MUMBAI: Direct Marketing Association: India (DMA: India) has appointed Vatsal Asher as chief executive officer. In his new role at DMA: India, he will be responsible for strengthening DMA: India’s presence as an apex body for advocacy of direct marketing practices.
Asher said, “With multitude of choices, Indian consumers are becoming more discerning about their brand preferences and where they spend money. Considering this consumer behaviour and the increasing media clutter, it is imperative for marketers to create data driven customer centric campaigns. From traditionally being defined as ‘response generating’ domain, direct marketing is now used for ongoing customer engagement. By emphasising on global best practices for marketing services providers and marketers, I aim to carry forward DMA: India’s vision of establishing industry standards and promote the direct marketing community.”
Direct marketing has gained popularity in past few years with emphasis not just being laid on measuring the returns on marketing spends but also campaigns being created to initiate a dialogue with the customer. With advent of new media and innovative usage of technology to engage with customers, spends on direct marketing have also increased significantly.
Prior to DMA: India, Asher was associated with Deepak Fertilisers’ consumer facing VARE division as VP. He has also worked with Reliance Retail, Tata Teleservices and RPG group.
He comes with over 15 years of experience in domain of marketing communications across brand management, sales and promotions, loyalty and customer experience. With understanding of consumer behaviour and approach to engage with consumers, he has strategised and executed marketing campaigns.
Vatsal added, “Thanks to direct marketing going digital, it now considered as targeted and customer specific media rather than an intrusive form of marketing. In coming months I look forward to promote new trends and technology in direct marketing, besides creating platforms for knowledge sharing and innovation. We envisage instituting forums with active stakeholder participation in form of industry councils and regional chapters. We shall be organising webminars, periodic meet ups and an annual colloquium modelled on global format to meet the objectives. Emphasis will also be laid on protecting consumer’s interest, thereby strengthen their belief in direct marketing.”
