Omran Ahmad: “Marketing is a mindset which must be developed”

As markets become more and more competitive, companies with the smartest marketing strategies will definitely have an edge. Marketing Consultant at Millenium Archademia, Omran Ahmad shares with us his passion for this field. How did you land in the marketing field? My love for marketing arose mostly from my first work experience at OKASINA Trading. Indeed, there, I discovered the pleasure of knowing new products, meeting and repeatedly interacting with new people, building rapport, feeling a perpetual challenge, and experiencing that unique satisfaction when concluding a big sale, especially with a tough customer. In Mauritius, people often consider marketing as sales. What are the main differences between the two? People don’t pay for product or services, they pay for the reputation of the company, the trust that they have in the company and the way in which the company handles their complaints. The reputation of the company is built by what the market is saying about them, positive or negative. Marketing helps in building that reputation by effectively communicating the positive aspects and ensuring great customer experience at all levels. Marketing helps in creating the Awareness about the company and its products and services. Interest is created through the use of various tools which lead to people desiring the products and services until they decide to take Action which is the actual sales. Sales, on the other hand, is only the actual selling of the product when closing a deal, after making use of one or more marketing techniques and/or tools. Unfortunately, many companies in Mauritius see only the sales component and not the marketing efforts behind and hence, mistakenly qualify marketing as sales and vice-versa. Marketing is a mindset which must be developed at all levels of a business. The most important aspect is to treat employees as internal customers who in turn would be prepared to go above and beyond to indentify, anticipate and satisfy customer requirements, hence generating better profits. Today we talk more and more about online marketing. Is it a necessary tool for you? Today’s trend is that of nearly instantaneous information, and perpetual interaction on various forums via different virtual platforms, through various technological devices, and increasingly through smartphones. As such, it is, but, quite important, even essential, for us Marketing people, to exploit this highly effective modes of communication in this technological era and environment. Not only Digital Marketing enables to reach much faster a wider and a more precisely targeted public at generally lower costs, but also enables us to measure rather exactly the impact of the marketing campaign within the market. E-commerce, which is still somewhat timid within the Mauritian market, will gradually pervade different sectors of the economy. As such, I would qualify the Digital Marketing as the indispensable marketing tool within the near future. What are the qualities of a good Marketing Manager? A good Marketing Manager must, other than being open-minded, creative, and a very good listener and observer, be quite serendipitous. In addition, he needs to be a good communicator, so as to be able to interact, through various means, with the different publics related to his products and services. He also needs to be quite knowledgeable of the different marketing tools and markets, especially for the products and services he is promoting. He should be aware of his main competitors and their strategies as well and be perpetually updated on the market environment. Besides, he should also be a risk-taker, though preferably a… calculated one. Are there good prospects for young graduates in the marketing field? In view of the highly competitive environment within the local, regional, and international markets in this era of nearly instantaneous flow of information, marketing should have, logically, been a field of very high job prospects. Unfortunately, there is a big effort to be made among quite many companies to enable them differentiate between marketing and sales. Once, done, they will be less reluctant to invest in marketing, towards making people know their products, services and their brand too, as quite too often many companies tend to neglect the branding aspect. This will unavoidably result into young graduates getting the opportunity to join the job market, in the interest of all parties. Tell us a bit about yourself. I am blessed to have, in my early thirties, quite a rich background in the field of education. I have studied in a few countries, namely India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Mauritius, and United Kingdom. Each with its own culture and approach in their education system. I have a Master in International Business Management from UK and a Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Career-wise, I have acquired a rich and varied work experience in the field of marketing though my ten years of service. I started with OKASINA Trading as Sales and Marketing Executive, then joined a company in the sales and marketing of computers and IT-related products. I also worked as Showroom Manager for an imported second-hand car dealer. Prior to my departure for Dubai, I worked with the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council as Marketing Executive for International Conferences by Internationally recognised gurus, namely, Tom Peters, Robert Kaplan and Dave Ulrich. I am also regularly doing marketing campaigns for several other conferences. In UK I worked as a Freelancer, for Solution Centric. Inspired by the latter mode of collaboration, I launched my own Marketing Consultancy services – OS Marketing Solutions – in Mauritius. I am now providing consultancy services to several companies, among which is Millenium Archademia – a promising Training Institute based in Vacoas.

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