“Creativity Is Thriving, But Its Rules Have Changed”

SHUBHRANSHU SINGH speaks with BW Businessworld's Noor Fathi- ma Warsia on leaving Tata Motors, adapting to mobile-first storytelling, the creator explosion, and India’s growing brand power

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You have just announced your decision to move on from Tata Motors after four years. What prompted this move?

After four fantastic years at Tata Motors, I have decided to move on to pursue external opportunities. It has been a privilege to build the brand marketing function from scratch at Tata Motors CV, delivering a digital-first approach, launching several brands, and vastly enhancing the content and brand narrative compared to any time in the past.

Our numerous awards, record achievements and transformed consumer narrative are a testament to this. I wish the very best to the many outstanding professionals with whom I have had the pleasure of training, working, and leading. I have some inspiring opportunities to progress to. More about that really soon.

On that note, you were recently named among the world’s most influential CMOs and are the only leader from APAC on the Effie Lions Advisory Council. From that vantage point, how do you see creativity evolving amid rapid technological disruptions?

The main difference today is that creativity still remains alive and celebrated, but in altered forms. The creative core, despite all mutations and disruptions, is flourishing. There are, however, three boundary conditions that were not present earlier. First, almost everything is now centred around the mobile screen. Storytelling has to adapt to this lit-screen world, and the major platforms each have their own prescribed stencil, within which everyone has to work. If I were Leo Tolstoy in the Instagram age, it would be very difficult.

How are these changes impacting consumer journeys and creator roles?