Vatsal Asher is recognized, in the industry, as a customer experience expert having over two decades of experience from customer strategy to business execution using creative and practical marketing solutions. He’s been instrumental in strengthening DMAi’s ( Association of Data-Driven Marketing & Advertising, India) presence globally for the last 10 years. The DMAi today is the largest melting pot for blue-chip CMOs & the marketing ecosystem.
By emphasizing on global best practices for marketing services providers and marketers, his works carry forward DMAi’s vision of establishing industry standards. He is credited to have brought disruptive ideas to life during his early days in retail including the “Weekday Branding” in the early 2000s, an industry standard for grocery retail in India now, during his stints at Spencer’s-RPG group. He conceptualized and was responsible for the marketing launch of the largest number of Telecom Stores on a single day – entering a World Book Record at Tata Teleservices. As the de facto CMO of Reliance Retail, at the time of the first store launch in 2007, the product promotions & communication architecture / PoS promo engine was conceived and rolled out under his leadership witnessing record-breaking footfall & sales at all subsequent store launches.
He is currently Director & CEO, DMAi & also the founder for the DMAasia & DMAmena chapters. Building the DMA’s global presence and bringing the worldwide B2B marketing community together has been an important element of his mission. DMAasia & DMAmena are another step towards that mission by connecting top marketing professionals across geographies to share their insights and best practices. In 2015 he was appointed as an official International ECHOTM Envoy. During recent times, he has created global alliances paving way for Indian agencies to participate in Global knowledge & recognition forums – notable amongst which is the DMA International ECHOTM Awards- the Oscar for response-driven marketing globally. He is notably the first Indian & non-American to be elected to the Board of Governors of the ANA ECHO in 2018.
His work globally involves unifying the DMA’s for best practices creation & sharing. He is the founding member signatory & on the Board of Directors of the unifying federation of over 30 premier Marketing Associations worldwide ie GlobalDMA. Vatsal also is a board member of the International Content Marketing Federation, a group of 20+ leading content marketing associations from across Europe & beyond. He also represents the Digital Advertising Alliance & Adchoices program for India /Asia.
His journey so far has been dedicated to promoting new trends and technology in Data-Driven, direct marketing, creating platforms for knowledge sharing, innovation & recognition, instituting forums with active stakeholder participation in the form of industry councils and regional chapters to meet the growth agenda. He has also been actively involved in protecting consumers’ interests, thereby strengthening their belief in data-driven marketing & advertising.
In the pre-Covid times, Vatsal, a travel & events enthusiast, could be found at airports, coffee shops and, hanging out with fellow marketers at DMA’s & industry events in India & across the seas. Post lockdown, he is making up for the lost time at home with his doting wife & daughter – who will be a freshly minted journalist soon. Vatsal’s first love, acquired in his internship days, more than a quarter of a century ago, at the trading floor of the BSE & from an intern to executive editor of a daily evening financial publication, is of data & consumer insights. Not able to triumph playing by the ear on the digital piano, on less busy days, he spends time on his early imprint & derived hobby of active tracking & participating in the financial markets. He lives by the mantra inspire or be inspired.
