The Fractional CMO you need

General expertise. Specific results.

In a fraction of the time. At a fraction of the cost.

Providing direction (strategy) and directions (execution) to teams.

You get a full-stack, marketing leader,  with prior experience as a CMO, without your organisation having to commit to a full-time employee. Either effectively functioning as a CMO, or as an expert in specific domains of marketing. 

I will manage not just the work, but also relevant stakeholders, so that you get the bandwidth to focus on the rest of the organisation.

Here are some ways I can help.

More about the Fractional CMO


The Fractional CMO toolkit

Brand Strategy

Aligning the brand to the business, and creating positioning and value propositions to drive growth.

Communication Strategy

Converting the brand strategy into creative effectiveness across multiple consumer touchpoints - digital and offline.

Growth: Acquisition & Retention

Creating efficient methods of acquiring customers through paid and organic means, and making them profitable.

Marketing Analytics

Setting up a cadence, and dashboards, to monitor and improve brand and business metrics.

Stakeholder Management

Handling internal (leadership, marketing team, investors) and external (vendors, agencies) stakeholders for all things marketing

Hiring & Mentoring

Building and equipping a team with processes and a mindset to help the organisation meet business goals

Get. Set. Grow?

LET'S TALK

ATM for startups

No, not money. All Things Marketing. Here’s how.

 

Set up

From effective brand storytelling to efficient GTM and growth loops, I’ll help you with everything you need to kickstart brand and business. 
Take a look at my 6 month CMO plan. 

Optimise

An objective audit of your marketing strategy and activities, to identify low hanging truths, and to find new means to accelerate growth. 
 

Refresh

Sometimes, marketing teams can benefit from a different perspective. A holistic one coming from someone who has been doing it for a while. 
 Or your brand/marketing lead could do with some help on ‘CMO readiness’. 
 

Troubleshoot

 It could be anything – broad directional help, or a specific issue in brand strategy, growth through acquisition or retention, campaign management, content, social media, PR.   
 
KNOW MORE

8 scenarios when a brand needs a Fractional CMO

Not an exhaustive list, but I have found these to be common

  • You have raised a seed/A/B round and want someone with experience and expertise to ensure that brand and marketing hits the ground running
  • You have product-market fit, and would like to get someone who can handle all things marketing - brand and business growth, hiring the right team and partners, setting up processes and goals, but cannot find (or afford) the person full-time
  • You are comfortable with product and tech, but need someone to plan and help execute a product launch/ go-to-market strategy
  • You would like an external point of view on your marketing strategy, activities, and implementation. Think of it as an unbiased audit
  • You have a small marketing team but its capability and/or experience is limited to tactics and execution. You need someone to think strategically
  • You have direct reports in marketing but want someone whom your marketing team/agencies can go to for direction, coaching, and guidance
  • You have a specific area in which you need some expert help. It could be brand strategy and planning, growth - acquisition and/or retention, content, social media, PR
  • You want a brand/marketing reboot - to get some fresh perspective, either through a workshop, or a short-term project

How does a Fractional CMO work?

Understands the business context, and builds adaptive solutions for brand and business growth

  • Form an idea of the overall context - company, consumer, competition
  • Prioritise short and long term objectives based on the context
  • Create a brand and marketing strategy roadmap and an action plan to achieve this

Why me? A brief history should help.

  1. My brand marketing ops learning happened at Worldspace, where I did everything from proofreading the final ad copy to making Rs. 5 cr/month media plans – broadcast, print, radio, and OOH – across a dozen markets. In 2004, I also convinced my manager to drop a billboard and give me the money for a Google CPC campaign, and the results got both of us pay hikes! 
  2. In 2007, I was the launch brand manager for Bangalore Mirror, and soon built the website for it (the first Times publication to have its own domain). The wireframe I made became the template for all Mirror websites. 
  3. In late 2011, I made the blueprint for Myntra’s presence on social media, and the next year, we made the brand a worldwide trend on Twitter, multiple times. This was before you could pay for it, or hire influencers to do it. Pure organic, at a time when few globally had a plan for social media. 
  4. In 2015, working with Lowe Lintas, I was responsible for Urban Ladder’s “Beautiful Homes Start Here” campaign line, and positioning.
  5. In 2020-21, after I had spent 3 years building the Scripbox brand for a 25-35 segment, the business pivoted to a 35-45 yr old demographic, and I found ways to reposition the brand and  acquire that elusive crowd digitally. 
Fractional CMO

I thrive on unchartered ground, and am now adept at converting unstructured problems into structured challenges.

With a toolkit acquired through years of experience, and an adaptive mindset. 

External Resources

Companies, Top Marketers See Value in Part-Time ‘Fractional’ CMO Jobs (WSJ)

The Fast Growing Fractional CMO Model (Forbes)

Meet the fractional CMO (exchange4media)