we spoke to believe that the work culture needs to evolve a little, to make way for such women, giving them the flexibility that many of them need, once they start a family. <keyword id="4356726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="srija-chatterjee">Srija Chatterjee</keyword>, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide, India shared that while a few corporates have started giving some assistance to women, the ad industry hasn’t yet started doing that actively. “As an industry, we have woken up to women leaders and we are trying to make things happen for women, to make sure that they don't jump off from the workforce. However, there's still a long way to go. The biggest reason women stop working is when they get into that life stage of having children. A lot of corporates are today providing strong support, through office crèches or flexi-timing options. That has not yet happened in our industry. From a business perspective, the size of our agencies might not be that big, which makes implementing this a bit of a challenge. But the more and more we get into a group structure, and offices become more centralized, it will enable organizations to look at shared resources to help women pursue their passion. This is something that could be done, but has not been done yet.” A lot of times, there is also a lot of judgement involved when women come back to work after a long break. Delving deeper into the need for a change in attitude, Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu said, “You’ve been out of the scene way too long - you can’t expect the salary that you do after the kind of leave you’ve taken - but won’t your attention be divided now?” These are just some of the things women hear when they are seeking to make their way back into the workforce, post a long gap. Of course, this is not a blanket statement - times are changing, mindsets are changing, as are corporate policies. But if companies truly want to be gender-neutral then statements and questions like the ones I’ve cited above would never be heard again. Additionally, flexible working hours, working from home, working on time-bound projects are all steps that more and more organisations can adopt to ensure equal opportunities. And when I say equal, I mean that these options should be made available to both men and women. Shedding some light on how OLX is working on retaining some of its women, Sapna Arora, Chief Marketing Officer, OLX India said, “Setting the right example of favourable work culture much suited to women, not just in terms of facilities and infrastructure, but also in terms of broadening our thinking within an organization across various levels, is the key to inspire women working population to join the workforce and perform better. OLX, as an organization, is working on taking baby steps in creating empowering workplace for women. A couple of years ago, we at OLX embarked on a journey to evaluate the gender diversity ratio and actively worked to encourage more women in roles such as data scientists, engineers, front line sales and more. This is a conscious choice we have made under our global diversity and inclusion programme which seeks to improve the gender ratio across STEM and leadership roles.” Talking about the need to prioritize diversity in leadership, Emrana Sheikh, Enterprise HR Head for India and South Asia – Johnson &amp; Johnson said, “Today, companies are increasingly equating their C-suite diversity to competitive advantage for their businesses – and rightly so, it leads to robust dialogue, richer decisions and the empathy to design good, and human-centered solutions. For organizations looking for a paradigm shift in their work cultures, C-suite diversity sets an example for the rest of the team. At the basic level, it can be a source of inspiration that resonates down to the front-line staff. This is only possible when diversity in the leadership is prioritized and its long-term implementation is ensured at all levels through intentionality and focused talent management. Internal platforms such as Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council and Employee Resource Groups further drive culture strategies from a variety of lenses, championing inclusivity as a collective goal across levels. An inclusive culture transcends barriers, bias and bureaucracy, and makes the employees truly feel that they belong. All around, women are a critical mass of consumers, influencers, stakeholders and communities. Hence, reflection of the same in organizations is a business imperative.” Sharing a similar sentiment, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions added, “Organizations need to ensure that women in the workplace are respected and recognized.For women to thrive in the workplace, organizations need to ensure an environment that is rooted in equal opportunity and a culture that is geared to assist women achieve their goals.” Sharing some tips on a few things that can be done at the organization level to help women continue to be a part of an organization, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu added, “Younger women need to see older women in positions of influence. Flexible working hours and working from home might be a challenge in an industry that’s made a virtue of unreasonable working hours but we ought to be non-negotiable about starting early, cutting idle chatter, short lunch breaks and everything else that helps finish work early so that parents (and everyone else, really!) get to spend some time with their families. Ingraining fundamental values will go a much longer way than making token gestures. Enforcing paternity leave, for instance, so that the onus of child-rearing is not on the mother alone. When a parent, regardless of gender is expected to manage time such that they are responsible for their work as well as for their families, everyone will automatically spend less time on idle chatter and work a lot more efficiently.” An organization's culture also needs to have empathy at its foundation, shared Oindrila Roy, Head of Strategy, India, Essence, to make a difference. "As with any type of workforce integration, empathy should be the edifice on which workplaces are designed to integrate and retain both women and men more seamlessly. For women, it starts with stepping into her shoes, evaluating challenges from her point of view and arriving at solutions which are conducive. For example, an online survey conducted by JobsForHer found that 38% of women do not return to the workforce after giving birth, due to the lack of good day care for children. If that is the challenge, companies need to think of solving this problem innovatively - can the organisation collaborate with a nanny service provider to avail reliable childcare options to its employees? Reassured and empowered parents are likely to stay in the workforce longer." Modifying existing performance benchmarks Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India believes that there is a need to relook at the performance benchmarks on which employees are evaluated. “In the middle years, I often see that we are trying to evaluate people on certain benchmarks. The criteria for these performance indicators have