Sivaram Kuppachi, CEO, Zamstars Management Services

Zamstars Management Services is a design based consulting firm which is fulfilling the needs of contextual brand strategy, effective marketing and predictable sales solutions for business.

I have been talking to many CXOs, mostly of growth companies, over the past few years. Most of them started a venture because they had / believed in a great product or service. And over the next few weeks or months, built a good team and secured their initial set of `paying' customers'. This is the time they looked outwards to agencies for Marketing, Branding and Sales outsourcing or planned to expand their internal team. Their `First and Only' question is "When can you get us Business and how many `Qualified Leads' can you generate?"

"While it is perfectly normal for brands to hibernate, it's also important to be prepared to brave challenges"

My question to all the CXOs `If one can bring business or `Qualified Leads' straightaway, then why should they service you for a meagre commission or salary?' The process of generating `Qualified Leads' and `Business that is predictable', involves Process and Discipline. What agencies offer, is that Discipline and Process, so that a CXO can focus on their Core Strengths-  `Product / Process'.

Seldom do we come across CXOs who understand `Investment' in Marketing or Branding. Most of them treat this as an Expense and usually we get to hear standard statements like, "We don't have money right now. When we make money, we'll pay you and engage those options."

My question to them is, "When business is going great, then why spend money on Marketing and Branding?" You need to spend while the Business is picking up or the markets are yet to accept your product or service. That is the Role of a CXO to create that Investment Bucket and `spend for future'. Whether you spend internally or through a trusted agency, that is a choice a CXO has, but Investment is needed for growth.

However, I strongly believe that brands can discover infinite bright possibilities even during lull or resource crunch. Dark days give opportunity to introspect. Here brands could gain momentum to face the light of day. I give this analogy of earth and its rotation causing `day and night'.

A new day marks a new beginning and a new beginning opens door to opportunities. While it is perfectly normal for brands to hibernate, it's also important to be prepared to brave challenges. Right branding and marketing solutions, consistently, will groom your brand and make it future-ready.

Like how the earth witnesses a dark side every day, every brand goes through a dark phase. This phase is a time for brands to retrospect, learn and prepare for the bright days ahead. Making the right investment in marketing and branding is crucial for brands, as this decides the brands' future and growth.

So, stay complied, stay agile and be profitable. Have a vision and foundation to accentuate Marketing, Branding and Sales as the driving factors of business growth.

This being said, CXOs today are not hired just to take tactical decisions but are given that role for forward thinking. I am looking to work with such forward thinking CXOs and make the brands future Unicorns.

Now the only question that a CXO needs to answer is,"Which side are you on?"