8Minute Talk show — Mohsen Sanaati, Marketing Manager at Daranamehr Co
MANSOUR KIARASH: Hello, I am Mansour Kiarash. We are by your side with an 8minute Talk Show session. Today we are with one of the most experienced and successful managers in the field of marketing and strategy development for FMCG products and I want to introduce you, Dr. Mohsen Sanaati.
MOHSEN SANAATI: Hello to you and all the dear people who are watching this video. I am here by your side, and I am very glad to be with you today, Mansour.
MANSOUR KIARASH: I hope you always be blooming.
I wanted to know what the biggest challenge you had during these years was and how you were able to solve it?!
MOHSEN SANAATI: If I want to name the most important of them, I should say that the discussion is about the relationship in marketing and the relationship of the marketing unit and in fact its role in our organizations. This is one of the most important challenges in our companies; Islanded operation, tensions, and lack of effective communication and mutual understanding of these units. A marketing unit is really a unit that plays the role of a small CEO in the organization and of course it must play. Marketing is making sales meaningless, I do not mean ignoring the efforts of salespeople. What I mean is that the marketing unit has a heavy responsibility and it has to transfer this process to the sales unit as well and these insights become unmixed, so that they can pass this on with the touch points that they have at the market level, (whether with their costumers as shopkeepers or with consumers).
MANSOUR KIARASH: Very well
What is the solution that you suggest for this case and you yourself use them too?
MOHSEN SANAATI: I want to say something that might be a bit controversial. It has always been in our minds that we should provide different training for those who are at the head of the organization. This effort must happen and the marketing unit must make its own effort on this communication. But the fact is that in all of the world’s researches and in all the conversations that the world grandees have and experience in the field of strategy, the discussion is not a theoretical one. This should be understood by the leader and entrepreneur of the organization and he should be able to facilitate this role in the marketing unit and in the processes.
MANSOUR KIARASH: I understand. Very good.Thank you very much.
It is not secret to any of us that when we want to solve a challenge, the organization can help us a lot in innovating the solution. Do you use a specific structure for this innovation? Would you please give us an explanation for this?
MOHSEN SANAATI: The innovation issue is a very complex and multifaceted one. If I want to say how I can overcome these challenges in Iran through Innovation, I should say that I have tried to recognize my organization’s capabilities and abilities to empathize these people with the vision which exist, and to communicate it as well (although with different parts). And then I got the result. I discover innovation in people’s talent and ability in the organization.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Great. Thankful.
If I want to make the discussion a little more personal, first of all, would you please tell us what the best book you have ever read is? or if you want to introduce someone to a book, who wants to work in your field and make progress, in your opinion, which source or book can help him the most?
MOHSEN SANAATI: In my opinion, Sun Tzu is a very effective book in the comprehension of the competitor’s behavior and policies of companies and businesses.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Competitive Impacts
MOHSEN SANAATI: Yes. And even, there are many good points about leadership in it. We can find that how are the encouragement and the punishment which commanders give.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Perfect
If we want to consider a habit to talk about, and this habit, in your opinion, always keeps the mind sharp and always stays updated scientifically or empirically, and if we want to talk about this item, What habit do you think can help and how does this habit appears in your personality?
MOHSEN SANAATI: What I have always tried to observe personally in these few years is that, in many Iranian companies, we see that our managers (whether our marketing managers or managers of other units) were very involved in the implementation. This is my recommendation, and I have accustomed to the fact that I always, at my work, I mean, my insignificant work, (to the extent of writing an email that should be answered, and to the point of endorsing documents and issues which should be done), first I try to do my weeny tasks and the activity that prevent my main thoughts. Then I can create a very pure opportunity and free up my time to think about the main issues of the organization.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Do you want to say that they should actually spend some time focusing on holism?
MOHSEN SANAATI: exactly
MANSOUR KIARASH: Mr. Sanaati, if we ask you to introduce someone whose experiences can be used, who would you suggest?
MOHSEN SANAATI: I invite Dr. Shiva Salamat. She is now the Marketing Manager of Master Foodeh Company that manages brands such as Biodent, Action, and Bingo. She was very successful during this time and I would like to invite her to this conversation to use her point of view.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Surely. It’s our pleasure. Of course, right now, we invite you to come and we will be proud of your presence on this seat and we can talk more about your experiences. Thank you very much for the time that you spent with us and I am sure that the outcome of this meeting will be useful for all those who want to work in this field.
Because the point of view that you had in the conversation was a bit different, and it refers to an aspect that we do not usually see in the conversation. I mean the subject that we focus on that team and give that team strength and making our communication more accurate.
Even the challenge we raised was about improving communication, and we used it a lot.
MOHSEN SANAATI: You are honorable. I also enjoyed this coexistence very much. I hope this conversation has been useful for all the dear people.
MANSOUR KIARASH: Definitely as well. You can pursue the following information and invitation of managers through the 8Minute talk show LinkedIn page, and maybe if you know someone whose experiences can be effective for activists in this field. You can introduce them to us. So that we can invite them to use their experiences.