been put in place years ago when it was a largely male-dominated workforce. Things like 8 hours of work, or work in office, or if you want a senior position, you should have worked in different geographies etc. But sometimes, for women, it becomes very difficult to be mobile and move to different parts of the country, especially once they get married. As an industry, we really need to re-evaluate the criteria. We should look for quality now, if people are curious, if they are team-players, how innovative and out-of-the-box can they think. If these changes are brought about, a lot of women will find it easier to catch up from where they left, even if they are coming back after a long break.” Treating both men and women as equals at the workplace A lot of women leaders feel that there is an immediate need to start looking at both men and women as equals in the workspace and not differentiate on the basis of gender. Lara Balsara Wajifdar, Executive Director at Madison World said, “We need to look at women leaders as leaders first and not as women leaders. Don’t differentiate us on the basis of our gender, but differentiate us on the basis of our work! Our industry is always hungry for good talent and if the talent is good, the agency will always accommodate personal requests as long as the work is not affected.” Many also feel the starting point is to start a conversation, where both the genders are treated as equal participants. “<keyword id="6372584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-equality">Gender equality</keyword> is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue – that extends to all realms, including the workplace. To encourage equality across all lines of command in the workplace and have more women leaders, we need more men to be equal participants in the conversation around gender equality. Having the male workforce as partners can bring empowerment and equal respect among all genders. Global change-making initiatives like the UN’s ‘He for She’ Movement, of which I am a strong advocate, have been setting strong examples for people of all genders to take bold steps in solidarity and are working towards a gender-equal world,” said <keyword id="235731" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nadia-Chauhan">Nadia Chauhan</keyword>, JMD &amp; CMO, Parle Agro. Pointing out to some things that need to be done at an organizational level, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO Eros Digital at Eros International said, “There needs to be a cultural shift and change at workplaces to eradicate gender inequality and retain women employees. It is about time that companies consider deserving women for higher level positions and evaluate their performance sans bias. If there are more women leaders out there at the top positions, it gives a sense of confidence to the global sisterhood with strong role models. It is essential that companies organize mentorship programs to break the stereotype of what a man and a woman can or should do. There are several ways to retain a woman employee at work, but we also need to encourage more women to join the workforce. Equal pay, ensuring all voices are heard and feeling valued, creating safe work environment, etc. are all the least we can do.” Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch put it rather succinctly in her three-point recommendation on how to retain women. She said, “Firstly, treat your entire talent base with gender blindness. Best person for the job. Without over-thinking their family, marital, ‘emotional’ status. Just get the right person for the job. Secondly, allow your talent to align personal and professional goals and build a support system for them to come back to the same position at work after a break (marriage| child birth) and lastly, stop saying a certain gender matters more, prove by example by showing gender balance across functions.” Training young employees to think of themselves as leaders There is also a need for seniors to build an environment of motivating young women while also making them aware of their potential as future managers, shared Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Ampilifi India. She said, “This question is asked to mostly senior women but ideally, both senior men, women and the entire team should be equally responsible to motivate the young, efficient women. The entire organisation gains if they can train and then retain competent women leading up to a management role. It is critical to show them advancement opportunities and their growth path. Policies might have to be tweaked but if it benefits all, it should not matter. Building an inclusive workplace, an organisational environment that values diversity not just for the sake of appearances but for the competitive edge that comes with access to multiple perspectives would make a difference.” There are a lot of internal barriers that women have to cross and training them to believe in themselves could help in ensuring they make it to the top. <keyword id="346168" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lulu-Raghavan">Lulu Raghavan</keyword>, Managing Director, Landor Associates said, “Even before thinking of getting more women leaders, we have to think of how we can create a better working place holistically. Secondly, you have to ensure that women at the top, doing good work get the visibility. It starts with the leadership, company philosophy and culture. You’ve got to find them and put them on the top because deserving women do exist. You can’t give us an excuse that there aren’t any women relevant for the top positions. A lot of training has to be done with women themselves; there are a few external barriers such as company policies, work environment, how other people behave towards you, and there are internal factors, which we women have set up through the years. It is the lack of self-confidence, self-doubt and imposter syndrome. We women have to be trained to be leaders. It should be different from the overall management chain because it is decades of social conditioning that companies have to break when women join them. “ Anita Kotwani, Senior Vice President, New Business, Mindshare added, “The industry needs to first acknowledge that Woman leaders can deliver as well as their male counterparts for senior-level roles. The grooming required should be done for the role and not the gender. If that happens you will see the necessary shift with more woman leaders leading the mantle.” Sharing her optimism about the future where she envisions more and more women to be on the top, Kranti Gada, COO Shemaroo Entertainment said, “A few years ago, I participated in a program called ‘Tanmatra’ organized by IIM Bangalore, to help develop and groom fellow women counterparts for about 9 months and the stories I heard about the differences in opportunities shocked me a little. I was happy to be at Shemaroo, where we have seen women in key roles leading from the front and managing the core business with ease and expertise. While the ratio of women is a little skewed in the industry, the gender gap is narrowing, and we will see more women taking charge in future in every field.”

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