What this BrandMasters episode teaches about B2B marketing

You can stake claim on success of an organization if you help them in a very deep manner. So you know, working, I'm starting off with how do you see Mariko Innovation Foundation's position within the startup ecosystem sort of evolving because you've been there around for several years. How is it today when you started off? So the first decade that we were present in was all about demystifying innovation to the people that are relevant or people who could take decisions on innovation. So we had a lot of innovation workshops.

We collaborated with an MBA school and had innovation as part of the curriculum. So the first decade was all about trying to solve the then problem, which is trying to demystify innovation. The next part was all about, you know, in 2011, 2012, we began seeing social enterprises and NGOs trying to do different things. You know, our journey on awards made us realize that there were good innovations happening and some of them needed help. So we began seeing how we could work with them.

We would bring in consultants to help them through workshops to work with them. And then we realized that ain't working. We really need to. So the awards came first and then this. Oh yes. Oh yes. So the second decade was all about trying to see how we can get deeper because we began seeing innovations happening. We began seeing stuff happening. And we said, okay, now these guys are not doing, not scaling up because they need something more than, you know, information and accolades. And you know, and you know, accolades. So what should we do with them?

And that's when we set up the scale up program. That was also when the startup ecosystem was not really as developed as it is now. So we began working with all the social startup, a lot of the social startup segment was developed, but not the business startup. And in 2014, the business startup was all about your tech and your apps and, you know, people are hoping that apps will save the world. So, so we began working a lot with NGOs and social startups. And we realized over time that there's great work happening with businesses and enterprises

that are doing innovate, innovating stuff in the startup arena. And they also are coming with products and services or products and business model, you know, validation. So we began then working with those, those people. Through recognition as well as through the Scala program, giving them the, solving the growth challenges. What are the kinds of companies that you're? We're sector agnostic. We don't care from which sector you come from. So we have, we've awarded, we've awarded innovations. Of course, a natural fit for Mariko, right? Sure.

That would be a natural fit, right? Absolutely. So let me just step back and tell you that when we're looking at awards, we just look at innovations, the best in class innovations. And we should, we try and identify them and we showcase them. When we're looking at Scala, what we do is we look at, we look at organizations like a VC would look. So we look at the intent and the ability and the team and the entrepreneurs that, you know, and we look at that and we look at the innovation and then we work with the organizations. Okay.

When it's agri-tech, we look at the problem that they're trying to solve. So if I look at Scala, I can have organizations that are from medical technologies. I can have organizations that are from FMCG related organizations, like, you know, an organization that is working with menstrual hygiene and they have products that needs to be distributed like an FMCG would be distributed. Now, why am I able to work across various sectors? Because the problems are pretty much the same.

How have young entrepreneurs, innovators, been able to utilize platforms such as the MIF awards and sort of seen success from that and that has sort of helped them get a much wider reach as a brand? I mean, what are some of the success stories? You know, I'll be honest with you, Roderu. You cannot, you can stake claim on success of an organization if you've helped them in a very deep manner. I'll proudly talk to you about Attenberg who came to me as a 4 crore company and now is a 40 crore company. We help them with their online sales.

They moved from, you know, from where they were to 5x in six months. Now 35% of their total revenues is online sales and because of our intervention, I'm able to say that. What we hope to achieve with awards is to identify or unnerd these hidden gems to a very eclectic audience of about 1000 CEOs. Okay. So if I'm bringing, if I'm identifying a medical technology company, I'm hoping through the find and then I'm hoping to collaborate with, you know, with media channels and get them, you know, space, airspace, content space, etc.

I'm hoping what they can't do on their own one, I'm hoping to get them to amplify to them. I'm hoping to help them connect with networks. I'm hoping that people in the audience want to, you know, fund them and stuff like that. But that can, that is not beyond the point in my control. So moving from a very sort of brand marketing role to something, an area which is far more passion driven. I mean, what, what made you make the move and how do you sort of six years into this, what do you make of it today? So this move has been happenstance.

I'll be honest with you, Rodro. I've been a market, when I joined marketing, I was very sure I wanted to go down that path, CMO, you know, it was a very natural agenda that I had. And when I was very close to achieving my CMO CEO role, it just, I just felt a little bored and I just felt my learning was stagnant. And that time, at that time, this opportunity came in and I said, let me take it. It'll be completely new grounds. I had not done innovation before. Let me see whether I'm going to be relevant or not.

And I joined here and it's been six years since I've been here. I have strengths as a marketeer, right? You can understand insights, you can understand what the consumer wants. And therefore, you can create campaigns or you can create products to help the consumer. I think that learning that I had in my first 15 years of my career is being values now. The best practices that I'm getting from, that I've learned from my first 15 years is being implemented in the next six years.

The only difference being that I used to look at insights when I was a marketeer. I now look at challenges, real challenges faced by the innovators. And that's what makes it far more exciting and far more passionate and far more worth living.