All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:58
Women in Marketing - A Conversation with Sangeet Chaudhary of Smoke Lab
Having worked on more than 20 product launches, she's been widely recognized, and she's won several accolades along the way, with the latest being at the World Marketing Congress in 2021, where she was named the most Influential Marketing Person of the Year. Currently, Sangeet is the vice President of marketing at Smoke Lab and is in a key leadership role and has steered the company into growth over the last couple of years, despite being in the midst of a raging pandemic. Hello, Sangheet
Hi, Ramiya, thank you so much for a great introduction. I am really, really excited to be here and giving my perspective on, you know, what my journey has been and what I'm doing right now
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:38
Thank you for that Sangeet. So I'm sure my introduction pretty much summed up your trailblazing career path in marketing and building brands. But as we all know, not everyone who works in marketing images imagined they'd end up here. Sure, some of us did major in marketing in College, but many of us have taken really different and interesting career paths to end up where we are right now, just like yourself
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
So I joined Huawei. That was my first marketing role, and I was there for three and a half years. Completely exciting because I used to take care of the brand called Honor, and it was completely digital because we were only selling online and the kind of knowledge, the kind of things that I learned there, of course, was tremendous. And it was a really, really great journey into the world of marketing for the first time, because advertising is just one facet
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:59
So, as the VP of marketing for Smoke Lab, how has this journey of growth been for you? I'm sure the pandemic with its own set of marketing challenges, could you share a bit more about the changes you have to make and the approaches that really worked for Smoke Lab during this uncertain period
Of course, there is a fall sometime and then there is an increase sometime. But we did raise fairly well in us during that time and we were winning accolades like everywhere. Recently we mentioned in Wall Street Journal as well as a great liquid, and it was not like that. I paid for that article, but it was organically. People were talking about the fact that something from India, which is worth noticing. And of course, it has now caught up like fire
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 1:00
Also, I've come across citrus flavored vodkas and Mint flavored ones. But Smoke Labs, any seed flavored one seems to be refreshingly unique. It would be nice to hear from you on the choice of Basmati Rice and all these exciting flavors that you experiment with
And that's why we are saying we're very proudly Indian company, and we want Indian to be recognized on a global scale with respect to its flavor refinement quality. Everything is very well done
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:44
Remaining truly Indian. Wow. I really love that. Thank you for sharing that Sangeet. I'm really intrigued and excited about the saffron flavored vodka that you are talking about as well. That really would be something to look forward to, something very unique. So, yeah. My next question is around advertising an area of your expertise. India has always had a strict stance on advertising when it comes to alcohol and liquor. Brands have long relied on surrogate advertising
Now, brands used to have surrogate, but they don't necessarily under unless you want to go a mass media approach and you're completely stacked into the market. You can still live with good digital presence with events and with a good off trade presence and your brand can get built does get built over the years. But as you become a mass high volume brand, I would say then it becomes critical to build on something which is a surrogate brand, and we are already building on it
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:22
Thank you so much for those insights. Sangeet very, very interesting. So as a woman in the marketing and communications environment, what challenges do you face within and outside the organization? What message do you have for other women professionals in the fraternity
And I think this is the gift, genuine problem that exists. We don't have a voice, and that's what I want every woman to have, and that's how they'll be able to build a better themselves. And, of course, grow
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:28
Voices do carry Sangeet very inspiring. Thank you for sharing that message. All Things Considered covid 19 and working from home has disrupted our routines and made work life spill all over into our personal lives. How have you been dealing with this? And how best do you try and maintain a work life balance? I'm really curious to know
And there is no kind of a fixed analogy that I can give you that this is how you should be able to manage work like that. Whatever works for you, whatever makes you feel less guilty and less pressure and whatever makes you feel happy at the end of it. I think that's what you need to aim for when you sleep in the night. Are you able to sleep peacefully? Managing both the worlds? There will be days. You are not able to sleep peacefully
All things Indian
@Inditalk · 0:41
But the great thing is you could always get around to answering them whenever you're able to and we could keep this amazing conversation going. Thank you once again. And you have a wonderful rest of the day
Sakshi Negi
@sakshinegi1 · 0:11
Hey, Sanghi, Can you walk us through a moment that was professionally, very satisfying and rewarding for you, something that you are very proud of. Thank you
Hi which woman has inspired you the most in life would love to know
Prince Choudhary
@Prince04 · 0:06
Hey, Sangeet, I would like to know as a leader how do you empower others on the team
Gaurav Chauhan
@Gaurav1106 · 1:45
Great conversation, guys Sangeet. I completely agree to the fact when you said that there is no such thing as work life balance, because I think I've been struggling with the same for the last couple of years and I try to prioritize both and I have the same synergy as you that weekdays are mostly for work and weekends of a family, but higher and there always happens at times. The family comes in over the weekdays and work kind of starts happening over the weekend as well
And I am at work by 10:00 from ten to 630 primarily is work time and it can obviously go up to 7738 and other events. It obviously goes slightly more for that matter. And I come late nights or sometimes mostly. But otherwise I come back around 08:00 and by 30 I have my dinner then mostly I end up reading a book or if there are emails which needs to be answered during that particular day, I do that and then I sleep around 11, 11, 30
But I got the opportunity I Slayer there for a week, attended every stalwarts from the industry, attended workshops, be a part of that group and see the awards ceremony, which actually gave me goosebumps when I entered the place. So it was one of the rewarding experiences per se that an advertising has given me. And I was so proud that they were recognizing what I was doing at that point in time. And of course, marketing
Hi. So I haven't really looked at a role model per se, whether it's a man or woman. And actually, to me, Ratan Tata, for that matter, inspires me quite a lot. Someone who's really achieved significantly and very, very I think with all respect that he has earned over the years do inspire me. But from a women's perspective, I do really like Oprah Winfrey and her words. That what she has achieved over the years
And actually, they all work with a lot of passion. In spite of the fact, you always end up thinking that the young energy is very fickle minded. They always Frizzle away. You know, their energy dies down. They want to sleep too late. But I think I am blessed to have a team like that. And I think we collectively work like miracle. Bye
But at that point, actually, I thought this is the time I can take a risk. There is a time that you always define in your life that before 40, you will take that risk because after that, you want to stabilize your life. I thought if I don't take it right now, I probably would never be able to take that risk and see how a startup culture is