Deepak Mitra (PFM 2000-02) is Vice President and Head of Emerging India Business, Polycab India Ltd. He is a rural marketing professional who believes in the power of emerging India and who created and managed substantial commercial business for multiple companies like Philips, Usha International India & Polycab India in the fast-moving electrical goods sector.
He has been identified as one of the 50 most influential rural marketing professionals of India for three years 2016, 2017, and 2018 consecutively, which is a recognition from the industry to be one of the best (https://www.asiaretailcongress.com/rural_marketing/Award.html ). Deepak has rich experience in consumer marketing, rural marketing, new business establishment, and bringing innovations to each level of business. He has been in various panel discussions that include Economic Times Rural Strategy Summit in 2017
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. Very interesting and uncharted path for someone from IIFM. I firmly believe that when there is a will, there is a way, so when I passed out, the focus was to understand and build a career in the field of rural marketing. I was very clear about my goal, only the path was unclear. IIFM had given me great inputs on rural India and the consumer behavior pattern which enabled me to get going. When I passed out in 2002, our economy was slowly evolving and many NGOs, as well as corporates, were trying to understand and frame their strategy for the rural market which was huge and clearly visible as the next opportunity.
As I see, a good career path always passes through hardcore field experience which I was lucky to get in Grameen Development Services at Lucknow where two of my batchmates Deepak Bawari and Ashwini Singh had also joined with me. The project was to set up marketing support for the IKAT handloom weavers cluster in Odisha. Though the stint was short, it gave me a great flavor of the field while I was immersed in a rural setting for almost a year understanding various nuances of the rural market. Post that stint, I joined Hindustan Latex Limited, where I got into contraceptive marketing & selling in one of the most challenging geographies in Gwalior- Chambal. This social marketing experience was immensely helpful in getting me into UNICEF as a consultant for social marketing for their “Total Sanitation Campaign”, led by Govt of India. It was a very enriching experience that enabled a lot of learning and also a big career move ahead.
I moved on to Philips as Project manager for their BOP project to drive business in rural markets where I spend more than 11 years in various capacities including in roles of marketing management/sales management and more. Philips is an excellent company that grooms talent, so I had a very fruitful and satisfying career at Philips. It also enabled me to join USHA as General Manager for rural business as a step forward in my career. I had a wonderful time at USHA while handling the P&L as a whole and also managing the topline for the business.
The next move was to Lixil (a Japanese MNC) who was looking to start SATO (Safe Toilet Business) in India and convinced me to join as their Southeast Asia head for this upcoming business where the idea was to place low-cost plastic toilets in homes. I also got the chance to work in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and a few more Asian countries. It was an excellent learning opportunity as Lixil was one of the first movers in this segment for the BOP customers. Subsequently, I also had a stint with Crompton before finally coming to my current role in Polycab as VP and Head of Emerging India business. In this wonderful journey, two things that I learned at IIFM have played a major role. I am extremely flexible and understand emerging markets well with the course curriculum and the fieldwork mix which we did during our IIFM time.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. I had many milestones/learning during my journey, but I would like to highlight getting into Philips through NSBI (New Sustainable Business Initiative) under project SMILE (Sustainable Model in Lighting Everywhere) as a key driver in putting me into orbit and next level of growth.
A few things which I want to share with the current students and young IIFMites is, to be bold and proactive in following their dreams. Also, be agile and start creating your mark in the chosen area through networking which will help you in your growth path and learning in the career.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. Strategizing, planning up to the hilt, and finally implementing things as per the plan gives me immense satisfaction while developing and expanding business for my company.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. IIFM gave me the resilience and adaptability to meet the extensive and varied demands in the changing environment I have been facing all my career. I can clearly remember many instances of appreciation in various organizations when I spoke of concepts that are very prevalent in rural, but absent in urban markets which added a lot of value in strategizing inside the team. In my view IIFMites are assets for all the companies which aspire to enter rural and emerging markets, what they need is clarity in their thoughts and resolve to reach the desired goals.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. A lot of people influenced and shaped me and got me where I am today. It includes faculties to start with and then subsequently many managers who gave me enough freedom to experiment and move ahead. My advice to youngsters is to understand the changing need of the market which is an intersection of pure corporate and pure development. This is progressively growing with lots of focus on these small markets and now the recent pandemic has further accelerated the entire process. The demand for good quality rural-oriented manpower is only going to consistently increase with every passing year and that is where young IIFMites can add a lot of value and look at it as a big opportunity.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Scores of things are there which I remember when I recall IIFM days. It starts with a forest division visit (also known as a field trip), I still remember we visited Sirsi as a forest division in Karnataka. Unforgettable memories of watching de-logging operation due to area being submerged underwater in few days, also walking a long-distance inside Dandeli Wildlife sanctuary with four batch mates and a forest guard who kept assuring us for many km’s that the end is just coming so keep walking!! Also, I fondly remember the two OTs (now called SI and Project Work) and various Bambossa parties. Leaving IIFM after the course is always painful but IIFM and the sweet memories stay for life with us.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. I was always fascinated by marketing where Manmohan Sir/ Parag Dubey Sir brought conceptual clarity with several case studies, I also remember the massive learning we had with CSR Sir understanding the basic computing which helped a lot in my career. These and many more things from IIFM helped me in long run. While in OT, Bishwadeep Ghose Sir in FRLHT and Ashish Mishra Sir in BILT helped me to clear and build my understanding. My roommates, Hemant Joshi and Rakesh Soami gave me my space to adjust when I joined IIFM. How can I forget Sashi Srivastava who was my second-year roomie!! Actually, at our time we were a very close-knitted batch of only 40 students so almost all are still actively connected and engaged with others.
Q. The best buddies/seniors/faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. I still remember reaching out to Manmohan Sir on the last day- last hour with my half-baked OT report and his massive contribution in engaging with me from scratch and helping me make a good report is one of the best memories I still have from the IIFM days.
Q. As an alumnus, what’s your advice to freshers or those who are joining IIFM to get the best out of the 2 years there?
A. Follow your dreams is the only statement I want to give to freshers. If you are passionate about something, go and get it. Most importantly, try to understand your passion and the opportunity that exist in that space. I think the early you identify the better it is in the long-term career in getting the best dividend!!
Q. What is your typical day at the office?
A. Usually, the end results matter so I am always available if not physically than mentally for sure to my team so a typical day is hard to describe!! My day usually starts with prioritizing the tasks ahead and then executing them as the day progresses.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family, and anything else you want to add?
A. I am a “Family Man” in a real sense so I prefer to spend my weekends with family and friends. I also follow my heart in studying history / good books during my free time.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. I just finished “Leading at the edge- by Dennis N.T. Perkins” which is an excellent book on leadership and handling pressure. In movies, I like classics a lot.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I am helping some students who are interested in rural marketing to clear their concepts and expose them to the industry so feel free to connect with me. I also went for placements this year at IIFM to help the students build their careers in rural marketing.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. IIFM has expanded in every way in the last 20 years since we passed out!! The batch strength has more than doubled from our times so the cohesiveness that we share with 40 students is something the current batch must be missing. Also, industry exposure should be increased to bring more reality and on-site experience to the curriculum.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. All of my batchmates are in a good position to become an inspiration for many budding IIFM’ites. Difficult to choose, but you can reach out to Aparajita Agarwal / Shashi Srivastava / Tarun Mapara / Deepak Bawari / Indrajit Choudhury / Sabitra Kundu/ Rohit Raina in the future.