More unpredictable the environment, greater the opportunity: MiQ Digital COO Ramya Parashar

Leadership, as a practical skill, refers to an individual, group, or organisation’s ability to “lead,” influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organisations. An organisation thrives under a good leader. ET Insights spoke to Ramya Parashar, Chief Operating Officer, MiQ Digital about the company’s work culture. 

• What makes MiQ Digital a great place to work?

MiQ’s company culture is built on the base foundation of the company values, which are: Passion, Determination, Unity, Agility, Courage.

Working at MiQ means being a part of something bigger. Our leaders exemplify this spirit: working together to get behind great people with great ideas doing great work. We work hard to make sure MiQ is a business where you can feel secure in bringing your whole self to work. Where you will learn and be challenged, where you will be rewarded and recognised for what you put in, and where you can succeed- whoever you are, wherever you are from, and whatever makes you different. We are always working to be more inclusive and continue to grow a diverse business. At MiQ, our vision is to have inclusion as the nucleus of our culture, and we want I&D to be a point of pride for our business.

The opportunities that MiQ provides, help employees build a great foundation to build product development and other initiatives. What drives growth and opportunity at MiQ for employees, is the passion to deliver and learn/upskill by connecting and working with various markets and moving on to pursue similar roles across MiQ in different markets/regions.

With the exposure and opportunity that we give our employees through programs like short term rotation program across teams, they always learn and help our clients with something new and how we do business at MiQ. We ensure that we put our people at the forefront, on how we engage with our clients and at the same time how do we deliver to our clients.

We have a 3% increase in growth opportunities provided in 2021, alongside distinctive measures taken to retain top talent. Case in point being 55% increase in reward for high performers.

• How does MiQ Digital recognise outstanding performance in the workplace?

We want to be the leading programmatic media partner for agencies and advertisers. We also aspire to create an environment where our people get to work with the best minds in the industry, solve the best problems and earn the best!

The more unpredictable the environment, the greater the opportunity— if we have the leadership skills to capitalise on it. Our business strategy is to have a view in the rear-view mirror but also an eye for sustainable and long-term growth. What makes us stand out from the crowd is to future-proof our business by constantly focusing on building capabilities, enhancing our agility as well as resiliency, and finding new sources of business growth. Our defined vectors of growth building on strong track record consists of organic and in-organic streams. Mobility does not mean progress, it takes the right culture, mindset and processes to excel an organisation— and we believe we are breaking those barriers and creating a head way!

• When compared to the competition, what sets you apart?

Our goal is to be the leading programmatic media partner for agencies and advertisers. Increasing industry complexity, new channels, formats and technologies as well as rising digital advertising budgets combine to fuel persistent demand and growth for managed service providers. MiQ, with stronger regional coverage and greater depth and range of relationships than its peers, is best positioned to capture a disproportionate market share. Our three-pronged approach to becoming the leading programmatic media partner are:

1. Partner-agnostic:
• Data – Leverage data from all available sources to maximise results for clients.
• Platform – Partnerships with all major DSPs, providing the most cost-efficient outcome for clients.
• Channel – Omni-channel access to all programmatic channels, driving the best results for clients.

2. Tech-enabled:
• Analytics Studio – Allows data scientists to optimise insights from data gathered by MiQ.
• Intelligence Hub – Allows MiQ to analyse ad campaign effectiveness.
• Trading Lab – Advanced AI to assist in trading.

3. People-powered:
• Data Scientists and Analysts – Build bespoke ML tools and analyse unique data to help clients achieve their goals.
• Expert Programmatic Traders – Enabling delivery of the most effective outcomes.
• Solutions Engineers – Partner with clients to produce vision-aligned campaigns.
• White-glove Client Service Professionals – Provide best-in-class client experience.

• How do you make sure that your employees understand the mission and vision of the company?

MiQ is a very transparent organisation. We insist on two-way communication which is consistently run across the business. We look at communicating our mission and vision through annual planning sessions, monthly business updates, quarterly product updates and global OKRs. This helps in constant re-enforcement and reminder of our committed growth for the year, underpinned by our strong values.