Bilal Mahmood

Bilal Mahmood Address: Askari 11, Lahore Cantonment, Pakistan Cell: -, - Email:-LinkedIn ID: http://eg.linkedin.com/in/bilalkmd Date of Birth: July-1974; Marital Status: Married; Nationality: Pakistani Summary I am an expert in marketing strategy and planning, marketing research, client sales and service; and orchestrating high-performing teams. With an enriched and diversified experience of around fifteen years, I exhibit a proven-track record of: • understanding client business needs to provide tailored and innovative solutions. • providing actionable business insights and recommendations. • handling key accounts strategically to ensure client retention. • working with management team to provide creative solutions to prospective clients and to build the business of current clients. • being highly responsive and approachable to senior clients for sustaining strong relationships. • writing reports and conducting presentations for executive level personnel. • channelizing resources for enhanced productivity. • optimizing workflow processes for cost and time efficiency. • ensuring smooth transition from strategic to operation details. • efficiently managing and overseeing projects from end-to-end. • tracking costs, timelines, and SOP(s) compliance while mitigating risks. • mentoring and coaching the teams for desired performance and their career growth. • bridging communication gaps between teams to ensure clarity and consensus. • fostering a productive, integrated, knowledge-sharing and empowering work environment. • partnering with HR, operations and finance to achieve desired P&L and healthy bottom-line. • collaborating with local peer group and regional experts to work on new business opportunities. • ensuring business growth while maintaining healthy gross margins and operating profits. Appointments ❖ Research Director, Ipsos Jan.16 – Aug.17 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Spearheaded the entire client portfolio nationwide for Marketing, ASI (Advertising Solutions Insights), Loyalty, Healthcare and Trade/ Retail business units. ▪ Led the development and implementation of business plans that resulted in consistent sales increase. ▪ Trained and developed the team nationwide to provide timely quality services to the clients. ▪ Designed and applied business strategies to improve efficiency in order to accelerate organization’s growth and profitability. ▪ Being Resident Head, ensured disciplined and smooth functioning of Lahore office by closely supervising and managing admin, IT, HR and operations. Key accounts: Mobilink, China Mobile (Zong), Coca Cola (TCCEC), Tapal Tea, Colgate Palmolive, Nestle, Chevron, PepsiCo, Sanofi, OCS (M&P), Toyota, Oppo, Huawei, Shell, AkzoNobel (ICI), L’Oreal and P&G. Curriculum Vitae – Bilal Mahmood 1/ 5 ❖ Associate Director, Ipsos Feb.14 – Dec.15 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Established the ASI (Advertising Solutions Insights) and Trade/ Retail business units in the country. ▪ Identified new business opportunities, translated plans into actions to achieve desired growth. ▪ Built the team nationwide with core expertise to serve the clients. ▪ Raised servicing standards that ensured client retention and simultaneously new client acquisition. ▪ Being Resident Head, ensured disciplined and smooth functioning of Lahore office by closely coordinating with IT, HR and admin. Key accounts: Mobilink, China Mobile (Zong), Tapal Tea, Colgate Palmolive, Chevron and PepsiCo. ❖ Associate Director, Kantar Health Sep.12 – Nov.13 Cairo, Egypt ▪ Maintained excellence in services for MENA clients while supervising the team across region. ▪ Conducted several multi-country projects simultaneously of varying scope and scale. ▪ Nominated as “Champion” for Data Visualization, interactive dashboard design & report automation. Key accounts: Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi Aventis, GSK, Abbott, Merck Serono, AstraZeneca and Pfizer. ❖ Research Director, FeedBack ME Dec.10 – Jun.12 Cairo, Egypt ▪ Managed assigned client portfolio for full-scale Quantitative projects/ services with steady business growth across North Africa region. Key accounts: