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afaqs! Pause - Divya Ajitkumar, CRO, Hindu Tamil Thisai

Divya Ajitkumar, is a dynamic business leader who brings over two decades of business and marketing expertise to her role as CRO of Hindu Tamil Thisai. Here’s a little sneak peek into her workday, leadership mantra, and advice to young professionals.

afaqs! Content Team

28 Mar 2025 00:33 IST

New Update

39648 — “If you focus on results, you will never change; if you focus on change, you will get results”

1/6

The best part of my job is

When I started in digital two decades ago, social media was just a line item that received remnant or leftover budgets. Today, we know who commands the lion’s share of digital spending. I took up this challenge because vernacular content is the future, and Tamil is uniquely positioned for exponential growth—perhaps even surpassing Hindi and English—given the increasing digital adoption of Tamil content and the strong community-driven promotion of the language. I love finding new ways to make Tamil content more than just a "vernacular checkbox"—I want it to be the main event. Stepping into a blank canvas gave me full creative flexibility—to shape the stories we tell, the kind of content we post, and how we approach advertisers with our narrative. Having worked across New York, London, the EU, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai in various roles spanning media, content, creative, strategy, and planning, I can confidently say there’s no team, brand, or market challenge I haven’t encountered. For me, the goal is to make our brand relevant, engaging, and innovative for both audiences and advertisers. There are a million untold stories, and while there’s no shortage of platforms, what’s missing is the right intersection of authenticity, entertainment, and integrity. The real market opportunity today lies in creating balanced, unbiased, and authentic content. In a world of content polarisation and AI-generated fakes, publishers must walk a tightrope—balancing agility and momentum without compromising authenticity.

2/6

My leadership mantra

A wise man once said: If you focus on results, you will never change; if you focus on change, you will get results. While I strive for perfection in everything I do, I’ve learned that obsessing over results can be exhausting—especially when outcomes don’t align with expectations. Instead, I focus on trusting the process and the people involved. When individuals give their best efforts, the results will follow. I also believe rigid structures can limit creativity. If you put people into boxes, they will inevitably feel confined and restricted. Leadership is an evolving journey. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but the key is learning from them and reflecting on how much was due to external factors versus my own approach. At the end of the day, I believe that leading with authenticity means being your own competition. I live by the mantra: Do different things, or do the same things differently.

3/6

In an alternate timeline I would have been

Back in New York, doing something I was passionate about. It is ironic to look back on my journey at how I started and where I am today. The foundations that were laid in my early years while working in New York and London have definitely shaped my attitudes towards product, problems, promotion and people. So while I have traversed many alternate timelines over the 2 decades already, what I am doing now feels like the perfect intersection of Media, ad tech and content all of which I have had a special affinity towards.

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4/6

Books/movies/shows I re-read and re-watch

For shows, I have to go with Black Mirror. It’s one of the most gripping and thought-provoking series ever made—a sheer work of art. It portrays the dystopian reality we’re already living in, one that will only become more extreme. The show blends brilliant writing, storytelling, characters, and plots seamlessly, keeping you riveted until the very end. I discovered binge-watching through Black Mirror, and two episodes left a lasting impression on me: Nosedive – A world where people walk around with a social score assigned by everyone they interact with—baristas, cab drivers, neighbours, bosses, colleagues. This is already a reality for gig workers like delivery drivers and cabbies, whose livelihoods depend on ratings. They have no choice but to maintain artificial politeness to meet their KPIs. Hang the DJ – A must-watch for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. It serves as a guide to navigating relationships in an impersonal, app-driven world where outcomes are pre-decided. For books, Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach was a game-changer for me. I discovered it later in my late twenties, but I highly recommend it to young professionals. It teaches financial literacy—how to budget for a rainy day and avoid common financial pitfalls like impulse purchases and credit card debt.

5/6

How I recharge on weekends

There’s no set format. I strongly believe in unplugging and focusing on "me" time. That could mean binge-watching shows, catching up on personal emails, organising my inbox, or decluttering my wardrobe. Exercise is crucial, as is exploration—whether it’s discovering a new spot in the neighbourhood, attending an event or a play, or simply catching up with friends and family.

6/6

A recent ad campaign I liked

That would have to be Axis Bank’s Sanskrit Password Campaign by Grey Group, which was shared by Nishant Ananthram in my network. I’m a huge fan of his work, and they followed this up with a similar campaign for Devanagari. It’s rare to see such an original and clever take on something as utilitarian as passwords. The ad starts by evoking pain and sorrow but gradually builds up to optimism, leaving you smiling. Reviving ancient languages and making them "cool" for the next generation takes effort, and this ad did exactly that.

Hindu Tamil Thisai Divya Ajitkumar