Milan Verqnavi · Chief Marketing Officer · India
I would help directors examine whether a consumer proposition rests on evidence from the people it claims to serve and whether its invitation matches the operating offer. My experience includes withdrawing an inference I had supported, making creator relationships visible and narrowing a campaign to confirmed variants. A board should understand how management reached the conclusion, which responsibilities sit outside marketing and what cost follows from revising the plan. I would bring that perspective beside financial, operational and sector expertise rather than treat consumer research as a complete account of the enterprise. The receiving company needs qualified researchers, advisers and its own executives. My contribution would be to improve collective judgement about the commitment, without selecting the creative execution or managing individual campaign approvals. I would also ask whether the reporting process permits a senior sponsor’s recommendation to become smaller when the evidence changes.
| Capacity | Committees |
|---|---|
| Ready to join | Customer proposition and reputation · Commercial investment oversight |
I would consider one first non-executive role in a consumer or service business seeking clearer challenge of customer propositions and marketing commitments. An experienced chair should describe how that perspective complements the skills already represented. After further preparation, I would initially contribute as a member of a suitable customer-risk or commercial-investment discussion, without claiming immediate readiness to chair a statutory committee. The receiving company must assess the actual appointment and its relevant requirements. I would welcome a board that asks whose evidence supports a proposition, what a partner relationship changes and whether the operating offer can sustain the invitation. I would avoid a role that expects me to approve every advertisement, negotiate agency terms or become a second CMO. The purpose would be better collective oversight, with enough distance from execution to question the recommendation rather than simply help it proceed.
Presented to the Board or a committee
Invited consumer-proposition and marketing-investment reviews
April 2022–present
Presents research interpretation, partner communications and campaign commitments as CMO; no statutory appointment or committee membership.
The commuter proposal drew on 240 adults recruited through cycling clubs. I would ask directors whether the research account identifies the population actually reached and the inference management wants to make. The subsequent sixty-four qualitative conversations introduced missing perspectives but did not establish a representative market estimate. The board should know that I supported the earlier conclusion and withdrew it. A useful oversight question concerns whether the investment can change when its evidence is challenged. Directors should not redesign the questionnaire themselves or assume that a larger convenient sample repairs the original limitation. Qualified researchers retain the methods, while management must explain what decision the result supports.
The launch review separated fifty-four shop-and-frame-size combinations into twenty-eight confirmed, eighteen pending and eight removed. I would ask a board whether an availability headline refers to the actual offer being communicated or only to a company-level stock account. The campaign was narrowed and retained ₹11 lakh unrecoverable changes within its ₹72 lakh authority. That was a cost of correcting the invitation, not evidence of inventory saved. Directors need to understand the operating dependency and the process for later changes. My contribution would challenge the meaning of the recommendation while leaving allocation, product suitability and everyday publication management with their proper executive and specialist owners.
I would begin with the chair’s agreed induction into how the enterprise understands its customers and approves a proposition. I would follow one recent campaign from the original research through the operating offer and later investment review, then compare it with a proposal still under consideration. I would ask who can question the audience assumption and how the board hears about a change after money has been committed. Twenty-five annual days are a starting capacity proposal, not a fixed answer to every possible demand. Preparation, committee duties, travel and unusual events need discussion alongside my current employment. I would seek feedback on whether my questions clarify the evidence or draw directors into judging creative taste. A useful first-year contribution could make an omitted customer group or operating dependency visible before a larger commitment. I would learn from other directors’ financial and sector experience rather than assume that bicycle-retail practice supplies the right answer elsewhere.
My current role exposes customer research, campaign plans, agency arrangements, product priorities and the interests of Zerqani’s founders, investment partner and employee shareholders. An outside appointment needs a review of connections with those parties, research providers, creators, commercial partners and competing retailers. I would disclose relevant relationships before receiving restricted papers and seek appropriate advice on eligibility, independence and committee participation. Having no shares does not remove the interests arising from employment and access. I would not carry our confidential audience findings into another enterprise’s strategy or use its future campaign plans to improve my employer’s position. Recusal may address a particular discussion, but recurring exclusion from the main consumer questions could make the intended contribution ineffective. Before accepting, I would resolve the calendar and employer permissions relevant to the proposed role. I would decline an appointment that depends on private access or creates an operating responsibility I cannot reconcile with the executive role I already hold.
My employment and access to research, partner terms and commercial plans create interests to assess despite having no personal equity. Independence and suitability need review for the specific outside appointment.
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
Preparation and registration for a possible first independent appointment remain incomplete. Invited executive presentations are not statutory board service.