Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A highly strategic marketing communications leader in the technology industry with over 20 years of experience. Nearly 14 years of expertise in driving and executing integrated strategic corporate communications plan, encompassing external communications / media relations, public relations, internal communications, branding, crisis communications, executive communications, sustainability communications, and social media outreach for Nokia globally and within the Middle and East Africa (MEA) region. Recognized for a strong commitment to safeguarding and elevating corporate reputation, improving media mindshare, and advancing internal communications in alignment with global strategy. Fostered solid media relationships with extensive journalistic experience over 10 years across technology and non-technology media landscape. Skills: Corporate Communications Leadership, Marketing Communications, Internal Communications, External Communications, Media Relations, Press Releases, Public Affairs, Public Relations, Strategic Communications, Crisis Communications, Branding, Social Media, Corporate Social Responsibility Communications, Sustainability Communications, Change Communications, Leadership Communications, Executive Communications, Employee Communications, Corporate Affairs, Digital Media, Digital Channels, Stakeholder Management, Budget Management, Multicultural Team Leadership, Intercultural Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Compelling Content Development, Multimedia, Digital Media, PR Agency Management, Supplier Management, Event Management, Digital Experience, Media Advisory, Communication Planning, Change Initiatives, Telecommunications, Strategic Thinking, Thought Leadership Program, Demand Generations, Editing, etc.
Driving Integrated Communication Strategies: Innovating and implementing integrated communication plans aligned with global strategies and regional business needs. Leading and Mentoring a Team: Fostering a collaborative and high-performing work environment. Media Relations and Monitoring: Managing media relations with key trade and business media outlets globally and regionally. Overseeing press releases, media inquiries, interview requests, press conferences, events, executive briefings, media partnerships, and media monitoring. Leading media training for enabling leadership team members to effectively engage with the media. Public Relations: Building external partnerships with customers, government entities, and private organizations for joint campaigns. Stakeholder Management: Maintaining strong relationships with key global and regional internal and external stakeholders. Branding: Ensuring consistent representation of the company through messaging, voice, tone, values, and visuals. Strategic Messaging & Thought Leadership Content: Driving thought leadership content—including features, interviews, case studies, blogs, white papers, and reports—with consistent messaging aligned with global strategic communication objectives and brand identity across owned, earned, and paid media channels. Crisis & Issues Communications: Managing crisis situations to protect the company’s reputation, brand, and business interests. Crafting reactive media statements and providing strategic guidance to senior management. Internal Communications: Driving internal communication initiatives on digital platforms such as Yammer, the intranet, and email newsletters. Executive Support: Providing direct support to the leadership team by crafting talking points, speeches, and media briefings. Budget & Vendor Management: Overseeing budget management, PR agency partnerships, and external supplier relationships.
- Led the development and implementation of external communication strategies and PR campaigns for the MEA market. Managed media relations while organizing interviews, press conferences, media roundtables, media events, and executive briefings. - Undertook voluntary responsibility to improve press release process to make it more efficient, and reduced the lead time from 14 working days to 8 days for the entire company. - Similarly, improved the layout of the releases for the company, and even today, the press releases of Nokia bear the hallmark of this achievement. - Trained team members on crafting press releases, focusing on quality of the content as well as the understanding level of the target audience, accuracy, and quality, leveraging my prior experience in mass communication. - Oversaw quality of press releases written by team members as well as crafted press releases, engaging in discussions with regional and global stakeholders to ensure accuracy and quality. - Led the orchestration of regional and global stakeholders to collaboratively review and authorize press releases, ensuring alignment with telecom operator customers, government bodies, and partners. - Oversaw the publishing workflow of customer-endorsed press releases to prominent media outlets worldwide, ensuring maximum visibility and impact.
- Single-handedly spearheaded thought leadership content and increased the company’s visibility through PR management for all NSN markets and Business Units (Bus) / Business Groups (BGs). - Managed end-to-end lifecycle of press release announcements across all Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) markets and Business Units (BUs), ensuring seamless execution from ideation to dissemination, demonstrating proficiency in strategic communication. - Provided strategic guidance to regional media relations colleagues, offering expert insights on content positioning to enhance thought leadership and engagement across diverse markets. - Led comprehensive PR writing and media training sessions as a senior, empowering team members with advanced skills and knowledge for quality PRs. - Voluntarily generated annual reports on PR matrix such encompassing lead time, status and outcomes of PR initiatives.
- Conceptualized and developed telecom stories as well as interviews benefitting the ICT industry ecosystem. - Orchestrated the development of the annual editorial calendar, strategically planning content to align with audience interests and industry trends. - Facilitated seamless collaboration with leading telecom entities nationwide and internationally and strengthened relationships, significantly improving quality of event coverage, research and content. - Engaged actively in prominent industry conferences and telecom gatherings worldwide, leveraging networking opportunities to stay abreast of emerging trends and cultivate diverse perspectives. - Provided on-the-ground coverage of key global events, including the Tetra World Congress in Hong Kong (2008), Trend Micro's Cloud Security event in Macau, and BlackBerry’s Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando, Florida (2009), delivering insightful reports that captured the essence of each gathering.
- Ensured the timely publication of IT and ICT trade magazines with concise content. - Edited articles and news items to ensure quality and accuracy. - Coordinated editorial processes by liaising with reporters at various bureaus across India, as well as with the design department to guarantee magazines were published on schedule. - Improved the look and feel of the magazine by providing guidance for designing the layout and visual of each editorial page. - Strictly enforced adherence to deadlines among reporters.
- Open-Source Intelligence (OS-Int) Gathering: Guided strategic selection of news from open-source channels as well as webcast news from extremist organizations in various international languages. This helped the ministry in intelligence gathering on anti-national elements. - Edited the news stories for a final OS-Int report, serving the defense sector of the Government of India. - Launched New Project: Voluntarily launched and executed an independent, semi-technical project on webcast monitoring of clandestine radio and TV channels from around the world for AIR’s Central Monitoring Services to keep a regular and close tab on significant happenings among the global powers. In a seminal contribution, my project report identified numerous important clandestine radio and television webcasts, and provided detailed guidelines on how to monitor them, resulting in a quantum leap in the output of the organization.
- Wrote many analytical pieces on international relations for the news website, thereby expanding the range of content with quality. - Edited, restructured, and proofread news reports sent by IANS news correspondents to suit the Indian masses. - Added value by providing Indian context to the news stories received from DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur).