Arindam Paul

Founding Member and Head, Marketing & Strategy
Atomberg Technologies

Arindam Paul is one of the founding members of Atomberg Technologies, a smart and efficient motor-based home appliances company focused on making the lives of Indian consumers better through innovation and technology. From joining the organization at a pre-revenue stage in 2015, he has been responsible for scaling up the brand to a 100-crore annual revenue run-rate within 4 years. Arindam has been recognized by the Prime Minister and Niti Aayog as a “Champion of Change” in the startup ecosystem and has subsequently been a part of many committees set up by the Niti Aayog. He has represented the country as a speaker in the UN Conference for Climate Change in Bonn in 2017. His contribution has also been acknowledged and covered by UNIDO India. As the head of marketing and strategy, Arindam is responsible for all consumer communications across all media, branding, e-commerce sales and product strategy. Under his leadership, the company has become a major disruptor in the premium fan segment and has gained more than a 10% share of the e-commerce market by value. They are one of the biggest success stories in the Indian hardware product ecosystem in the consumer space where competition is extremely tough. The products are currently the best sellers and best-rated fans on all portals like Amazon and Flipkart. Leveraging the potential of e-commerce, digital media, and PR to the fullest, he has helped Atomberg reach this scale with a fraction of the marketing budget that other biggies have. A firm believer in data-driven marketing, he led the creation of a truly omnichannel set up at Atomberg which makes switching from offline to online(and vice-versa) for either discovery/purchase a seamless experience for the consumer. In addition to the traditional channel of sales, he has conceptualized and scaled up to multiple alternate channels of sales( Influencer Sales, Corporate Tie-Ups, Tie-ups with Power Service Providers) at Atomberg which gives a significant chunk of the revenue today.

In addition to his day job, Arindam loves writing and sharing insights about the emerging trends in marketing and startups. He has written multiple articles on Linkedin, and also for a host of publications including Yourstory, Official StartUpIndia Blog, Business World, etc. He is also a sports enthusiast and plays and follows almost all sports whenever time permits.

Prior to joining Atomberg, Arindam has worked as a Management Consultant with Cognizant in the Digital Strategy and Products space for 2 years. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, where he was amongst the top 5% of the batch, and a BTech in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Surat.

Topic:- Embedding Sustainability into Marketing Strategies
With the effects of climate change and global warming for all to see, sustainability has become more than just a buzzword for all marketers. Although it has been discussed for years, it is only now that sustainable business practices have come to the forefront of consumer attention. Consumers have become environmentally conscious, and they would always prefer buying from businesses that not only think alike but also walks the talk.

And this is why it has become paramount for brands to align the organization's marketing strategy and communication with its sustainability and responsible business practices.
For brands where the product itself is differentiated when it comes to harming/helping the environment( less power consumption, using renewables, alternatives to plastic etc), things are very straightforward. They do not even need to explicitly mention it in their communication. In fact, to create a very strong brand when you are having a significantly more sustainable product, it becomes all the more important to not keep banging about how they are saving the environment. For brands, where the product is the same, things can be interesting. But there are so many ways the brands can also embed sustainability into its marketing strategy and communication. Cause-related marketing, highlighting sustainable practices( eco-friendly packaging, local sourcing, helping local communities), campaigns for changing consumer behavior and highlighting the purpose/core values of the brand in its campaigns are some of the ways.

The relationship between marketing and sustainability is evolving and becoming more important by the hour. And it is a big challenge as well as an opportunity for future marketers to communicate in a way that helps consumers make better purchase decisions that are aligned to their own values.