Direct Marketing Association appoints Vatsal Asher as chief executive officer

In his new role, Asher will be responsible for strengthening DMA India's presence as an apex body for the advocacy of direct marketing practices.

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has appointed Vatsal Asher as chief executive officer. Prior to joining DMA, Asher was vice-president of VARE, the consumer-facing division of Deepak Fertilisers. In his new role, Asher will be responsible for strengthening DMA India's presence as an apex body for the advocacy of direct marketing practices.

Sanjiv Swarup, member, DMA India board of directors, says, "In 2010, spends on direct marketing accounted for more than 50 per cent of the overall ad spends in the United States. A similar trend is also being witnessed in India, where marketers using data backed with analytics are focussing on creating campaigns that generate interest, measure customer response, and continuously engage with their customers. Considering this trend, the onus is on us to increase member interaction and provide them with access to the latest information in the domain of direct marketing."

Swarup adds, "Asher's depth of experience will help drive our agenda to advocate direct marketing and provide networking opportunities that will help the marketing industry to reach customers more effectively."

Asher says, "With a multitude of choices, Indian consumers are now more discerning about their brand preferences and where they spend money. Considering this consumer behaviour and the increasing media clutter, it is imperative for marketers to create data-driven, customer-centric campaigns. From being defined as a 'response generating' domain, direct marketing is now used for ongoing customer engagement."

Asher has more than 15 years of experience in the domain of marketing communications across brand management, sales, promotions, loyalty, and customer experience. In 2003, he joined Spencer Retail as senior manager, marketing. After three years, he joined Tata Teleservices as head, marketing, branded retail. In 2007, Asher moved to Reliance Retail as head, marketing, Reliance Mart and Super Mart. In 2010, he moved to Deepak Fertilisers as vice-president, customer experience, Ishanya.