Rajiv Sethi, CMO, Spice Mobility
1. The job: My job gives me the power to change lives using technology. Every day is a new day in the mobility industry; conti-nuous improvements and new technologies have redefined the segment and this motivates us as a company to keep innovating and introducing revolutionary products for our customers. Our organisation accords us a lot of creative space and freedom to come up with new ideas in marketing and product development and seeing them through to execution is fulfilling for me as a professional.
2. The weekdays: My day starts early on weekdays and keeping in mind the importance of physical fitness, I make sure that I visit the gym at least thrice a week. I like to begin my workday early, so I am usually at work before 9 am. An early start enables me to plan my day in an organized manner and keeps the day evenly placed. I also use this quiet time to read about the latest news in the industry, since there are new developments and products released almost daily around the world. In the evenings I try to wrap up work around 7 pm, so I usually work 10 hours in a day and then I head home to spend quality time with my family. I like to hang out with my team at least once a week for a quick beer. It is an excellent opportunity to build great friendships and strengthen team bonding beyond work.
One of the most exciting things about working in this sector is the dynamism of the industry—almost every week you get to work on new products and technologies that could be disruptive. As the CMO, I am responsible for the complete marketing value chain starting from product planning to deciding the final go-to-market strategy, and I look forward to creating innovative products and marketing campaigns with my team. We have an excellent mix of people in the team, and we collaborate over brainstorming sessions on a weekly basis.
3. The weekend: My weekends are reserved for family and friends, and also indulging my passions such as golf. I am an avid golfer and being out on the course is very refreshing and relaxing for me. I like to catch up with my friends over the weekend and we enjoy a good round of golf at our regular course.. I share a very strong bond with my elder son and we connect over golf and cricket, wherein I make sure that I take him to the cricket camp every Saturday and Sunday mornings. My son is also fond of maths and every Sunday morning we spend several hours working together on new quizzes and puzzles. I have a huge social circle and we usually get together at a friend’s place on Friday or Saturday evenings to party. Sunday afternoons are reserved for leisurely lunches with the family.
4. The toys: I am loyal towards my Macbook Air and also like to keep trying out new smartphones all the time. Having worked in the mobile industry for a long time with brands such as Samsung and now Spice, I love trying out new technology or features first hand. But at the same time, I am completely loyal to my Spice smartphones. Of the recent smartphones launched in the market, I really like the new One Plus One smartphone.
5. The logos: For office wear I usually prefer Allen Solly and for casuals I am biased towards US Polo and Tommy Hilfiger. I also like sunglasses and my favourite brands are Oakley and Emporio Armani. I also enjoy trying out new perfumes, some of my favourite ones are Black by Kenneth Cole, 212 Carolina Herrera and Fahrenheit by Christian Dior.
—As told to Banasree Purkayastha