APAR KULSHRESTHA ** years adgl0p@r.postjobfree.com +91-929******* New Delhi

** ***** ** ********** ****** Marketing, Strategy and Technology domain Post- Graduate from MICA Apercu

A marketing professional with a track record of delivering results in a fast-paced environment through brand management, marketing and strategy in MNCs. A blend of creative and analytical mindset, a team player and leader with an effective communication and exceptional people management skills to relate to people at any level of business and management. Core Competencies

Marketing Consulting

Brand Solutions/ Campaigns

Brand Management

Brand Strategy

Product Development

Experiential Marketing

Mar Comm

Sales Enabler

Consumer Insights / Research Digital Marketing Community Engagement Growth Strategy Education

• PGDM (C) from MICA 2010-12 Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad

• B.E. (Electronics and Communication) 2003-07 Bansal Institute of Science & Technology, Bhopal

• Class X / XII (CBSE) 2001/2003 Manav Sthali School, New Delhi Professional Experience

Account Director - Business Growth and Marketing, Topline Consulting Group, Gurgaon Oct 2018 - May 2020 Topline Consulting Group, established in 2010 & headquartered in Beijing, is currently 2nd ranked digital PR agencies in China listed on the NEEQ index. An insight-driven strategic communications firm, Topline Consulting enables organizations to win valuable customers through result-driven brand planning, marketing communication and PR expertise. With a strong team of 400 professionals in 5 China offices and 3 India offices, it offers full scale marketing consulting services working with top brands like Huawei, Honor, DBS Bank, Ping An group, OPPO, CHINA CITIC Bank, Tencent, Alibaba and Sogou etc.

• Founding team member of Topline India, led the growth of the company from a 3 people entity to a 25+ team. Directly reporting to the Founder and Chairman of Topline Consulting & spearheading the India Operations.

• Driving Topline’s journey in India through insight driven marketing for global clients covering Marketing Strategy, Brand Management, Digital marketing, Experiential marketing, PR, CSR & Social Innovation projects.

• Focusing on revenue and growth in India, handling P/L leading towards the proposed targets like closing10 cr brand strategy project for a smartphone client.

• Led the team for developing key partnership proposals, business conversion and subsequent execution across mainstream clients like Symphony, TikTok Ads (ByteDance), OPPO, VMate (Alibaba Group), TECNO, Vivo, Huawei, Carrier Midea, TOSHIBA, MINISO, TanTan, Cars24, Amway, Cal Burrito etc. and strategy proposal discussions with Medanta (Dr. Trehan), SinClair, Asian Heritage Foundation (Padm Shri Rajeev Sethi), Ranveer Brar, Bigo, Nearbuy.com, Happy Easy Go, Spice Style, Tourism Boards and Risland Real Estate Group etc.

• Developed the concept, blueprint/roadmap and institutionalized multiple Topline assets for growth strategy: o TopSocial (India’s first open marketplace influencer marketing platform, 8000 verified influencers) o Think Culture Foundation (NGO working towards CSR, social & cultural exchange through art) o TopView (Knowledge sharing platform, 1st AI based mandarin learning app beta launched)

• Defining & developing the plan, deck, budgeting, execution and monitoring of the client campaigns across mediums including On-ground, Radio, and Digital mediums.

• Exploring opportunities, visualizing the big picture and maximizing utilization of resources to align cross functional teams to fulfill client objectives as one mission one force. Focus Marketing, Network18 Media, Noida Sep 2017 – Oct 2018 Working in the Focus Marketing team at Network18 working for channels like CNBC-TV18, CNN-NEWS18, NEWS18 India, CNBC Bajar, CNBC Awaaz and NEWS18 regional channels along with Moneycontrol.com, Firstpost and CNBCTV18.com websites across business and general news space.

Key Responsibilities: Marketing Brand Solutions Enabling Sales Branded Content End to End Execution

• Developing customized brand solutions in the form of large IPs/ campaigns executed across multiple marketing platforms and channels: TV, print, radio, digital, offline partnerships and social channels.

