Salil Murthy, Mars Petcare India, ET BrandEquity

(Representative Image; Credit- iStock)In the digital age, technology has revolutionised the way we communicate, connect, and form relationships. The relationship between technology and society is reciprocal. Society drives technological change, while changing technologies in turn shape society. Salil Murthy, managing director of Mars Petcare India highlighted that the emotions have changed. “In the online world, a lot more is peer to peer. The validation that previously they may have sought from traditional authority figures is now coming from online groups that they have, whether it’s on WhatsApp or social media,” said Murthy.There are arguments of technology making people and the societies more atomised and driving them apart. However, in many ways, it’s actually bringing people together, Murthy stated.

“You have the ability to find other people with like interests, people with deep interest in. For example, roasting coffee beans may be your hobby, but you find somebody on the other end of the world who’s doing the same. You can bond and find a moment of true connection,” Murthy explained.

Technology does allow us to create some of these moments of real connection, but there’s a little bit of truth in both of them. Murthy mentioned that It also creates a little bit of distance as well.

We’re living in an age where we have a lot of technology, data and analytics. Businesses are able to measure, if not in real time, at least to a good extent, what kind of ROI they are getting on each of their marketing streams. “The ability to be able to make sense of all the information that’s floating around and being able to prove that to the organisation, becomes very critical,” said Murthy.

“For me, putting the consumer at the heart of every decision that we make, mapping the consumer journey, figuring out where the pain points are, and innovating to solve those pain points, versus really thinking about internal organisation, systems and processes. Those are the two big shifts,” Murthy added.

Although CMOs are called many things these days. Murthy’s favourite continues to be the “chief growth officer”.

“Driving growth to create the demand requires that external lens. It is what every organisation needs. We’re all running businesses. For us, marketing continues to become an incredibly important way in which we can deliver better value for consumers,” said Murthy.

“There’s no function which is more important or less important than any other function. But the core of it is to make sure that as long as the voice of the consumer is brought into the boardroom, that typically tends to happen through the marketing function, and that amalgamates the entire organisation,” he added.

Murthy also spoke about how the CEOs are keeping up with the pace. He emphasised that it’s really critical for them to surround themselves with people who are experts in the functional field and are able to process the information, make sense of it all and help the CEO make the right decisions that build the company.

Mars Petcare’s managing director believes that it is all about having the humility to understand that the CEO is not necessarily the center of the universe.

“Whatever life throws at us when senior folks are able to put their egos aside and recognise that they have a lot to learn. Anybody who has a teenage kid will tell you that they have a lot to learn from kids. The outlook in the world is very different. Their ability to synthesise information is different,” Murthy stated.

Murthy highlighted the potential in the reverse mentoring concept. The expectations are pretty consistent. It continues to drive value for the organisation and to bring the outside in. Both are super critical, he added.

• Published On Sep 23, 2024 at 08:11 AM IST

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