Karthik is the founding Chairman of the Global Brand Forum, Asia’s most influential Forum for brands, business and leadership described by BBC as the “ Davos of Branding “. Karthik has been responsible for bringing some of the world’s most influential leaders like Al Gore, Francis Ford Coppola, Rudy Giuliani, Dame Anita Roddick, Warren Bennis, Prof Emeritus David Aaker, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Jimmy Wales amongst several other global leaders and icons to Asia.
Karthik is one of the most respected and influential brand strategy experts in Asia and is often called to advice Governments and Ministries to position and develop brand strategies for cities and countries. He has advised the Economic Development Board of Singapore, Economic Planning Unit of Malaysia, Ministry of Information, Communication & The Arts Singapore, Ministry of Manpower, Singapore, Securities Commission Malaysia, Prime Ministers Dept of Malaysia etc.
Karthik has also advised and consulted with several global, regional and local brands in strategy development in the FMCG, Banking, Technology, Telecommunication, Airlines & Hospitality industries across Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, UK, and the United States. He has also been responsible for the development of a White Paper to develop the creative Industries in Singapore and a Brand Positioning Strategy to make Singapore a Global Cosmopolis. Karthik was also responsible for helping develop and execute the world’s first in depth study and segmentation of “Billionaire Mindsets”.
After obtaining his Masters in Business Administration ( MBA) in Organisational Development and Marketing and Bachelors’ in Commerce ( BCOM ), Karthik has spent over 20 years in strategy development, marketing, advertising, brand planning & brand consulting at Xerox, Bateys, Leo Burnett, The Lab and Ogilvy. In the last 10 years, he has held senior leadership positions and has become one of the most sought after branding experts in Asia.
Karthik is a much sought after speaker, trainer and facilitator in Global and Regional forums and conferences on brand development, leadership development, employee alignment, motivational themes, corporate reputation and strategy development. Karthik’s unique skill lies in his capacity to meld motivation, leadership, spirituality, philosophy, psychology and healing skills in all his workshops and training programmes.
Besides being the only brand expert to speak at the APEC summit, he has also been profiled in CNBC, CNN, BBC, Business Times, Economic Times, Business Today, Channel News Asia, Philippine Daily Enquirer, The Edge Magazine, Straits Times, TV3, etc He was also voted as one of the top newsmakers of the year by Ad Asia in 2007 / 2008 / 2009 .