Interview with Apurva Chamaria, India Board Member

Ahead of our launch this October in India, we caught up with our India Board Member and Global Head of Corporate Marketing at HCL Technologies.

What’s your golden rule?

It’s not what happens, it’s about what you make out of what happens. In the volatile and unpredictable world one will need to execute like there’s no tomorrow while plan like there’s one. So on the feet thinking and execution chops under extreme pressure and rapidly changing assumptions have become very important.  So my advice to my teams is always don’t externalize the situation but have the chutzpah to take on any situation and make it a winning one for you.

Who has been your biggest influence?

Elon Musk

What is your most hated business expression?

“Transformation” has become a highly overused, misused, and abused term. Many organizations seem to “transform” on a regular basis. Business leaders are often guilty of overusing the term even if it’s for mundane things like a new leave policy. A Google search showed me 48,60,00,000 results on transformation. However, not all change is transformational and most people don’t realize that.

How can marketers be braver?

With the advent of vigilante consumerism and ultra-transparency millennial consumers prefer brands which take a side. Whichever side you take, take a side. The only risk marketers can take is not taking a risk. Bravery comes from honesty and knowing your subject. Marketers can be braver if they are commercially fluent, on top of marketing in a digital world and good at building and managing c suite networks. It’s harder (not impossible) to be brave when you don’t have support

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken in your career?

I have taken big risks almost every year of my career. One of them was when I joined my current company HCL in mid-2005 when it was a small 700 Mn US$ relatively unknown company which was losing market-share. I saw it as a great opportunity to practice bold marketing and get the firm back to the top of the pack. This year HCL was ranked No. 378 in Brand Finance Top 500 Global Brands and is on path to cross 7.7 Bn US$ in annual revenues on a run rate basis.

Which leader do you admire most and why?

Elon Musk, the 44-year-old CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX emigrated to America from South Africa at the age of 17 and made billions after co-founding PayPal. The tech entrepreneur is known for his bold visions – in 2013 he proposed designs for his so-called Hyperloop, which would allow people to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes. I admire him because of the audacity he demonstrates in solving the biggest problems in the world.

What’s your favourite word?

Currently it is Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being." It is similar to the French phrase Raison d'être. Everyone, according to Japanese culture, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self.

Tell us a secret?

If I tell you, that would hardly be a secret? Right? 

By Orianna Rosa Royle, Digital Assistant at The Marketing Society.