Tips For Marketers By Unilever’s Media Director

Asad Ur Rehman, Media Director MENA at Unilever is one of the keynote speakers at the Marketing Kingdom Cairo, Egypt’s first ever international marketing event, taking place from 25-26 October at the InterContinental Citystars Hotel in Cairo.
Asad manages Unilever’s media investments across the Middle East and North Africa region. He is also responsible for driving communication excellence and innovation as well as digital as a discipline across the region. Asad has been in this role since August 2013, prior to which he managed Global Media for Unilever’s Foods business based out of Unilever’s HQ in London. Prior to joining Unilever, Asad did various assignments for MindShare/Group M in various parts of the world. He managed local offices in Vietnam and Pakistan for them, did a global role in London, and managed regional projects in AsiaPac and LATAM.
We recently sat down with him and asked him about his views and tips on today’s rapidly changing marketing world from his experience as a media director at Unilever. His fascinating anwers are below:

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1. The speed of change will never be this slow ever again. Be nimble, agile and flexible. Don’t let your plans hold you hostage to any situation.
2. Spend more time making consumer centric decisions. Always ask “what will the consumer see as a result of the work I am doing?”- and if the answer is nothing, then either fine tune what you are doing, or drop it completely.
3. Data is in abundance these days. First task: get used to it, and second task: make it relevant to a decision. If a set of data is not helping you make any decision, it is not worth having.
4. Being relevant to consumers is one of the most difficult things to do these days. If you find a good way of doing it, stick to it. If you can’t, don’t waste your time being irrelevant.
5. You can’t learn to be a swimmer by jogging at the beach. If you want learning, you have to dip your toes. Start learning by doing – in some cases in today’s world, it is the only way to learn.

The speed of change will never be this slow ever again. Be nimble, agile and flexible. Don’t let your plans hold you hostage to any situation.
Spend more time making consumer centric decisions. Always ask “what will the consumer see as a result of the work I am doing?”- and if the answer is nothing, then either fine tune what you are doing, or drop it completely.
Data is in abundance these days. First task: get used to it, and second task: make it relevant to a decision. If a set of data is not helping you make any decision, it is not worth having.
Being relevant to consumers is one of the most difficult things to do these days. If you find a good way of doing it, stick to it. If you can’t, don’t waste your time being irrelevant.
You can’t learn to be a swimmer by jogging at the beach. If you want learning, you have to dip your toes. Start learning by doing – in some cases in today’s world, it is the only way to learn.

To meet Asad and 15 other marketing gurus from Twitter, Google, Yahoo!, Shazam, Coca-Cola and Facebook, get your ticket today for the Marketing Kingdom Cairo by visiting the event’s official website