Daleep Chhabria:
A Marketing Consultant, Marketing Expert, Strategist, Fractional CMO & Coach.
As a marketing veteran (25+ years), I launched and grew award-winning brands like the BAFTA award-winning Call of Duty and FreeMind (winner of Best Meditation/Mindful app, Health & Wellbeing Magazine).
I created Growth Forte with a unique business model to help SMEs and startups (with or without marketing teams) that otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to access deep, thoughtful, responsible and entirely customised marketing help within their means. I became their marketing leader, their CMO.
Setting up Growth Forte enabled me to have three things that are important to me: (1) independence from the confines of employment, (2) a customised path to learning, development, (3) a variety of challenges that continually feed my hunger to learn and grow whilst mitigating boredom, and benefit to clients through my value proposition.
I have no competitors because I believe in two things: (1) I believe in myself, (2) everyone is unique.
Clients choose to work with me because I am me, and I choose them if we are a good fit.
Marketing Career.
Continual Learning Journey.
I graduated from the University of Westminster with an Upper Second (2:i) in BA (Hons) Business Administration with a Marketing Specialism (major). From here, I began my career in marketing, taking a broad approach because I wanted a breadth of learning and experience.
From 1998, I found employment at leading players in their fields, in a variety of sectors such as Advertising (Saatchi & Saatchi), Marketing Research (Taynor Nelson, GfK Marketing Services), Retail Marketing (Dixons Stores Group/Currys, PC World), eCommerce (Gameplay.com), Brand Management (Activision), and Telecoms (Three/Deutche Telecom/T-Mobile).
These experiences combined have helped me forge a deep understanding of how to market effectively within businesses that are startups vs. mega corporations, operate offline vs. digital, are local vs. global, have tiny vs. multi-million dollar marketing budgets, have small vs. internationally-dispersed teams, and are privately owned vs. listed companies.
I reached the conclusion that the purpose of marketing is to support sales. There’s a lot behind this statement, but those who work with me have come into alignment with this.
Growth Forte.
Most of my experience during employment was pre-digital and just entering the time of digital infancy. I worked hard to stay relevant and grow in confidence throughout the digital era by evolving and constantly learning digital skills, to build upon the valuable learnings of my past experiences.
After leaving employment, I set up Growth Forte to support SMEs and some startups by channelling this experience whilst continuing to learn. The business name connects their desired outcome to my expertise.
Today’s clients highly value the synergy of my history plus my ongoing commitment to growing my knowledge and marketing experience; they see me as a full package with the ability to help them like no other.
I reached the conclusion, after much reflection over two decades, that marketing has changed, but yet it has not. The fundamentals are all the same, but the ever-lengthening list of options and ways of doing marketing has caused confusion and overwhelm. This has led to marketers who don’t understand marketing.
Personal Values.
-
In life, we just help each other out. So this is not only about helping those who have less, and it’s hardly about financial aid. It’s about discovering what someone needs that would have an even greater positive impact for them. Then finding and facilitating whatever that might be, like a simple introduction, detailed feedback, a complete solution, or anything else that could move them forward.
-
I believe that what goes around comes around, and dishonesty in any form is just unwelcome. I use my expertise to tell my clients what I believe they need, whether it’s from me or not. That’s the best way for them to grow and to protect my valuable reputation.
-
I’ve always had a work ethic that strives for excellence. To my detriment at times, because perfection is attainable, therefore, standard. So I strike a conscious balance between speed and perfection based on each situation, whilst always learning how to push my boundaries, ready for the appropriate moment.
-
When testing or experimentation, a certain amount of waste is natural. Otherwise, I find it hard to stand by and watch time, money, resource or just about anything being wasted. This forces me to keep a tight lid on efficiency.
-
We are all human. We are the same. Everyone should be treated with respect. So should all living forms and nature itself. Through Growth Forte, my clients have noticed me treating their businesses and teams as my own, but I once fired a client - he broke this basic rule consistently and was un-coachable to resolve it. Respect must go both ways and ideally, thrive within an organisation.
Passions.
Musical instruments.
Drummer (rock) and tabla player (Indian drum set). Occasional band performer!
People.
Passionate about connecting people, bringing them together and moving them forward.
Languages.
Fluent in Hindi, conversational Italian and basic French. In time, I’ll take on Spanish.
Travel & Culture.
Extremely open-minded and happiest when visiting new places and cultures.
Wellness.
I take care of my mind and body. Occasional meditator, regular exercise, and daily nutrition through food.
Enjoying Nature.
London-bred, but equally well-placed in the peace of remote countryside.