Ad land’s Young Guns: Srinivas Kulkarni, Social Kinnect

Srinivas Kulkarni, Head - Learning & Development and HR, Social Kinnect, has been working with the agency for about three years. He has been a communications professional for over 10 years.

Kulkarni started off his work life at the age of 19 and worked for seven years in the L&D space. Later on, he moved on to digital and worked with the likes of Social Wavelength, now Mirum India, (A JWT Group Company). He now heads Learning and Development at Social Kinnect, a digital marketing agency in Mumbai.

His passion for Advertising, Creativity, & Digital Marketing helps him drive the team and make a difference for the brands they work with.

What does it takes to climb up the ladder in advertising? Here’s Srinivas Kulkarni in his own words...

How did you get into the role you are serving?
That’s an interesting question, considering my role of L&D Head is multifaceted and one that is a rare one in the Advertising industry as a whole. It’s specifically created to fit the need of the company.

When I joined Social Kinnect, I started off as an Account Director about three years ago. Right from leading a team of client servicing managers, executives and content writers, I grew with Social Kinnect to head the Client Servicing team.

As the company grew, one of the key things we started realising is that there’s a dire need for learning and educating young folks, freshers in the industry. I started my own career early, at 19. Had a prior experience in Learning and Development when I joined the Digital industry at an early stage. I worked for about four years with Social Wavelength (Now Mirum.) Considering I had both experience in Digital and background on Training, I decided to take on the mantle of leading the L&D initiatives within Social Kinnect to train the Human Capital to do great work on the best brands in the industry!

Both Social Kinnect and I believe that the training and development of the workforce is a huge investment rather than a liability to help us grow exponentially and succeed across verticals.

Thankfully, it came naturally to me and I’m glad both the organisation and me benefit from it.

What particular skill sets do you think you bring to the table?
I’m a people’s person! Not only do I network and get along with people, I also believe over the years, my thirst for knowledge has enabled me to learn and adapt faster. That said, my past experience working with global trainers as well as learning and development roles helped me empower #Kinnectors with the best knowledge and implementation they require to ensure there is great work done. Other than that, I also have been an early adopter of most social platforms and have a good connect within folks across the industry, so sharing and learning best practices becomes quite easier.

One campaign that you have worked on that you are particularly proud of? Please take us through the making of the campaign.
While I was working in the capacity of a Group Client Servicing Head, I’ve had the opportunity to work for some of the amazing digital campaigns in India.

This particular one that actually won us the pitch for Zee Café! The gif campaign for ‘Look Who’s Talking with Niranjan’ #LWTOnZCafe! (https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=BIMzvayqrCU). Both were a blend of really amazing creative work as well as result driven performance for their respective brands.

While working on the creatives, how do you prepare yourself? What goes on in your mind?
It may sound a little weird, I’m a big fan of Don Draper and he has a great influence in my work life. Yes, the mad creative whiz from the fictional hit TV series Mad Men! One of the biggest things that I’ve always indulged in while working on creative campaigns is an inspiration from a quote on one of his episodes.

“Just think about it, deeply, and then forget it. An idea will…jump up in your face.” Honestly, I’d like to confess, our #BeautifulFood campaign for Borosil Glassware was a product of this inspirational thought!

Icons in advertising you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work?
From the time I adopted Digital, I always looked up at icons within the Digital Space. There are a few who I really picked up from. One of them is Seth Godin, I’m a fan of a lot of stuff that he’s written about how the world is changing today and is different from the Industrial Age. His ‘Purple Cow’ is one of my favourite books. I’ve read most of his books and I feel, a lot of the things he says, he’s always driven a mix of cultural as well as technological changes that affect marketing.

In the Learning and Development space, I’m a huge fan of Sir Ken Robinson. You should watch a couple of his TED talks and read his book, ‘The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything’. He’s truly remarkable in his futuristic approach towards education. Our Kinnect EDGE (Enhanced Development Growth Ecosystem) is an inspiration to his thoughts.

In the Indian space, I know most people look up to the likes of Piyush Pandey mostly. However, I have an inclination towards R Balki, though most would know him for his remarkable movies as a director, screenwriter. I’ve had the chance to work on some of the brands Lowe Lintas worked on, namely Havells, Idea Cellular and really loved the emotional, slightly deflective as well as overarching approach towards brand messaging and positioning.

What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine?
1. Watch a lot of Movies, TV series! You can learn a lot on consumer behaviour from them.
2. Podcasts. I got hooked on to them, courtesy my ex-boss and Joint CEO of Social Wavelength, Sanjay Mehta. Since then, I’ve never stopped listening and learning!
3. Read through Feedly, curated with top Advertising, Technology, Digital Marketing feeds.
4. “Task-lists are the bane of my existence.” Said no successful person ever! Seriously, they help me Get Shit Done, every single day!
5. I use my commute time daily to either watch/ read great content. Or spend time on Whatsapp with my team to get caught up on work and or finish up on the emails!

Do you think a career in advertising is a viable one in the long term?
Most definitely! I’ve spent close to eight years in the Digital Advertising space, and I’d like to say, we’re just getting started.

What does it take to succeed in a career like advertising?
Same as what it takes to succeed in life. Hunger for success, desire to learn and the right attitude!

What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry?
Don’t run after money. Money is a byproduct of your desire to grow and learn. Chase growth and rest will take care of itself.

Is there any agency/ organisation that you would like to work with in the future?
I’ve never chased specific agencies. Most my life, worked with smaller setups and grown with them. I always like to be part of an underdog team and grow and succeed with them. So there’s no Big Agency that comes to mind. And for now, for a long time to come, Social Kinnect is THE agency I’d like to grow with.

However, while I was in Singapore for Social Media Week (#SMWSG13), I had the chance to meet up with Simon Kemp, Managing Director of the global agency WeAreSocial. Also caught up with and interacted with a bunch of his young guns! Loved their enthusiasm and drive for digital! They really seem like a great agency, a blend of passion, insights and creativity packaged with the right leadership. So if I get a chance, I’d love to collaborate with them sometime in the future in any way possible.

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