Airtel Payments Bank (APB), the profitable banking subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has announced that it has appointed Shilpi Kumar as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the company. Shilpi Kumar will oversee the marketing and corporate communication function for APB.
The role of Shilpi in the company would involve planning, developing, implementing, and monitoring the overall business marketing strategy. Things such as market research, product marketing, pricing, marketing communication, advertising, and public relations will also fall under the scope of Shilpi’s job.
APB said that “Shilpi will be the bank’s Executive Committee member and will be working closely with our MD and CEO, Anubrata Biswas.”
Shilpi Kumar Background in Studies and Corporate World
Shilpi comes with an extensive background in the industry. She completed her PG (post-graduation) degree in Business Management from Amity University. Then in 2018, Shilpi completed a programme in leadership excellence, Organisational Leadership, from Harvard Business School.
To learn about Digital Marketing in-depth, Shilpi took up a Digital Marketing course between April 2021 to December 2021 from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.
This is not the first time Shilpi will be working with Bharti Airtel or one of its subsidiaries. In 2002, Shilpi started as a Summer Trainee at Samsung and was there for less than a year. Then, from June 2003 to November 2004, Shilpi worked in the Marketing Department of the UB Group.
She then moved on to work as a key accounts manager in Coca-Cola Bottling Company United for two years and one month between November 2004 to November 2006.
In November 2006, Shilpi joined Bharti Airtel for the first time and was with the company for three years and five months. In that period, Shilpi worked as an Assistant Manager in Marcomm in the role of Manager for Channels and Alliances and then Manager for Marketing Acquisitions – B2C.
In October 2010, Shilpi joined Airtel again as Head of Marketing and Communication. There is no doubt that she is already aware of the corporate culture that exists within Airtel. But this is a new era, and she is now working with the banking subsidiary of the company, so it will be a fresh set of challenges for Shilpi.
After leaving Airtel again in September 2011, Shilpi worked in several brands such as Godfrey Philips India Ltd and Group Renault. Her last job was Director of Marketing & Business Insights – GMS JAPA Region at American Express.
It will be interesting to see how Shilpi helps APB in steering towards a better brand image and more profitability. With Indians transacting more digitally, if APB is able to push more consumers its way by giving them incentives and showing why it is superior to other brands with features such as Airtel Safe Pay and more, it will be a great win for the company as well as Shlipi.
