My Journey – Vibha Karnik
With over 12+ years of marketing and communications experience for brands across the internet, technology, FMCG, fashion and financial services sectors, I have worked in both India and Hong Kong, overseeing different regions in Asia-Pacific.
As a person I am a compulsive planner, a published writer, a Bollywood lover, a social media addict and a travel enthusiast. I spent my childhood in the Arabian port city of Muscat before moving to a South Indian city, Mysore, to pursue my education. Work, studies and the eagerness to explore new places has taken Vibha to over 35 countries.
Share about your business
Analogy is a global design and innovation studio which transforms concepts into tangible Products, Brands and Experiences. Powered with multi-disciplinary knowledge, our focus is to bring businesses closer to their consumers by implementing design grounded in facts.
Since our humble beginnings in 2015, we’ve now grown into a full service design consultancy offering a variety of offerings to select clients globally. With resources present in the U.S.A and Hong Kong, our headquarter is in Bengaluru, India.
Team Analogy consists of holistic individuals, both designers and strategists, led by award winning designer, Vyasateja Rao. Analogy has worked across the globe in various roles with large and small corporations and startups.
Today I work with Analogy, a full-service design consultancy where I provide coordinated management across business operations, with the goal of driving efficiency, consistency, and company growth through strengthened and steadied process.
Share something from your Corporate career
My first job was with then ING Vysya, today Kotak Mahindra. I was a member of a project management team responsible for change management and internal communications. It was here that I was convinced about my interest and aptitude towards marketing.
I then went on to complete my MBA at SIBM, Pune specialising in Marketing Communications. Out of B-school I joined Maxus, today Wavemaker, a media agency under the WPP group. Here I had the opportunity to work with leading brands in India like Britannia, Titan, Arvind Mills and many more. After almost 3 years on the agency side, I decided to try being on the client side.
As I was in Bengaluru at the time, popular for being an IT Hub, moving to a B2B marketing role was the prevalent option. I joined HID Global in 2010 as Marketing Manager for India. It is this role that has been the beat learning and most rewarding experience in my life. I got to work with a great set of people both in India and outside. In the 5 years I spent with HID Global, I first managed India, then South Asia and moved to Hong Kong, the APAC headquarters, where I also got to work with our teams in ASEAN, ANZ and North Asia.
At this point, I felt like I was stagnating in my career and needed a shift. So I took a 6-month break where I holidayed, tried to learn Mandarin and also wrote for a lifestyle website in Hong Kong.
Next, I joined HeathWallace, as Global Brand and Marketing Manager, where I was responsible of articulating the roadmap to generate and amplify HeathWallace’s proposition in line with the brand values and personality.
After having spent over a decade in Marketing, I was craving more. I wanted to get into the business side of things which is when I decided to join Analogy, started by my friend Vyas. Being a new business, I have had the chance to truly shape and mould the our business, communications and operations.
What was the inspiration for you start your own business or take up the career you are in?
I think at the time I took the jump, it was largely to try and learn something new. I wanted to challenge myself as I had begun to feel that Marketing was something I could put very little effort into and yet get good results. This kind of over confidence, I believe, is detrimental to an individual’s growth. With Analogy, my partner Vyas had done all of the setting up work, I had to come in and lead business development – something I had never done in my life – and marketing – something I was more comfortable with. It was this mash up of the unknown and known that made me a little more comfortable with the idea of making the move from corporate life to startup life.
What have been some of your achievements in your professional life?
Well, there have been a few here and there, but I believe the one achievement that I am proudest of even today is when I was recognised for my work at HID Global in 2011 and received the Hall of Fame. It was a global recognition program and to secure a spot was truly a proud moment for me. I believe that it was this recognition that also helped me get the position in the Hong Kong, as moving between offices was not common in HID Global.
The difference you have made to others
This is a tough one. I am not sure if I am world be the best person to talk about the difference I have made. What I can say is I hope the people I worked with felt I was reliable, trustworthy and honest.
What do you want to be acknowledged for
I would want to be acknowledged for enabling and guiding more young women into the work force. I believe there are many reasons due to which women tend to take a back seat. The corporate world has not been constructed to be conducive to the important life stages for women and many start holding back even before it is necessary. To make things more conducive to women you need more women in key decision making roles to drive the change, but we hardly get enough of them up there. It is the chicken and egg situation.