Vodafone, Kraft, Ghabbour Autos (Hyundai Egypt) and Bajaj Autos. ❖ Sr. Manager (TPG Head), Nielsen Mar.09 – Nov.10 Islamabad, Pakistan ▪ Effectively managed Telecom clients in Pakistan along with other multiple prestigious clients. ▪ Won Nielsen ‘Simply Excellent Gold Team Award' for Business Process Improvement mainly by reducing significant time in report submission for ongoing/ tracking studies. ▪ Nominated as Trainer for Census Store Analyzer (Proprietary Software) at Nielsen, from 2007 to 2009. ▪ Being Resident Head, ensured disciplined and smooth functioning of Islamabad office by closely coordinating with IT, HR and admin. Key accounts: Telenor, Mobilink, Ufone, Zong (China Mobile), Warid, Wateen, PTCL, and Wi-Tribe ❖ Manager – RMS, Nielsen Feb.07 – Feb.09 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Carried out the first Telecom census and FMCG full-scan retail census of Urban Pakistan. ▪ Rendered Retail Measurement Services including Retail Audit, Large Scale Distribution Analysis and Retail Census to multiple big players in the market. ▪ Won Arthur C. Nielsen 'Individual Art Award' in 2008 for overachieving annual revenue targets. Key accounts: Telenor, Mobilink, Ufone, Warid, Coca-Cola (TCCEC), Tetra Pak, ICI and Qarshi Industries. ❖ Group Account Manager, Lowe & Partners Mar.05 – Nov.06 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Led the Nestle servicing unit to manage broad spectrum of advertising projects including both ATL and BTL campaigns in addition to other intermittent promotional activities; while working in close liaison with relevant stakeholders. ❖ Project Manager, Publicis (Pvt.) Ltd Mar.04 – Feb.05 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Organized Standard Chartered Lahore Marathon Event - the first international athletic event of its kind held in Lahore to present the “soft side” of Pakistan to the world. ❖ Client Service Manager, Midas (Pvt.) Ltd Apr.02 – Feb.04 Lahore, Pakistan ▪ Provided timely satisfactory services to assorted clients coming from both public and private sectors for various advertising campaigns and promotional activities. Key accounts: Bank Alfalah Islamic Banking, Pak Hero Bikes, Nobel Electronics Curriculum Vitae – Bilal Mahmood 2/ 5 Key Accomplishments • Ipsos, 2014 – 2017: o Implemented strategic annual business plans that translated in consistent sales increase with a whooping double-digit business growth every year for consecutive 3+ years. o Launched Retail Audit Surveys and Retail Census for non-FMCG brands; being the first team to do so in the MENA region. o Augmented Brand Health Tracking measures to provide holistic results by including postad evaluations and brand equity assessments in addition to standard Core KPIs to help clients pay less for more valuable insights. o Launched ‘AdLab’ – transparent, quick and qual-quant integrated pre-ad testing solution in Pakistan that facilitated brands like Tapal, PepsiCo, L’Oreal, CP and Nestle to rollout impactful campaigns. o Directed the business forecast and study design of “Household Panel” initiative. o Designed and launched multiple syndicated studies to achieve a healthy bottom-line. • Kantar Health, 2012 – 2013: o Amplified the deliverables with the addition of vibrant interactive dashboards to facilitate clients with their internal executive reports especially for multi-country projects. o Introduced automated reporting to make teams generate desired output while spending less time and effort that resulted in significant efficiency in workflow. • FeedBack, 2010 – 2012: o Designed syndicated products like 'SEC Establishment Survey' and 'Expert Consumer Panel' for Urban Egypt. o Conducted credible dealer survey for Bajaj Autos (then new entrant) to establish a strong presence in Egypt for selling their motorcycles. • Nielsen, 2007 – 2010: o Designed the concept of 'Nielsen Mobile Services' in Pakistan comprising tele-surveys, SMS opinion polls and consumer/ retailer panel tracking. o Managed and directed the First Telecom Retail Audit in Urban Pakistan. o Advised the expansion of retail audit from Urban to National Pakistan to various FMCG categories including CSDs to understand better the trade dynamics