Kadambari Padte MS in Integrated Marketing STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Spring 2012

Successful brands are anchored in propositions that are desirable, distinctive, and credible in peoples minds. As Walter Landor once said: Products are built in the factory, brands are created in the mind. Having had an opportunity to manage the Brand identity, Market Communications, Internal Communications and Content Writing for LANXESS India Private Limited A specialty chemical company, for the last two years steered my decision to pursue Masters in Integrated Marketing. Life is all about the choices one makes, they say. I am glad that I confidently made the choice of taking up an opportunity to work with a global player like LANXESS. The opening came to me by chance and my decision to step forward and take it up exposed me to the most exciting world of marketing communication. During my under graduation in management, I acquired basic marketing skills and knowledge but the possibilities of promoting business through an integrated platform occurred to me during my work in corporate communication at LANXESS. All these distinct marketing activities in combination create a successful business strategy that leads to the overall achievement of the 360-degree business objective. My stint at LANXESS has helped me build a strong foundation in communication. An opportunity to work in a multinational company and gain hands on experience in global projects and take in the German work culture has created a strong base for me. Today I am ready to take another step forward, sharpen my skills as a communication professional and gain in-depth knowledge in the field of Marketing and Brand Management. I am very keen on doing my Masters in Integrated Marketing, as I believe this course will help me build a better understanding of Marketing Communication, Finance for Marketing decisions and Brand Management. My Under-Graduate Degree is in Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) with a major in Marketing; wherein I secured a first class. My Bachelors program had lots to offer in areas such as Brand Management, International Marketing, Rural Marketing, Marketing Research, Communication and Consumer Behavior. Each field in my discipline attracted me in its own way; but I channelized my drive and energy into two areas that appealed most to me, viz. Brand management and Communications. I gradually immersed myself deeper into these subjects and spent long hours that helped me understand the intricacies of Branding. I always had the zeal to learn the subject keeping a practical approach. In Bachelor of Management Studies, studying core courses like Communications, Business Management, Economics, International Marketing, Project Management and Financial Management built a strong base and gave me a good understanding of the theory. Corresponding projects strengthened my interpersonal skills and inculcated the ethics of teamwork. Some of the projects in this program included numerous research activities on topics such as, Stock Exchange, Environment, Induction Programs, Just-In-Time Manufacturing, Stress Management and Marketing of Indian films, Public Relations among others. Industry visits also gave a glimpse into the practical world. To further create a hold on my management skills I took up evening classes while working at LANXESS to pursue

Kadambari Padte MS in Integrated Marketing

Spring 2012

my Masters in Commerce (Management) to continue my passion to learn more about management and enhance my skills and knowledge. While studying for my Bachelors, I got through the campus placements and joined Reach Events and Promotion, an event management company in 2006 as a Full time Management trainee. I was soon promoted as a Senior Executive in the second year. At Reach, I worked with clients like Nestle, Coca Cola, Dabur, Reebok, Piramal health care, Motorola among others to launch and promote their products to fulfill their marketing objectives. The highlighting projects that I solely handled was the launch of Happy Dent by Perfetti India Limited where we conducted fashion shows all over India to target the youth market. This event helped to the wide spread promotion of Happy Dent and turned into immediate sales. In 2009, I joined LANXESS India Private Limited as a Communications Professional. My work ambit included Brand Activations, Organizing Promotional Events within allotted budget, Identifying Media Channel for Advertisement, Internal Communication Strategy, Market Trend Analysis, E- Marketing - Google ad words campaign for lead generation, Updating content on group website, web logs, events section and managing trade shows setup. In addition to the above I have managed corporate social responsibility projects and content writing for the website, intranet, newsletters, flyers and posters. Some of the exigent projects that I was a part of at LANXESS were, the plant opening at Jhagadia, for which the top 100 LANXESS customers across the globe were invited and the inauguration was done by Mr. Narendra Modi the Chief Minister of Gujarat and the CEO of LANXESS and the Rubber Symposium held at Delhi, I significantly managed the branding, advertising, media partnership and event setup for these events. The company rewarded me with a special bonus for the successful completion of these events. Another highlighting event was The young euro classical concert followed by a customer centric activity organized at Delhi to mark the beginning of the German year in India, involving highflying delegates like the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel and Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha of the Parliament. Being the core team member from India I was entrusted with varied set of responsibilities. As a team we were rewarded for project & time management by the Managing Director of LANXESS India. I have also managed the branding, advertising and designing of the booths for LANXESS during the trade shows across India like E A Water, Water toady, Plativision, Plast India, Leather Expo and Rubber Expo. Apart from academics and work, I have been actively involved in various extra-curricular activities. I am a trained Indian classical dancer and have won many awards right from my school days. I have been learning Salsa from the past three years and I have also been passionate about sports. I have been a part of my school and college Volleyball team and have participated in many district and state level competitions. The passion for business has been in me since my teenage. I am proud of my achievement that I've managed my own small portfolio in investment sales since I was sixteen and I have averaged 25 percent return over the past seven years. All these activities have

Kadambari Padte MS in Integrated Marketing

Spring 2012

helped me develop an all-round personality, which would help me in the world of marketing. My short-term goals encompass in-depth learning about Marketing and Management and establishing relationships with successful marketing leaders. This will further accelerate my career aspiration to be a Senior Vice President of Marketing for a large enterprise, or a medium enterprise with significant growth potential. Ideally, I will manage marketing, including demand generation, communications, analyst interactions and press relations, and integrate the marketing function into a cohesive strategy for the entire organization. Before becoming a Senior VP of Marketing, I look forward to continuing my career path as Marketing Manager in gradually more challenging roles, moving towards Senior Manager and Director. Hopefully, these roles will combine supervising more people and directing larger marketing campaigns and efforts. To realize my aspirations, I would require certain skills and expertise in the field of marketing that would add value to my existing knowledge in the field. Much of my experience is practical, and gained through "trial-byfire". Missing from my education are the foundational marketing concepts and theories upon which practical experience is built, as well as the basics of business essential to performing as an executive. I strongly believe that a Masters is the right way for me to gain this knowledge. Just as there is no substitute for experience, there is no substitute for the classroom environment. In this atmosphere, I'll have the opportunity to gain an unparalleled competency in marketing and business. However, theoretical knowledge is only one requirement. To realize my goals I'll also need to develop my potential as a leader which is why I'm applying to your esteemed institution, which applies the necessary techniques in order to teach students how to observe and act on the world. The reason I wish to pursue a Masters Degree now is because I am nearing a plateau in my personal development. I've had the chance to learn much about leadership through experience, such as the necessity of commitment, prioritization and coming together as a cohesive group. Continuing in this stream, my previous position provided me the opportunity to learn the secrets of a multi tasking, which I would further like to enhance through the Masters Degree. This would in turn help me escalate my existing career graph from marketing manager to organization leader. So with the Masters program at _____________ University, Im keen to learn Integrated Marketing, Brand Management and Corporate Finance. This will make me a better professional and help me grow in the corporate world. Secondly, the diverse batch profile at your university is definite plus wherein I can learn a lot from peers. The balanced mix of theory and practice is a wonderful learning method. And with a strong academia, alumni network and corporate ties, the networking opportunities are plenty.