In the dynamic marketing realm, where innovation and adaptability are crucial, Sonali Basu Roy emerges as an experienced luminary with a remarkable journey defined by passion and commitment. With an illustrious career spanning over 12 years, Sonali has etched her name as an award-winning marketing professional renowned for her exceptional contributions to the information technology sector. Her prowess lies in strategically harnessing the potential of digital, print, and social media marketing tools to elevate brand awareness and drive sales and revenue.
With a proven track record of amplifying the profiles of leading IT brands, Sonali’s expertise is highlighted by her innate ability to navigate the ever-increasing competitive space.
The interview promises to unravel the pearls of wisdom gathered during her journey, offering invaluable insights into effective marketing strategies for cyber security companies operating in today’s intensely competitive arena.
Q1. The Middle East is a lucrative marketplace for cyber security vendors. How do you foresee marketing strategies evolving in the Middle East cyber security landscape in 2-3 years?
The cyber security threat landscape would be fast evolving in the next few years in the region. Hence devising & execution of a sound marketing strategy becomes very critical for any business & organization success. A sound marketing strategy helps you stay in sync with your customer base, identify the right products for them and determine how you communicate information about those products. Marketing is the first point of contact for any organization (from the point where the customer identifies their requirement from the website/corporate brochures) to the level of lead generation (from events/tradeshows/Roundtables/call-out days etc.) Hence marketing strategies would continue to evolve in the next few years too!
Q2. Do you believe that conventional marketing strategies are still effective in maintaining your brand’s presence alongside digital marketing strategies?
There should be a right mix of conventional & digital marketing strategies in maintaining a brand’s presence. Digital marketing is generally more cost-effective but more targeted with performance measurable metrics, while conventional marketing can be more effective at reaching a larger audience and brand building. It is important to consider the budget and target market when deciding which type of marketing to use and devising a sound marketing strategy for the organization.
Q3. Middle east is a very competitive market for cyber security vendors. A lot of new vendors enter this market every year. What recommendations would you have for them in terms of their marketing & brand recognition?
Marketing & brand recognition is very important and crucial for all new vendors & start-ups. An organization is perceived as having successful brand recognition when customers can recognize the firm through visual or auditory cues alone, even without hearing the organization name. Hence my recommendation to all new vendors would be to invest in brand recognition activities from participating in mega-events to continued PR activities and getting recognized by top analysts and media agencies amongst other activities. It would be great to fulfill the four levels of brand awareness pyramid from zero awareness, recognition, brand recall to TOM (top of minds of the customers).
Q4. ROI (Return on Investment) is an important KPI for measuring marketing investments. How difficult is it to justify?
Return on Investment (ROI) is the financial return generated by Marketing efforts, divided by the cost of Marketing investment. The goal is to achieve a positive result with ROI. Some methods to justify on the marketing ROI would be: justify on marketing spend, distribute on the marketing budgets, measure each activity or campaign success and competitor analysis. In a nutshell, ROI is the revenue generated from each marketing activity.
Q5. At Bulwark, what innovative strategies have you employed to enhance brand recognition and engage your target audience actively?
Over the last 12 years, I faced with unique opportunities in the form of either creating Brand awareness for new Technology players in the Regional Market or help Create a brand equity for the organization as a Thought Leader in the Cyber Security domain. For attaining both these objectives in totally separate scenarios, have successfully devised Marketing programs having a measurable mix of Direct channels (such as events/webinars/tradeshows/3rd party conferences/roundtables etc.), Indirect Channels (such as website/blogs/Magazines/Interviews etc.) and Digital medium (such as Social Media/Email Marketing etc.), on a frequent basis & collaborating at any given point of time with various partners like marketing agency/media houses/PR agencies/3rd party agencies etc. amidst an aggressive timeline to have the maximum impact. A planned approach towards the key objectives of the program, optimum utilization of resources and budget, I had at my disposal, the marketing mix and the target market & audience which we wanted to address, helped me achieve the desired results of the Marketing campaigns for the organization and channel community.