of evolving urbanized rural market. o Assisted in the launch of 'Minute Maid' product line of juices nationwide in Pakistan under The Coca Cola Export Corporation by providing insightful market research primarily identifying key markets and channels for distribution. o Successfully accomplished the first Telecom retail census along with FMCG retail census of Urban Pakistan. • Lowe & Partners, 2005 – 2006: o Aided in the package design relaunch of Nestle products in Pakistan by having 'Nestle Nutritional Compass' on the label to show added information like 'Good to know' and 'Good to remember'. o Served Nestle to assist in their multiple successful advertising campaigns for MilkPak, NesVita, Yogurt, Fruit Yogurt and Raita. Curriculum Vitae – Bilal Mahmood 3/ 5 o Contributed in concept development of upcoming brands like MilkPak Fortified and Cereals (Koko Crunch and Corn Flakes). • Publicis, 2005: o Successfully organized the first mega international athletic event of SC Marathon in Pakistan, while working closely with Chief Minister’s dedicated task force, Course Director Hugh Jones, Race Director Ian Ladbrooke, Asst. race director Rupinder Singh, various lawenforcement officials, government authorities, and reps of media networks; alongside leading the internal team of over 10 subordinates. • Midas, 2002 – 2003: o Contributed to the successful launch of various brands including 'Mecca-Cola (CSD originally from France)', 'Pak Hero Bikes', 'Sparkletts (Bottled Mineral Water)' and government's provisional movement on improving and enhancing educational facilities (Parha Likha Punjab) through appropriate advertising and promotional campaigns. Education • • • • MSc. Project Management, GPA 3.0, UNSW, Sydney, Australia -) BSc. Engineering, First Division, UET, Lahore, Pakistan -) HSSC. Pre-Engineering, Grade A, Pakistan Embassy School, Jeddah, KSA -) SSC. Science, Grade A, Pakistan Embassy School, Jeddah, KSA -) Trainings • • • • • • Ipsos Marketing School: Apr.2017, Bangkok, Thailand Ipsos ASI School: Jun.2014, Budapest, Hungary Telecom Practice Group (MR Excellence): Nielsen, Feb.2010, Sharjah, UAE Managing People and Performance: Nielsen, Apr.2009, Lahore, Pakistan Advance Retail Measurement Services: Nielsen, Feb.2008, Sharjah, UAE Leading the Commercial Team: Nielsen, Oct.2007, Karachi, Pakistan Certifications • • • International English Language Testing System - IELTS (General Training), Oct 2011 Test Results: Listening 7.0, Reading 7.0, Writing 7.0, and Speaking 7.5 Overall Band Score 7.0 out of 9.0 Skills recognition as 'Project Manager', Apr 2000 Skills assessment and recognition conducted by VETASSESS - Australia’s leading vocational education and training (VET) assessment provider. Test Of English as a Foreign Language - TOEFL (Paper Based Test), Mar 1998 Overall Score 573 out of 677 TWE (Test of Written English) score 4.0 out of 5.0 Awards & Recognition • • • Arthur C. Nielsen ‘Individual Art Award’ for Outstanding Performance, 2008 Nielsen Simply ‘Excellent Gold Team Award’ for Business Process Improvement, 2010 Member of MENA Judges Panel for ‘Ipsos IMQ Reporting Excellence Awards’, 2016-17 Curriculum Vitae – Bilal Mahmood 4/ 5 Visiting Faculty • • • • IQRA University, Lahore (2005 - 2006) Class: EMBA; Courses: Organization Development, Project Management and Advertising Beaconhouse Informatics, Lahore (2005) Class: BCS; Course: Organization Behavior NCBA&E (National College of Business Administration & Economics), Lahore (2003 - 2004) Class: EMBA; Courses: E-commerce, Advertising and Performance Management BETS (British Education & Training Systems), Lahore (2004 - 2005) Class: HND (Higher National Diploma); Courses: Marketing, Advertising and Project Management Computer Literacy • • • MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook), MS Project, SAP - Crystal Dashboard Design Languages English (Proficient), Urdu (Native), Arabic (Basic) Interests Strategy and planning, freelancing, learning about new technologies, teaching and coaching, data visualization, workflow process automation, weighting training, off-road driving and bike riding. References To be provided upon request. Curriculum Vitae – Bilal Mahmood 5/ 5