Prasanna Gururajan Rao

Director, Marketing @ LinkedIn | Fellow, Chartered Institute of Marketing

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

About

I am a seasoned sales and marketing leader with experience in building strong brands, delivering profitable growth, and creating customer loyalty across diverse markets and industries. As the Head of Marketing India for LinkedIn Talent Solutions, I lead a team of passionate marketers who help businesses connect with top talent and empower professionals to achieve their career goals. I am also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), and a certified design thinker and innovator, with a flair for generating insights-driven strategies, managing end-to-end product life cycles, and executing winning go-to-market campaigns. In my previous roles, I have driven 2X growth in funnel value, optimized CAC by over 40%, and established LinkedIn as a thought leader in the talent space, with coverage in Tier-1 media outlets. I am passionate about learning, collaborating, and making an impact in the world of work.

Experience

  • Director- Marketing, Linkedin Talent Solutions India at LinkedIn
    Oct 2022 - Present · 3 yrs 9 mos

  • Director - Marketing, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa at Payoneer
    Dec 2018 - Sep 2022 · 3 yrs 10 mos

    Led and established regional marketing for Payoneer in the South Asia, Middle East and North Africa region; Recruited critical marketing talent in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE Built a healthy acquisition pipeline with 2X growth in funnel value consistently each year; Optimized CAC by over 40% Created and successfully delivered CLM campaigns for non-managed customers contributing 80% of the region's revenue Established Payoneer as a "Thought Leader" with winning PR campaigns culminating in coverage in Tier-1 media including The Economic Times, The Hindu Business Line and The Financial Express Created and successfully delivered digital brand properties like Beyond India, Seller Express, and Payoneer Pathshala

  • Director Sales and Marketing at Ezetap Mobile Solutions Pvt. Ltd
    Apr 2016 - May 2018 · 2 yrs 2 mos

    Led transformation of Ezetap into a SaaS brand; Defining brand value proposition, building a go-to-market strategy and Delivering profitable revenue Successfully set up commercial (Marketing and Pre-sales) function and recruited 15 team members including 2 marketing managers Built a ground-up marketing infrastructure including a network of digital, creative and PR partners. Executed winning digital marketing campaigns resulting in 4X Increase in customer acquisition with a 48% drop in customer acquisition cost Built a healthy enterprise pipeline with 3X increase in funnel value in the last 3 quarters Lead Ezetap to be named CNBC Disruptor list twice in a row (2016 and 2017), BBC Disruptors 2017, and CB Insights 250

  • Vodafone India (5 yrs 10 mos)
    • Marketing Head (Business Services)
      Jun 2014 - Apr 2016 · 1 yr 11 mos

      Led 5 team members handling customer acquisition, Customer Value management, New products, and Brand Responsible for Revenue, P&L, Product pricing, and promotions. Define and execute go-to-market strategy for the business unit Won Big strategic account business like ANI Technologies (Ola), Think and Learn (Byjus), and IBM

    • Business Head (Mobile Internet & Broadband)
      Sep 2012 - Jun 2014 · 1 yr 10 mos

      Led a team of 3 product managers driving mobile data adoption resulting in revenue growth of 166% & subscriber growth of 43% during my tenure. Responsible for product P&L, Pricing, New product development, Customer acquisition, Base cross-sell and up-sell strategy and targets

    • Head (Marketing Communications)
      Jul 2010 - Sep 2012 · 2 yrs 3 mos

      Guided a team of 8 marketing communication managers to transform creative Brand ideas into measurable marketing campaigns Ranked #1 nationally for Best Brand activation of a communication campaign; Created first ever 3G experience zone in the country

  • Senior Brand Manager at Virgin Mobile India
    Jan 2008 - Jul 2010 · 2 yrs 7 mos

    Launched “Virgin Mobile” brand in India on both CDMA & GSM platforms ; Organised “Virgin Mobile Rockathon”,100 hours of continuous Rock music leading to a LIMCA Book of Records