We recently had the privilege of interviewing Vibha Thusu, Marketing and Communications Leader for a family of affordable electrical product brands, including Himel. She has been an unmissable industry voice on organic communities, customer experience, and storytelling.
With a career span of 19 years, Vibha has led several global, cross-functional teams to bring the proper focus on brands. Her core competencies include driving integrated communications across marketing, brand management, corporate and internal channels, B2B marketing, demand generation, and more.
We wanted to talk with her and learn about her incredible journey over the years in the industry.
The Emirate Times:
We are quite intrigued on learning about your life before you were in today’s position. Tell us something about you, your early life and education, and how it led to where you are.
Vibha Thusu:
So, growing up, I moved around with my family in India, from Punjab to Delhi, as my father worked with a public bank. This gave me a taste of different cultures and experiences. I studied Information Science & Systems, and after graduation, I started my first job as a content writer. I quickly realized that I had a passion for storytelling and worked my way into a marketing and communications role, and I have been working in this field ever since.
My career path has been a journey of growth and discovery. In retrospect, I have picked up many random learnings along with intentional lessons that helped me carve a unique niche in marketing in a rather unconventional field of electrical products. In my 19 years working, I have had great opportunities to build brand presence and voice in different countries, languages, and customer personas while leading cross-functional passionate teams.
The Emirate Times:
Being in such an important position in a dynamic field, you may have a great deal of responsibilities. Can you explain your current role?
Vibha Thusu:
I am the Marketing and Communications Leader for a family of electrical brands, including Himel, a leading manufacturer and provider of products that are quality assured, easily accessible, and affordable. My team oversees field and digital marketing, brand voice, eCommerce, and product information management. Essentially, we are responsible for correctly showcasing our products, programs, and services at all possible touchpoints.
The Emirate Times:
Please tell us more about Himel and its presence in the GCC.
Vibha Thusu:
Himel is an award-winning global manufacturer and supplier of Power Distribution and Management, Motor Control and Protection, Industrial Components, and Home Electric products. With a footprint in 50+ countries, Himel has been a central part of several residential, commercial, and industrial projects. Himel has a strong distribution network in the Gulf Cluster in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, and now Saudi Arabia. Our goal is to ensure safe access to electricity at homes, businesses, offices, industries, and institutions.
The Emirate Times:
While leading a dynamic field like marketing, we understand that one needs specific targets and focus to move forward. As a leader in marketing, a rapidly evolving field, what has been your focus?
Vibha Thusu:
Marketing has been a potboiler field with disciplines like digital transformation, social media, and now AI or machine learning changing the course. But one thing that has stuck throughout is ‘customer delight’ — how do you help customers get what they want quickly and efficiently? And this has been my focus. As a brand, Himel has strong synergy with panel builders, original equipment manufacturers, system integrators, electrical retailers, and end customers. As a marketing leader, my goals have been to listen to them, present the correct and engaging product or program information, and help them cascade this to their customers.
I have also been passionate about organically building brand connections with customers. Of course, paid promotions are essential to be seen and heard by the right audience, but organically winning a customer or retaining them primarily through better sales and service experience, engaging them in the brand journey itself, and making them see the vision that brand has—these have been closer to my heart.
The Emirate Times:
We have heard great things about your leadership skills. Can you give us a sneak peek at your leadership style?
Vibha Thusu:
I am, or at least strongly believe in ‘strategic leadership.’ I let my team own their responsibilities and drive their goals in sync with peers. It has been a relatively successful exercise in my group where members have honed, nurtured, and aced their long-term goals, simultaneously achieving team success. We celebrate our accomplishments and keep communication open. I promote an entrepreneurial mindset and nudge them to think like entrepreneurs and take ownership of their work. I encourage them to come up with new ideas and take risks.
The Emirate Times:
Every business goes through tough phases; overcoming these challenges is never a cakewalk, particularly when you are a female leading in a male dominant industry. What obstacles have you overcome as a woman leader in the electrical industry?
Vibha Thusu:
The power sector has traditionally been a male majority. When women are in leadership roles, the focus is often on their gender rather than their leadership skills.
However, there are positive initiatives underway that will create more opportunities for women in the power sector.
While it will take time for these initiatives to bear fruit, I am encouraged by the progress. Working together can create a more inclusive power sector where women are recognized and celebrated for their leadership skills.
The Emirate Times:
You recently bagged two recognitions. Can you elaborate a bit?
Vibha Thusu:
I was honored to be named one of Passion Vista Magazine’s “Women Leaders to Look Up to in 2023.” This recognition of my diverse career and contribution to developing organic digital communities.
I was also awarded the “Outstanding Leader in Marketing and Advertising” at the Marketing 2.0 Conference. The conference spotlights visionary leaders in the marketing and advertising industry, and I was humbled to be included among such a distinguished group.
Under my leadership, Himel has built an engaged digital community, reinforced customer and partner trust, and received media coverage of a billion reach. I am proud of our work as a team to create a strong brand. These accolades are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire Himel team.
The Emirate Times:
So, do you have any tips for professionals looking to build a career in marketing and advertising?
Vibha Thusu:
Tools, technologies, and trends will churn. Anybody who wants to build a career in fluid areas of marketing and advertising should strengthen their vision to improve the basics—organic engagement through word of mouth, storytelling through legitimate proof points, and building connections ground up from end customers.
Keep asking yourself the right questions — how will this idea change my bottom line of customer experience or help me enable more sales to ensure that marketing or advertising initiatives have the same goal as the brand organization.
The Emirate Times:
Thank you for your time and for sharing your amazing journey with us. We had a great time interviewing you.
Find Vibha Thusu on LinkedIn.
Find Himel on LinkedIn or visit https://www.himel.com/
