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Haseeb-ur Rahman
Marketing Manager – Dressings at Unilever
Ben Somerset-How
Client Director Creativebrief
Tom Holmes, creativebrief Founder & Chairman, talks to Haseeb ur Rahman, Marketing Manager-Dressings at Unilever UKI and Marketing Academy 2012 alumni.
Haseeb started his career with Unilever Pakistan in Karachi as a graduate marketing trainee a route which led him to to work for the Beverages business for Lipton Tea where he became the Brand Manager. His next assignment was in the Personal Care business where as Senior Brand Manager he looked after Lifebuoy Soap. After this role, Haseeb was expatriated to the Unilever Global Office in London in the Chief Marketing Office (CMO) team as Global Project Leader-Marketing Excellence looking after Best Practice Marketing which he enjoyed working on for a few years.
However, he wanted to come back to an operating company role specialising in Foods Marketing, so when he was offered the role of Senior Brand Manager by the Unilever UKI Spreads business he was happy to take on the challenge. He did this role for a while looking after Bertolli, I can’t believe its not Butter, Stork, and Elm Lea after which he was asked to lead the Dressings business as the Marketing Manager. In his current role he looks after the P&L, Value share and Brand Equity of iconic brands like Hellmann’s, Colman’s and Maille.
Haseeb has recently resigned from Unilever UKI and is in the process of moving to Nestle UK to work as Business Unit Head for the chocolate and confectionery business and is excited to be taking on this new challenge as he has been a fan of Nestle brands like Kit Kat, Aero, and Milkybar for many years.
creativebrief: Why did you choose a career in marketing?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: I fell in love with marketing at a very young age as I read about it for the first time in my Business Management book when I was studying for my A levels. It made so much sense and clicked with me that end of that chapter I decided that I would be a marketer. By the time I graduated from Business School, I had taken every single course in marketing that I could, I had worked in the marketing departments of Colgate, Reckitt, Philips and Ogilvy, became the vice president of the marketing society and won gold medals in marketing so I knew marketing was my destiny and I never wanted to work any where else.
But the reason I work in marketing today is very different to why I joined it in the first place. I believe that marketing makes a huge difference in consumer’s lives and through the products/services we provide to our consumers we can make a big impact in their quality of life. When I worked on Lifebuoy in Asia I realized that I was not just selling a bar of soap but if we could get rural consumers to regularly wash their hands and those of their children we could actually reduce the levels of infant mortality. Today I believe that if through my brands, I can take people from hungry to happy, make people smile and laugh, bring families and friends closer, create beautiful memories, make life a little bit easier etc then I make my own life more meaningful in the process.
creativebrief: What do you think makes a successful career in marketing?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: For me a successful career in marketing means 4 things which I like to think of as the “Haseeb Square” through the lens of which I evaluate myself every year. First and foremost is the ability to get results. Brilliant marketing equals results driven marketing. There is tremendous pressure on marketers to convert the creativity in marketing to concreteness in business results and that is essential for long term success. Secondly having the ability to recognize and inspire marketers around you. As you progress in an organization, you have to let go of things and leave it to others who have the same passion, energy, desire to succeed to deliver on those. Thirdly the ability to be what I call a “thick skinned rhino” which is the ability to take unprecedented pressure but not lose your cool and continue to remain focused, optimistic and energized. Lastly and most importantly to always have time for those you love. Whether your parents, you wife, your kids, your friends, your dog or things outside work that really matter to you.
creativebrief: And who is a great example of this?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: There are many people I have come across who have inspired me but one person who is a great example of the “Haseeb Square” for me is one of my former bosses a lady by the name of Nora Costello with whom I worked for 2 years. Nora is a veteran marketer in Unilever who has it all. She is passionate about results, inspires everyone who works with her, never cracks under pressure and always makes a point to be there for her family. For me Nora epitomizes what an ideal marketer should be (though I know she is too modest to admit this) and someone who I know will delight consumers regardless whatever brands she may be working on and these days those brands happen to be Knorr, Colmans and Pot Noodle.
