For Manish Arora, life after Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow has been like a journey on the open seas – with turbulence at times and some smooth sailing at others. In all these years, if there’s one thing that has held him in good stead, it is the ‘Never Say Die’ attitude he acquired at Jaipuria Lucknow. 

“With professors like Dr.Mussana, KavitaPathak, Dr. Asha Kaul and a team of colleagues who were always around, those two years at Jaipuria Lucknow allowed me to experience the spirit of team-work and dedication.” 

Today, Manish Arora is regarded as one of the best known names in the advertising industry. As the Founder and Co-owner ofTHE ZEBRAS, he is based out of Mumbai. The firm currently handles the advertising businesses of clients like Gitanjali Jewels, Reliance Big CBS, Thrill, Videocon d2h and IOSIS spa. Manish effectively juggles his advertising work with his additional responsibilities as a strategic consultant with Mode Advertising, an agency with a pan-India presence and clients such as the State Bank of India, SAIL, MTNL, BSNL, Central Bank of India, etc. 

“After completingmy PGDM from Jaipuria Lucknow, I started my professional journey in Mumbai with Quadrant Communication, handling brands like Sansui and Nakamichi – a Japanese brand of high-end sound systems. It was at that point that Sansui launched its movie awards to gain an edge in the entertainment industry. This was my first exposure to the world of entertainment and events. ‘Sansui Movie Awards’ rubbed shoulders with Filmfare for over 5 years. It was absolutely tremendous!” 

Manish Arora was thereafter snapped up by the advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, handling brands like Asian Paints and Mattel Toys – the legendary US multinational with brands like Hot Wheels, Fischer Price and Barbie in their portfolio. While most in his place would have leveraged their position to climb up the ladder in O&M, Manish had different ideas. 

“To add teeth to my advertising knowledge and become a complete communications expert, I joined Percept Advertising, where I looked after brands like Godrej Tea, Godrej X’s in the FMCG sector, Godrej’s rural retail initiative Aadhaar, AMW (an HCV venture from the Essar group), Next (India’s largest electronics retail chain) and Goa Tourism. All these brands provided me with hands-on experience and a 360-degree view of communications.” 

Manish gained immense international experience while promoting Goa as the perfect holiday destination, across the globe. All this while, his understanding of India grew stronger as he travelled the length and breadth of the country, promoting Next in the urban and Aadhaar in the rural landscape areas. He mastered the art of new product launches with the launch of ‘AMW – the Global truck’ manufactured by HCV. This also gave him insights into the automobile industry, which would prove very handy in his entrepreneurship days. 

“At this stage, I decided to associate with Saints & Warriors, a start-up venture, where I worked on campaigns for brands like AMUL Macho(with the whacky punchline ‘Ye To Bada Toing Hai!’), Frankfinn Institute of air hostess training, Total Lubricants, Pantaloons and Staples – a fortune 500 US retailer of stationery items. The immense success of the Amul Macho campaign gave me wings to go ahead with THE ZEBRAS.” Manish believes that the communication world is fast shrinking into mobile phones, with the advent of powerful social media tools like FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.Combined with the conventional communication tools,reaching the customer is possible 24X7 today. 

“My advice to the current batches of Jaipuria Lucknow is ‘get out and get on your own’. Text book knowledge is not enough, practical experience is a must. Take initiative and interact more with the professional world. Open a dialogue with your 2000-strong alumni – all it takes to start a dialogue is a simple ‘hello’, ‘like’ or a mail.” 

Clearly, Manish Arora is one alumnus of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow who has all the makings – and the willingness – to be a great alumni mentor. His offer will be snapped up by youngsters at Jaipuria Lucknow sooner rather than later!