Sunitha Natarajan is a marketer with proficiency in Creative Project Management & Integrated Marketing Solutions. She began her journey as an intern in 2015 at Social Panga and is currently leading growth and key account strategies for all 3 branches at Social Panga.
She is the first and the youngest woman director in the company. “I help in building sustainable competitive advantage and growth for brands through data and insight-driven marketing solutions that are strongly tied to a deep understanding of consumer behaviour. While many creative minds in the country can help build brands, I truly believe that my strength lies in insight-driven growth and that’s not very commonly applied” she says.
She leads a team of 24 members of which 92% are women. “As a culture champion and a woman myself, my true goal is to empower as many women as possible with opportunities in leadership positions and help scale their growth in this field”.
Having been in the industry over seven years now, Sunitha has a got an opportunity to work with more than 60+ brands like Nestle, Myntra, Tata Motors, Wipro, 3M, Himalaya BabyCare and Personal care, Reliance and others. From an intern to an industry leader, her entire journey has helped me in assuming a leadership role as an intrapreneur which continues to pave the way for her to explore disruptive initiatives.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Medianews4u.com caught up with Sunitha Natarajan, Director of Digital Strategy at Social Panga
Q. Are you’ll working on Women’s Day campaigns for brands? Kindly elaborate.
Of course, Women’s Day is one of the biggest conversation points for brands. Not just for consumer facing brands but also for employer and corporate brands. Our approach as an agency has always been that whenever we devise campaigns, it has to be tied to the brand’s larger values and purpose which is tied with truth in their action.
Otherwise, the efforts remain as just any campaign run on the day. Secondly, this year’s theme is Accelerate Action is a very powerful message, and we have tried to stay true to the context of the conversation as much as possible to drive more impact.
Q. In recent years are there examples of Women’s Day campaigns done by brands that standout?
Tanishq women’s day ad from 2023 was well done – Before a woman is being a superwoman, she’s a human. Beautiful portrayal of how a progressive womanhood is very internalised with many real-life context represented well. Another one of my favourite campaigns has to be the one which we (Social Panga) executed for Himalaya hair care – #NaturallyStrong.
It was not just another wish/celebratory post. The campaign highlights the insight that whenever women are about to take charge and put their efforts into finishing a task, they instinctively tie their hair quickly because it makes them feel more focussed.
We wanted to connect with the users on an intrinsic level and with our insight, we hit the nail on the head with a gesture so simple yet so close to home for most women. The story that celebrates women’s inner strength, which comes so naturally to them.
Q. As a woman is it easier to bring in empathy to the message?
Women are naturally empathetic, while I do believe that, when you are thinking of a campaign specially when it is with purpose and in the right context of conversations and representation, having many points of view considered is critical. The campaign message needs to be advocated by and to, all genders to make a real difference.
Q. What strategies would work to achieve gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated industry?
Implementing the 60:30:10 rule effectively can significantly enhance women’s representation and advancement in the field. Sixty percent of empowerment stems from on-the-job experiences and supportive policies, such as equal pay, menstrual leaves, flexibility for working mothers, returnship programmes, and life/career management sessions. These initiatives shift the focus from workload to the company’s empathy, fostering increased motivation and a sense of belonging.
Thirty per cent of efforts should target learning and development, emphasising mentorships, interactions with role models, and access to opportunities and forums that showcase achievable goals. The remaining 10% should focus on financial planning and non-technical L&D initiatives to empower individuals beyond their professional roles.
By envisioning a job that incorporates these elements, the potential for success in the field becomes evident. When implemented correctly, this approach not only addresses diversity and inclusion challenges but also elevates overall productivity. This requires serious interventions in terms of pieces of training, empowerment in a boardroom discussion or simply acknowledging the influence on business and how to scale the impact.
Q. Is there more of a focus today on creating gender-neutral campaigns?
I wouldn’t call it gender neutral, but the representation of point of view has become more inclusive. For more than a decade, brands have been portraying a lot of campaigns just focussing on the narrative of women, representing them, talking about their pain – conversation purely focussed and built on her. Today that representation has evolved from just stereotypical conversations to different types of her, her viewed through many lens and what needs correction, celebrating the positives, more allyship advocacy and the right portrayal of modern progressive hardships.
Q. How are agencies leveraging data to promote equality?
At Social Panga, we are 54% women. This didn’t happen by chance but through clarity in building equal teams. Having a team that is diverse and inclusive makes a lot of difference in collaboration and overall company culture.
The way to evaluate is to enable representation on all levels and equal pay without a gender bias. In today’s context there is good clarity on growth and exposure along with the right support to facilitate the journey.
Q. In the ad industry what are the challenges encountered by women looking to advance and get to a leadership position?
Continuous access to mentorship and fear of uncertainty at times.
Mentorship is necessary for anyone on the road to leadership. Women on this journey should look to and have access to female and male superiors with parallel experiences to guide, share and support. Most often I have seen hesitation to network or build-on interpersonal skills, which might push a high potential woman to feel directionless or under value their own equity.
Secondly, throughout our careers, we are conditioned to come up with the answer — as in a single, definitive, correct answer. If we let go a bit of control over the degree of change, uncertainty, and complexity faced, we women will have more added avenues of learning and growth experienced for sure.
Q. How do you use analytics to understand and support female consumers?
Every powerful and impactful campaign done is based on a human truth (I am strictly speaking in the context to women’s day). And hence, we validate that with a lot of behavioural data.
Another key area to analyse is sentiments through engagement, reviews and feedback. Then last is historical or comparative data (for benchmarking) if you are looking at sales/offers etc.
