Ep.1: What Most Marketers Get Wrong About Branding | Shirin Rai Gupta on Dear Marketer

Описание: There’s marketing that chases clicks — and then there’s marketing that actually connects. The kind that makes you feel something, think differently, or trust a brand just a little more.

That’s what we’re talking about in this very first episode of Dear Marketer — from our brand new set at Zoho.

Joining us is Shirin Rai Gupta, Director of Marketing at upGrad Enterprise. She’s built brands across dating, tech, and now ed-tech — and she brings a rare mix of heart, depth, and sharp thinking to every campaign.
We get into:
1. What it takes to build brands that mean something
2. How to balance storytelling and ROI (without losing your soul)
3. The myth of “brand vs. performance”
4. Why B2B marketing doesn’t have to be boring
5. And how to stay human in a world of AI-generated everything


0:00 – Dear Marketer - Show Intro
0:21 – Meet Shirin Rai Gupta, Director of Marketing at UpGrad Enterprise
0:45 – What makes Shirin a “spot-on” communicator
1:52 – Career path: From literature to marketing leadership
3:10 – Lessons from building TrulyMadly’s bold brand
5:02 – How “Breaking Stereotypes” shaped her philosophy
7:00 – Risks and rewards of value-driven campaigns
8:36 – The power of authenticity in brand messaging
10:03 – “Three I’s” of B2B marketing: Insight, Impact, Influence
13:12 – Her contribution to Think with Google & B2B thought leadership
15:09 – Why enterprise marketing is a long game
17:05 – Creating content that compounds: Podcasts, reports, forums
18:23 – Brand vs Performance: A false binary
20:04 – Metrics beyond clicks: Measuring meaningful engagement
21:20 – Generational leadership styles and Gen Z’s workplace behavior
22:37 – Advice to early-stage marketers
23:47 – The role of AI in marketing: Tool vs soul
25:39 – Democratizing creativity with GenAI
27:00 – Shirin’s take on ChatGPT and human creativity
27:57 – Fun Rapid Fire Segement
29:52 – Thumbs Up/Down: On creators, AI, branding, and performance
31:51 – Closing remarks



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