Why Subu

Gain Clarity in Your Growth Journey

If you’re feeling stuck or uncertain – whether in business, branding, or career growth – I can help you find the clarity you need to move forward with confidence.

My Purpose: Helping Challengers Grow Faster

I specialize in guiding entrepreneurs, professionals, students, and change makers to sharpen their brand, accelerate their growth, and create a lasting impact on society.

How I Help You Succeed

With a combination of brand consulting, training, mentoring, and advisory services, I help you:

Refine your marketing & business growth approach for long-term success

Build a powerful brand strategy to stand out from competition

Develop breakthrough strategies to challenge industry norms

Advance your career with strategic clarity

(See more details of my services [here].)

What makes me an expert?

I have invested nearly three decades across fifteen Asian cities in various advertising agencies specializing in marketing, brands, communication, and strategy. In these years, I have helped clarify and strategize brands across various verticals (like fast moving goods, durables, finance, B2B, technology, etc.) and specializations (like advertising, media, activation, design, digital, etc.) I have applied this insight and experience to assist people clarify their business to grow to their next level of potential. (You can see a full list of recommendations [here]).

My Profile

I’m Krishnan Subramanian (better known as Subu), a brand strategist and marketing consultant with 30+ years of experience across India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

I’ve held strategy roles at Ogilvy, McCann, and TBWA, where I’ve helped build global brands like Coca-Cola, Colgate, Fevicol, Ikea, Unilever, and Standard Chartered. (You can see a longer list of my clients [here]).My expertise spans advertising, brand strategy, design, activation, retail, digital marketing, and business growth.

I served as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at TBWA\India from January 2016. During this tenure, I played a pivotal role in advancing the agency’s strategic direction. I was instrumental in launching Disruption Consulting in India in February 2018, a practice aimed at helping clients develop innovative strategies to challenge market conventions and drive growth. I can say that I have contributed to the broader initiative of TBWA\India’s reputation as a “Disruption Company” in the Indian market.

In April 2021, I shifted gears from my role as CSO while continuing my association with TBWA\India as a consultant. In this time, I have also set up my own strategy consulting practice to help students, entrepreneurs, professionals and corporates clarify and sharpen their brand.

Beyond my professional life

Subbu made the challenge of simultaneously managing our (as a client) strategic needs, the communication opportunity and the immediate business imperative seem so simple and straightforward. He brought brilliant insight into our strategic planning process, helping us sift through the noise and quickly dive to the core. An astute marketer with a rich, deep understanding of communication, he has always been a pleasure to work with.

Vishal Kapoor

CEO at Bandhan AMC

Subbu is a dynamic strategic planner with deep brand insight and a relentless work ethic. As Head of Strategic Planning at Rediffusion DYR, he consistently delivered innovative solutions under pressure while inspiring collaborative creativity. I wish him the very best.

Preet Bedi

Independent Marketing and Advertising Professional

Subu is one the finest 'analytical' minds I know. He manages to grasp even the most complicated of statistical techniques, at least in essence, with amazing ease. This unique ability to comprehend a very different point of view and take it forward seamlessly make him a delight to work with. In our limited time together I learnt far more about practical applications of research and statistics than in any other prior assignment.

Naman Sharma

Chief Analytics and Insights officer, Havas Media Group - APAC

Subbu (Subramaniam) is a colleague I always respected because he spoke his mind. He has a razor sharp mind andhe puts it to good use. Behind his simple, sometimes self-effacing manner is a formidable strategic thinker. He gets along with people well and knows how to work the system to get things done. Subbu is a great guy to have on your team. I also suspect Subbu would be a good manager of people with his own unique style of leadership.

Sridhar Ramanathan

#Mentor#Coach#Writer#TEDx Speaker#Non-Profit

Subramanian is one of the better strategic minds I've known in the Indian advertising business. His ability to bring value to any category, be it soaps, foods or new dailies is simply amazing. I had the good fortune of working with Subbu (as he is known to most of us) pretty early in my career. I say that because he always gave us the freedom to think and come up with ideas despite his enormous capability to do so. His most endearing quality as a boss was that he would share all the credits/accolades with the entire team. His principle of "If my team grows, I will grow" made working with him a very rewarding experience

Mahadevan Jayaram

Sales & Marketing

Subbu headed Strategic Planning for our Mumbai office at a particularly difficult time and did a spectacularly good job. He is extremely bright, committed and can work harder than most people I know. He is comfortable working in teams and strikes collaborative relationships with the people he works with. Overall, a resource one can always depend upon to deliver more than hundred percent.

Santosh Desai

CEO Futurebrands, Founder Think 9 Consumer Technologies, Author

I worked closely with Subramanian (Subu) on a project over a few intensive weeks. Despite the pressure Subu kept his cool and his sense of humour throughout. His keen insights and sharp, analytical mind, together with his collaborative, team approach made a difficult job feel so much smoother, and indeed, pleasurable.

Troy Sullivan

ECD

Subu captivated our diverse Strathclyde MBA class in Hong Kong with a dynamic guest lecture that blended cross-cultural frameworks like Nisbett's Geography of Thought, deep industry insights, and practical examples. His session sparked immediate student engagement and application, and I look forward to welcoming him back.