• Working with a cross-functional team across sales, corporate brand, communications, legal, design, digital, content, production and more to develop the IP strategy and ensure seamless execution.

• Ensuring maximized output from external agencies including creative, digital, PR, advertising, event management and media planning / buying agencies etc. by leading barter/negotiations and alliances for the campaigns.

• Maximizing visibility for the shows through all mediums through television, online, digital, print and social media platforms. Designed and executed niche multi-media campaigns as HUL, ICICI, HPE, BIS etc. along with network IPs. Head-Products, WaterHealth International, Hyderabad May 2016 – Aug 2017 WaterHealth India is a 100% subsidiary of WaterHealth International, a US based social enterprise which provides affordable drinking water solutions to the underserved and runs over 500 water purification plants across 5 countries touching 7 million underserved people in India and Africa. Leading marketing initiatives for our NGO Jaldhaara Foundation working in the WASH segment across rural, urban and peri-urban geographies in India. Key Responsibilities: Marketing, Products and Brand Management New Product

Development

• Need assessment for evaluating new product lines for solving basic safe water needs.

• E.g. Developed the ‘Water Vending machine’ product and commercialized it for serving the mobile underserved market with revenue projections of ~ `100 crores plus. Strategic Roadmap Marketing /

Brand Mgmt

• Brand communication and overall marketing including marketing communication (ATL/BTL), brand content marketing, market research, brand management, digital and PR. (India and Africa) Partner

Marketing

• Developing and executing customized marketing programs for our donors like HUL, Tata Trusts, Yes Bank, USAID, Monsanto, Citibank, AMD, Coca Cola, GAP etc. Special Projects Conclude Impact Evaluation studies across the portfolio/New project intelligence feasibility Manager – Marketing, WaterHealth India, Hyderabad Jan 2014 – May 2016 Brand Mgmt /

Marketing

Custodian of the brand serving 7 million consumers across India and Africa ensuring enhanced awareness and adoption of the brand dr. water across mediums. Strategy Developing strategies, analytics, metrics & schemes to enhance volumes and revenue. Market Research

Heading the MR function for WaterHealth and engaging MR agencies like IMRB, MART, TERI and Sambodhi for Consumer Research and Impact assessment. Assistant Manager – Consumer Insights, WaterHealth India, Hyderabad April 2012 – Jan 2014 Consumer

Insight

Understanding the consumer behavior across rural, peri-urban and urban geographies and providing relevant consumer insights across 500 + locations. Market Research Conducting researches including consumer segmentation study, Impact evaluation studies etc. Vodafone Essar Limited, Mumbai (Summer Internship) April 2011 – June 2011

• Evaluated Hits & Misses for the ‘Vodafone Delights’ live program and worked on developing a plan to improve enrollment for Vodafone Delights through Marketing initiatives and Promotional Sales Activities

• Exploring the feasibility for new channels of enrollment and its compatibility with 3G spectrum Senior System Engineer, Infosys Technologies Ltd, Bangalore (3 years) July 2007 – June 2010

• Report Generation for Citi Private Bank (CPB) Europe region on various projects like New Format Income Transaction Summary Report, Historical cost Correction, Expertise on ISIS Papyrus Reporting Tool

• Achieved Highest Credit Rating all throughout and was awarded Individual Excellence Award at BCM unit level in 2010

Other Information

Honors and Awards

• Winner, Flames Awards Asia 2016 for Best Integrated Campaign of the Year for WHIN’s Unnati Campaign

• National Finalist (Top 8 teams amongst 170 corporate teams) - AIMA (NCYM) 2015

• General Secretary, MICA Council for Student Affairs (MCSA), MICA, 2011-12 Skills

• Thinker Strong communication, presentation and creative thinking skills Effective Leader Innovation, Problem-solving & analytical skills Key Team Player Above average sense of humor Theatre enthusiast

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