Shubham S.

Brand Manager at Dole Singapore-Malaysia | Consumer Goods Marketing | Helping new marketers grow in their careers

A believer in the power of brands to influence sustainable lifestyle choices, I love scaling brands from 1 to 10 rapidly. 

-------- Current Role:----------

At Grab, to grow key QSR brands’ reach and revenue in SEA. I am handling end to end enterprise services on Grab for them. 

-------- Past Roles:----------


I was building Kind Kones, a plant based ice cream brand with no palm oil or negative additives. 

Whether it's door to door selling to presenting in board rooms, I donned every hat with humility. 

I helped a team of 40+ people to expand the business in SG/MY/Middle East. 

Before that,  I expanded Dole's business through in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia and Brunei. 

I also led Dole juices launch in Jollibee, Fairprice and 2600 7-Eleven stores, apart from regular retail listings and marketing.

Previously, I was leading marketing and BD for India business where I helped Dole reach $1M + revenue in Year 1, including co-branded partnership with McDonald’s in 150 stores.
 
I also love to distill interesting marketing and startup concepts to help young folks grow.  

Hence, I write on LinkedIn. 

-------- Japan experience:----------

Previously, I was the youngest Project Lead in Japan in Energy sector but soon realised my heart was in marketing. 

To confirm that my heart's voice isn't a quarter life crisis, I conducted food tours in Tokyo, dabbled in own sandwich business and consulted in food industry. 

The love for marketing was confirmed!  

The issue of sustainability is also close to my heart. 

-------- Student life:----------

So, prior to FMCG life, I published research papers in the field of Sustainable resources and technologies like Bio-fuels, Bio-Lubricants, Gas Emission control and also filed a patent related to Fuel Oil Storage. 

I have also developed a sub-$100 Solar Dryer for rural community which can work beyond sunset.

My outdoor interests range from Copy Writing, Geo-politics, Snowboarding, Mountain Trekking.  Food-trotting in groups and other times I can be found writing and creating food recipes.

Chief Operating Officer

I buy the same eggs, bread, and red pineapples 🍍 every week. 

Yet, the price I see can change based on data I don't control. 

The person standing behind me in the grocery line might have bought the same bread for 20% less...or more, who knows?

Thanks to flex-pricing, we will now have personalized grocery prices. 

🍍 In the UK, Sainsbury's uses "Your Nectar Prices" for personalized app deals. 

🍍 In the US, Walmart uses digital shelf tags to change prices in seconds, 

🍍 Instacart shows upto 23% different prices to different people. 

🍍 Target also uses sophisticated algorithms for offers in their Circle program.

Ultimately it is about maximizing the profit pool and taking price transparency away from consumers. 

Nothing wrong with that...

But grocery staples evoke very raw reactions. 

There is something primal about not being able to get the same price as my neighbor. 

Stores can charge you more based on your distance from the store, desperation, frequency, and buying behavior on other apps.

Not sure how I feel about this yet. 

What's your view? 

#shubhamspeaks

Shubham Sharma 🍍

Grab | ex-COO Kind Kones | Bain Advisory | P&L Management | QSR

I always felt Pizza Hut had better ingredients among the QSR Pizza Brands. 

But over the years that message was missing. 

Until Pizza Hut decided to change it, 

🍍 the brand invited acclaimed chef Yanis Yahoui to hand-pick from their every-day ingredients, 

to craft and serve a fine-dining tasting menu to 8 culinary experts. 

The guests arrived expecting a curated gastronomic experience from the chef. 

Needless to say, the chef turned the Pizza Hut's ingredients into beautiful dishes. 

Then the reveal came.

🍍I just wish Pizza Hut showed a behind the scenes footage too where the chef picks the 'true' ingredients. 

The intent is great but the outcome leaves something to be desired. 

Watch the video, what do you think?

#shubhamspeaks

Limited authority, high accountability

When I started franchising, I hit a wall: 

I couldn’t just "roll out" marketing ideas like I did in my own stores.

In my own shops, I had total control. If I wanted a "Tuesday Special," it happened. 

But it was rather hard to implement something with franchisees. 

The same dilemma is faced by regional managers in QSRs or corporate; 

🍍 most have limited agency but high accountability. 

They "feel the heat" from corporate to hit aggressive growth targets, yet they have zero power over a franchisee’s final decision to participate. 

🍍Whether it’s a project manager without direct reports or a Public Health Official without legislative power, the result is the same - Inefficient work. 

In these situations, I have 2 solutions that helped me: 

1) Do a pilot with brand money first. 
2) For long-cycle innovation, co-create with the franchisees or local teams. Once they are cooking with you, they will eat as well. 

If you don't have innovation budgets or ideas, you are screwed. 

PS: If you were in this situation, how would you mitigate it?

Software Engineer graduated from Delhi Technological University with a Bachelor's degree focused in Computer Science Engineering. 
Skilled in Java, Python and C++. Key research areas include Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing.
Currently working as a part of Data Platform team in Adobe. 

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