One of the more renowned brewers of the globe, Johnny Walker based his brand with a logo, tag, and an entire concept of – “Keep Walking”. For those who do keep walking along the right direction, are mostly selfmotivated and actualized to such an extent that they keep growing from strength to strength as they progress. Mr. Viraj Kalra is one such gentleman who has hardly looked back ever since he started, and comes across as someone who has all the essential pre-requisites to climb the ladders in the world of market communications continuously. And now his ladder is ‘White Ladder’. Mr. Kalra feels that his decade of experience with different divisions of Planman has played a huge role in making him what he is today. Reflecting back he adds, “I was one of the few people from my batch that had prior work experience – Lacoste & Perfect Relations”. He had the obvious advantage as he knew from the very beginning about where he was heading. His focus was always marketing communications. “The moment I passed out, Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri asked me to join Planman rather than moving out”, he asserts. He started with ICMR and then moved to Planman Motion Pictures where he worked on developing marketing strategies for all their films right till, ‘do dooni chaar’. All the sponsors and brand association activities were carried out by him. Then he became the head of Planman Marcom where he spearheaded both PR and advertisement initiatives. “Today when I go and meet a client, the biggest sense of confidence that I carry is the amazing experience of 10 years at Planman”, he adds with joy.
According to Mr. Kalra, the biggest change in the world of market communications has been the advancement of technology. “The biggest difference is technology and that is multiplying every year”, he adds. He feels that when he started his career, organizations use to look at news paper and TV but today they opt for Facebook, Twitter, search engine optimization, online PR, blogs etc. He goes on to add that Planman has played a pivotal role in developing him as an entrepreneur. “The culture at Planman is such that it hones your entrepreneurial skills”.
Speaking about a memorable incident, Mr. Kalra reminds us about the time he was working on the SRK Quiz project. He and his team had the responsibility of laying out the quiz format. “I remember that close to four nights in a row I was working on the presentation with inputs from Prof. Proshanto Banerjee, Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri, and Prof. Rohit Manchanda”. He remembers how Shahrukh himself went ‘wow’ looking at the presentation. Other than this, he also cherishes all the inter-actions with Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri. He recalls one of them when he was asked to visit USA when he was heading Planman Technologies, but he was a little circumspect about it. He still remembers what Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri told him, “Your market gives you the strategy; your market gives you your team; your market gives you your product”.
He adds, “It is instances like this that stay with you for a lifetime”.
On his classes at IIPM, Mr. Kalra enthusiastically adds, “I took some classes on market communications but year on year I used to teach Executive Communication, which I still do”. Outside, he feels that the network and access one gets is phenomenal in terms of IIPM. Trendy as he is, he is smart to acknowledge the fact that the concept of ‘office’ has evolved a lot over the years. “Offices are now the Starbucks culture”, he adds with a smile. Organisations like IBM have been promoting this culture with almost 25 per cent of their staff working from home.
you cannot talk about marketing strategy & planning, if you have not sold the product….
He is quick to point to the fact that students should get out of their ‘green zone’ where they think that post recruitment they will get a plush cabin, with laptops, secretaries, and would appear in dashing formals. “Today, you do your own thing. Be self reliant, and that will hold you in good stead”.
Mr. Kalra goes on to advise that to improve the efficacy of mentoring classes, industry experts should address students. “20 new businesses are floating in the market that students are not even aware of ”, he says. He also feels that students should give up the misconception that straight after recruitment, they will get jobs that involve strategy formulation. “You cannot talk about marketing strategy if you have not sold the product”. He makes his views clearer by quoting the example of a Unilever salesman who went from door to door to sell soaps, back in the 80s. Right now, the gentleman is the biggest marketing strategist at Kraft Foods.
Coming down to his initiative – White Ladder, Mr. Kalra adds that he started this with his very close friend from his graduation days at Venkateshwara College. “We wanted to do something in consulting, education, and T&D field. My role at White Ladder is product development”. This encompasses all the verticals of White Ladder and his role is to make the product more appealing to the clients. He and his partner are involved hands on in every aspect of business at White Ladder. Mr. Kalra describes himself as a totally democratic leader. He handles a team of 15, and he never questions their approach but is specific about achieving results.
Mr. Kalra demonstrates an amazing trait about his personality when he says, “I have never felt the need to be rude or harsh to anybody”. He does not believe in the theory that you cannot always be good to people if you want to lead them. The important thing according to him is to choose people who are responsible, and that even holds true for clients. Mr. Kalra also has a unique take on CSR because according to him organizations should concentrate on the strengths of India and not on the weaknesses. “The way the world sees India is such that they feel it needs social upheaval”, he opines. But the right way he thinks is to look at the strengths like art or sports. Corporations should look at developing the rich heritage of Arts in India and should allocate more budgets on promoting it. He also feels that other than a few companies, not many invest in sports, which is disappointing. His take on CSR epitomizes the concept of ‘dare to think beyond’.
And he adds meaning to the words above when he says, “Everyday at IIPM was a learning experience”. He also blushes while admitting that he found his life partner at IIPM and so it will always be a special memory for him. Mr. Kalra was also active in participation as he was part of the team that organised Amaze and Aagman for his batch. Recalling another incident, he reminds us about a half hour discussion with Prof. Amit Bagga which he will never forget.
To the aspirants of today, his message is short and high on effectiveness, “Read with greed”. He feels that with information processing being easier than before every student should be open to improving their knowledge base through various mediums.
Speaking about family, Mr. Kalra reminds us of the character of Christopher Lawrence from the movie ‘Bad Boys’, where Mr. Lawrence often speaks to his wife about ‘spending quality time together’. His wife Ms. Nidhi Kalra runs her own venture which is into domains like manpower planning for specific industries like telecom, hospitality, IT, and aviation. They have a three year old son – Veer at home. He also ensures that they take at least two vacation and two weekend getaways a year. Last new years eve, he and his family had a great time in Goa, where they spent a week together. He adds with humour, “And, yes, every night, I come back home”.
Mr. Kalra opines that Cult is a truly brilliant idea as the name ‘Cult’ itself reflects what IIPM is! In the future, he suggests that Cult should enforce an online forum of alumni base where it can serve as an excellent networking channel.
While the light music in the background and the exotic aroma of chocolates and coffee mesmerize us at Mocha, it is the aroma of Mr. Kalra’s aura that has created a lasting impression in our minds.
