I’m a seasoned sales and marketing professional with diverse experience in the retail industry. Over the years, have launched and managed multiple brands across the country, planned the brand and business strategy, developed multiple revenue channels, executed countless marketing campaigns, envisioned and executed the plan successfully to achieve targets and goals.
Working at Miniso LifeStyle Pakistan, as the Senior Business Development & Investment Specialist, i am responsible for planning the expansion of the brand, be it through company operated or franchise stores or marketing.
At Shahkam Industries, as the Head of Sales & Marketing at their latest venture; ONE, a fashion forward apparel brand. I was responsible for leading a cross functional team, managing retail operations, business development, planning and marketing of the brand. After launching the brand on the 1st of December, 2016, strategized the brand direction, executed the marketing and business development plans, focused on social media and PR while supporting it with multiple collaborations, created a demand which led to us successfully spreading across the country.
Prior to that, I was Head of Retail at Firhaj Footwear for Hush Puppies, Clarks and CAT Footwear & Apparel. After taking charge, executed an aggressive expansion plan which included an addition of 30 stores in 3 years. Taking the business from 650 million to 1.45 billion during my tenure. We successfully achieved an annual growth of 15% in 2016 and an average of 18% over the last 5 years. I was simultaneously Head of Marketing as well; developed the creative direction for each brand, created and managed all social media presence from scratch, updated all touch points including packaging, store ambiance, laid a foundation for reviving the lost connection with the consumer while dominating all digital platforms within the footwear industry. I was also leading business development, e-commerce and customer service team.
• Responsible for the overall development of the brand; including marketing, business development, network expansion, and franchise investment.
• Overview branding, marketing and PR.
• Development, planning and implementation of strategy.
• Plan and align brand strategy and expansion direction.
• Ensuring marketing and brand strategy are aligned.
• Develop and execute strategy for penetration into new market segments.
• Lead and develop new program ideas which result in market capture strategies.
• Lead the development and execution of plans to ensure achievement of assigned business goals.
• Provide creative ideas on customer acquisition programs, business potential study, planning on budget allocation, co-ordinate with different departments, marketing material production and campaign result evaluation.
• Perform analytics on customer segmentation and analysis on market and competitors.
• Monitor and analyze sales promotion and campaign results to determine success and cost effectiveness of promotion campaigns.
• Develop and execute strategy for franchise expansion and development.
• Main Achievements: Took the brand from 5 stores to 65 operational stores nationwide by November’19. Expanded the network to 21 cities. Exceeded Sales target of 2.5 Billion for 2018 by 16%. Planned and launched Franchise Model end of February’18. Setup 48 Franchise Stores from March’18 till November’19.
• Preparing annual brand strategy, sale targets and marketing plan.
• Developing sales plan in accordance with the overall business plan. Forecasting and then ensuring achievement of objectives.
• Translating annual sale targets into actions and preparing a road plan for their achievement.
• Define brand objectives and strategy, plot roadmap to ensure its alignment with organizational objectives and business plans.
• Develop the brand’s creative direction and consumer perception.
• Develop and implement marketing and communication plans.
• Execution of marketing and PR plans across all mediums and touch points.
• Ensuring operational efficiency and automating the workflow.
• Prepare and plan budgets for advertising, retail operating expenses and new shop openings.
• Ensure precision in execution, alignment and coordination of internal departments, agencies and vendors according to timelines.
• Main Achievements: Created additional revenue channels for a traditional manufacturing giant. Setup a brand from scratch. Opened 9 stores within the first year, capturing the market of 4 cities. Planned and executed an elaborate expansion plan.
• Managed the following sub departments: retail operations, business development, ecommerce, and customer service.
• Developing and aligning all departmental plans and budgets with the annual business plan.
• Preparing annual retail strategy, sale targets & detailed business plans for each brand and category.
• Translating annual sale targets into actions and preparing a road plan for their achievement.
• Prepare and plan budgets for advertising, retail operating expenses, new shop opening, renovation and maintenance of network.
• Preparation and alignment of the marketing and advertisement plan made in accordance to the timelines suggested in the annual sale targets.
• Research and propose new potential categories and range extensions which would help diversify the portfolio and significantly increase sales. Manage merchandising and sale for accessories, shoe care, bags and apparel.
• Preparing quarterly reports for international division with regards to forecast and sales, advertising budgets and execution plans.
• Promoting customer care by continuous training on sales and customer services to nationwide retail staff for skill development and to achieve growth in sales.
• Main Achievements: Increased the sales from Rs. 660 Million in 2012 to Rs. 1.4 Billion in 2016. Took the number of stores from 35 to 62 during the same duration. Signed and introduced CATERPILLAR Apparel and Bags as well as Clarks Footwear in Pakistan.
• Responsible for the overall marketing of all brands; includes online and offline advertising, visual merchandising, ecommerce, and customer service.
• Plan, prepare and ensure timely advertising campaigns and promotional material, according to new product and seasonal launches, to help increase sales.
• Planning and implementation of brand strategy. Ensure each brand is published, managed, maintained, and refreshed throughout the year.
• Plan concept and direction of each brand for all channels including retail, wholesale and digital.
• Ensure all digital presence; ecommerce websites including partners and social media platforms are update, aligned with brand strategy, direction and content.
• Ensure all stores along with websites are aligned with marketing material and content.
• Prepare annual calendar and strategy plan for allocation of budget.
• Monitor and analyze sales promotion and campaign results to determine success and cost effectiveness of promotion campaigns.
• Improve product marketability by researching, identifying, and capitalizing on market opportunities; improving product packaging; coordinating new product development.
• Coordination with media, print and digital agencies and ensuring accurate planning and execution of all campaigns and visual merchandising at all company operated stores.
• Main Achievements: Implemented and streamlined the international guidelines throughout the network. Ensuring consistency in Retail, Wholesale and Franchise Outlets. Setup and created sub departments. Launched the first TVC, prepared and executed campaigns for every season. Enhanced digital footprint. Launched CAT Apparel & Merchandise nationwide. Launched Clarks in Pakistan.
• Plan brand strategy, annual calendar, advertising and promotional campaigns, according to new product and seasonal launches.
• Prepare budget according to annual calendar, monitor and report for every quarter.
• Manage online and offline presence; includes all outdoor, in-store and online content.
• Set up digital presence; including ecommerce website and presence on social media platforms.
• Manage conferences to enhance brand image and share brand ideology with retail and wholesale teams; internal and external.
• Provide content direction, campaign concept, align offline and online touch points.
• Coordination with media, print and digital agencies and ensuring accurate planning and execution of all campaigns and visual merchandising at all company operated stores.
• Main Achievements: Convincing the Ownership to invest in marketing, change direction and embrace the international guidelines to resurrect the brand image which had declined.
• Responsible for the overall marketing of the organization.
• Planning and implementation of Brand Strategy.
• Create brand plan and strategy to ensure all aspects of the organizations marketing activities align with the ethos and goals of international office.
• Deploy successful marketing campaigns and own their implementation from ideation to execution.
• Measure and report performance of marketing campaigns, gain insight and assess against goals.
• Build strategic relationships and partner with key industry players, agencies and vendors.
• Handling Strategic Initiatives and implementation of Information & Communication Technology.
• Main Achievements: Surpassing target and Increasing donations by 39%. Added revenue channel by initiating online collection of donations. Successful execution of ICT as per EU requirements.