creativebrief: What do you think are the main challenges facing marketers today?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: There are quite a few challenges. Firstly is the economic uncertainty which is constantly forcing consumers to think price rather than brand and the intense price rivalry between retailers who are trying to convince consumers about their value proposition being the best. Secondly the speed at which things need to be done these days. Excellence takes time but the world of today needs speed hence there is a constant battle between trying to do something phenomenal vs doing something within the time frame. Thirdly a lot of people talk about Digital as a challenge but for me its an opportunity. The challenge is building the expertise to leverage this opportunity.
creativebrief: How do you keep up with constant stream of innovation in marketing comms?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: Well I have relatively simple things I do which I find quite helpful. Firstly I talk to people who I think are more intelligent than me and see what they are thinking about, what they are seeing and observing. Secondly I try to read marketing books/magazines to learn about whats going on these days. Lastly but critically I reach out to consumers to understand what are they seeing. An innovation is only an innovation if the consumer thinks it is and spends money on it otherwise it’s a nice/fancy thing to do.
creativebrief: How does this impact your relationship with agencies?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: Quite positively I think as I often ask them “ I heard from so and so” or “I read this in a marketing book etc” and whats you take on it? My agencies know I am curious by nature and often ask them for their thoughts, since I don’t think of them as an agency but an extension of the brand team who specialize in a certain areas where they have more knowledge and expertise. We often sit down together, discuss our ideas quite openly, agreeing on areas where we feel we are aligned, disagreeing and debating in areas where we see differently. I know agencies have several clients but I don’t want them to think of me & my team as a client but a team whose results they own and feel passionate about. For example Mindshare which is one of the agencies I work with closely is a really good example for me in terms of how we interact as one team passionate about driving brand excellence in media communication. Last time I presented to the team, I made them promise to think of my brands every time they took a shower because some of the best ideas come to a person when taking a shower. Needless to say they were amused but I am sure I will be getting some fantastic ideas from them.
creativebrief: How do you know if you’re getting the best from your agencies?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: It goes back to the same values I spoke about earlier. Being results driven, inspiring the various departments in the agency to apply brand thinking, remaining focused under pressure and making sure agency people truly understand consumers not just from statistics and reports but also from meeting consumers face to face to understand what they feel about our brands and our advertising.
creativebrief: Of your recent work, what makes you particularly proud and why?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: I am particularly proud of how my team whether people who worked in marketing, mindshare, sales, finance, supply chain etc all worked together to win Key food moments( Easter, Summer, Christmas etc) through a combination of brilliant marketing above the line, on digital and in-store. It felt like we were “in the zone” as we launched a wave after wave of either advertising, promotions, innovation, in-store etc all aligned with a common message. Apart from the fact we drove our sales and value share, I think we also felt a sense of pride when we saw shoppers pick up our brands in store as we felt it was a job well done.
creativebrief: How do you think marketers can raise the profile of marketing within their organisations?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: There is no one way to do this. Its depends if the top management has a marketing background, how you are perceived as a marketer, and how the organization is doing relative to competitors to name a few factors. I believe that by engaging other functions, taking them on a journey through effective stakeholder management, showing them the vision you have for your brand you can possibly raise the profile. But you have to find your own way to see what works.
creativebrief: Do you see yourself as a generalist or a specialist, does it matter?
Haseeb-ur Rahman: At this stage of my career I believe I am a generalist but on mega projects or on the request of my team members, I do reactivate my specialist mindset. However 80% of my time is spent on a generalist role.I believe it matters a lot as just like a military General, a marketing General has to focus on how to lead his battalion to victory and leverage the combined intellect, passion, energy of his or her team along with the promotional/ advertising spend. If a marketing General was to micromanage projects he might win a battle but would certainly lose the war.
creativebrief partner the Marketing Academy is a non-profit organisation which provides a unique forum for industry leaders, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs and inspirational people volunteer their time to inspire, develop and coach the next generation of future leaders. The Marketing Academy gift a maximum of 30 ‘Scholarships’ each year to the fastest rising stars in the marketing, advertising and communications industries. A team of high profile mentors and coaches develop these stars through a process of mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning. 86 mentors, 30 Coaches, 20 Judges, 36 companies and an owl called Merlin all provide their time, resources and knowledge to assist in shaping the minds of our future leaders. Furthermore as a vital part of their curriculum all Scholars volunteer at least one day per year through our Donate28 initiative to work with charities who need bright young marketing minds. For a full list of the individuals involved, see the Sherilyn Shackell interview.
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