Q] What inspired you to establish the Institute for Real Growth? How has your journey been thus far?
Marc: I have been a part of the brand world for more than fifteen years now. I have worked with several brands in various capacities and also grew my own consultancy business wherein we used to do qualitative and quantitative market surveys and researches. Several of our researches were published in leading journals and publications globally. We have seen the markets and customers evolve over these years. Businesses have changed, there is a greater focus on diversity across stakeholders, and new marketers are dealing with a lot more buzzwords than ever.
IRG was therefore born out of our desire to do something new and help more CMOs to foster sustainable business growth. We wanted to highlight how marketers work with other stakeholders within the company to create more growth opportunities. We were also very sure that we want to keep it not-for-profit to avoid any biases or interruptions in our work. So, we partnered with companies like WPP, Meta, Google, and now Tata in India to support our mission.
We have been active for five years now and have worked with hundreds of CMOs across the globe to promote humanised growth. We have created safe spaces for them to share their experiences and most importantly ask questions. We realise that no CMO today has all the answers to the plethora of questions they are asked on a daily basis. So, we are creating an ecosystem where they can find the answers without any hesitation.
Q] How has the partnership between WPP and IRG helped this mission?
Shubha: WPP co-founded IRG in 2019 and we have been a part of their journey right from inception. It has always been a two-way partnership where we give each other the access to a lot of work and data. While we support IRG in accessing real data by the virtue of our clients, their expertise helps in creating the best growth strategies for these CMOs.
Marc: All our partnerships are with companies that come with a distinct speciality. WPP has been our partner since we founded IRG. They have helped us with all their experiences that they have collected over decades. Their knowledge of best industry practices across categories has been really helpful. For our latest event, they have brought together CMOs from hundreds of brands across India. They have also shared their experiences and insights with one another, creating an elevated experience and influence.
Q] How is IRG helping the modern-day businesses achieve ‘real-growth’ at a time when everyone wants instant gratification and solutions?
Marc: Today CEOs are being pulled in every direction by multiple stakeholders. They need someone to support them in understanding the diverse needs of these stakeholders – be it the customers or the internal teams. And who is that person that knows these changing market dynamics the best? It is the CMO. They can help all stakeholders in creating sustainable growth. They can work with a CHRO to hire and retain the best talent because they know what the modern employees want. They can help the CFO in making the right decisions as they are aware of market conditions and demands. So, we are investing in these CMOs. We are training them to be the experts in their field and work with people across departments to create humanised growth.
Shubha: IRG is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that is bringing principles to companies. Together, we are helping the leaders to access data and experiences – very real and practical information – with an unbiased view. As a network, it is an important area for us as well. We want to be able to step back and take a consolidated view to transform and course correct if required. We can do so by promoting inter-department partnerships to promote business growth. And with IRG we can take a similar approach to our clients and to CMOs across the country.
Q] How will you define humanised growth?
Marc: At the core of it we see everyone as a person rather than as just another stakeholder. It is about empathy and collaboration. If you look at our latest Impact study, we have devised a model for the best leader of tomorrow. We call this the ‘Vinci leadership model’. Many people know of him as a person who used both his right and left brain well. But what not many people talk about is that he was also a big part of the humanist movement. So, we have reflected the same in our model.
These leaders are capable of grounding themselves in the reality of business, what their core values are, and the customer needs. They have great focus, the power to reimagine, and the willingness to unleash this power in order to channel their experiences towards attaining inclusive growth. It is not just about getting results in numbers but also creating good work environments, and great customer service. These leaders will listen to the new talent, give opportunities to them, and create a favourable environment for all stakeholders involved.
Q] Is there something that stood out to you as a part of this research and impact study?
Shubha: I won’t say there was anything surprising about the results that we got after this impact study. It was, in fact, quite validating when we compared the results from other global markets to what we are experiencing in India. There is not much of a difference – the issues are common and how people are looking at solving them is also similar. It only reinstates that the world is getting smaller and all our experiences are universal.
Q] Apart from the impact study and this partnership, how are you both looking at creating opportunities and platforms to promote this humanised, sustainable growth?
Marc: We have been working closely with CMOs across markets, understanding their challenges and helping them connect in a meaningful way. We will continue to do so. We have partnered with TATA in India, recently, and we will be using their expertise to understand this market more and provide solutions. We are also working with them on a study on AI and its relative impact on CMOs and CIOs. So, there is a lot that is happening at IRG.
Shubha: Everyone knows about the WPP Stream where we prepare ourselves for tomorrow. It is a future-enabled platform that allows the participants to discuss opportunities and experiences. It has been a huge success for us and we will continue to organise that. Another thing which we have not really talked about openly, is the BAV. It is our proprietary BrandAsset Valuator. We will be working with that in a big way.
