Rajiv is based out of Delhi-NCR and writes stories on startups, corporates, entrepreneurs of all kinds, and yes, marketing and advertising world. His ‘historic feats’ include graduation in history from Hansraj College, master's in medieval Indian history from Delhi University, and PG diploma in journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Another forgettable achievement was spending over a decade at The Economic Times as his maiden job. For the first seven years, he learnt the craft on the desk, and the remaining years were spent unlearning and writing for Brand Equity and ET Magazine. What keeps him going, and alive, apart from stories is the heavenly music of immortal legend RD Burman.
Abhinay Bhasin believes that advertising provides insight into the consumer's mind Image: Aditi Tailang
Abhinay Bhasin | 26 Associate Director (South Asia), Data Sciences, Dentsu Aegis Network, India Category: Advertising, Marketing & Media
What happens when an economist joins advertising? It’s magic. Reason: Data marries human emotions. “Advertising is a barometer of economic growth and provides tremendous insight into the consumer’s mind,” says Abhinay Bhasin, associate director (South Asia), Data Sciences, at Dentsu Aegis Network India. Data is a reflection of human emotions, and the use of data in advertising results in a more comprehensive perspective, says Bhasin, who was selected to represent young talent of the Dentsu Aegis Network globally at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last year.
Bhasin, a postgraduate in economics from University of Warwick, United Kingdom, aspired to become a doctor as a schoolboy. But as destiny would have it, he fared poorly in biology. Medicine’s loss, interestingly, was advertising’s gain. What makes Bhasin stand out is his effort to establish India has a hub of innovation where ‘product-beta tests’ are made before exporting to other markets globally. Bhasin’s team has worked directly with the product teams of Facebook and Google in California in developing products that were tested in India before a global rollout.
Vidyadhar Kale, managing global client partner at Facebook in New York, contends that Bhasin has played a pivotal role in creating a system of planning and optimisation tools through intelligent use of Facebook Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which have been adopted in advanced markets such as Japan, Australia and Singapore. “He is a sound strategic thinker, highly dedicated, passionate and driven,” says Kale.
Bhasin's goal is to shoulder more responsibilities within the organisation and graduate to a senior position. “One shouldn’t be too euphoric about success or dejected with failure,” he says.
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