'5 Questions' with Binamra Dash, Alibaba.com Head of Marketing, South Asia (India & Pakistan)
- Swati Kundra
- Apr 9, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 1, 2025
Q1. What's a typical day like for the Head of Marketing, South Asia (India & Pakistan) at Alibaba.com?
There's a lot of brainstorming around new ideas. The world is moving more digital, but at the same time, omnichannel marketing still exists. And in B2B e-commerce, it's mostly about reaching out to a very specific, niche kind of audience. It's not like we're dealing with a mass product here. You can think of all the MSMEs out there – manufacturers, retailers, traders, wholesalers – they are our target audience. For example, a shoe manufacturer somewhere in Kanpur would be an ideal customer for us – someone who wants to export or take their business global.
So, figuring out new ways to reach our customers and engage with them, suggesting the value proposition, maximizing our reach, and building stronger brand awareness – all that happens on a daily basis as well, but largely during the start of the year or the start of a quarter.
Then there are phases where it's more about breaking down ideas and targets into executable plans – and aligning them with different teams across the organization. And sometimes, it's just pure execution mode. Once the ideas are locked and the plans are aligned with everyone, it's about rolling up your sleeves, getting your hands dirty in the field, and getting the job done – whatever targets you've set for yourself or your team, you go out and try to achieve them.
But amidst all this, there's one thing I always try to do: talk to at least one customer every single day. It honestly makes my day, whether it's hearing about the pain points they’re facing or how Alibaba.com has helped transform their business. Moments like that make getting up for work truly worthwhile. So that's one thing I personally try to stick to every single day when I get to work.
Q2. We humans have evolved from buying at local shops to shopping in global digital marketplaces. What do you think still defines the essence of customer experience?
Whether customers are shopping in global online marketplaces or at a local mom-and-pop store, the essence of customer experience hasn’t really changed. At its core, it's still about the same human emotions – trust, ease, satisfaction, and feeling valued. The channels may have evolved, but the fundamentals of how people want to be treated and what they expect from a brand remain consistent.
And what are the things that drive these cycles for a company? At the end of the day, we have to fulfill the three basic needs of the customer. The first one is: are you able to give the customer what they're looking for? Do you even have the product with you? That's the most important thing.
The second important aspect the customer would look for is: are you giving the product at the right price while maintaining the right quality? Because, of course, in the market, there are alternatives. So why should the customer buy from you?
And the last thing is the wow factor. What is it that you're doing extra, going above and beyond for the customer, so they come back to you? It applies to both offline stores and online e-commerce companies. And when I say the wow factor, maybe it's how the website looks, the ease with which customers can navigate it, or what kind of coupons you're giving. There are so many hooks we can talk of. But these are the three basic inherent things that are quite similar across formats.
Q3. Alibaba is a global giant with a strong narrative. What role does storytelling play in the brand’s marketing strategy, and how do you tailor it for different regions?
Storytelling is an inseparable part of marketing. I believe no marketing can exist without building a compelling story – one that creates a sense of "wow," sparks hope, or triggers some kind of emotion in the customer. If you can't communicate about your product in the most effective and succinct way, the product will never sell – no matter how strong it is.
That said, I’d like to differ slightly from the generic narrative we often hear today – the idea that "one size fits all" no longer applies and that you must customize for every customer and every region. I personally believe that if you have a simple, strong value proposition that your customer can resonate with, you don’t necessarily need to change it across formats, customers, or regions. The simplicity and clarity of your value proposition is what truly matters.
Just to give you an example – at Alibaba.com, the core value proposition we’ve stood by for the past 25 years is this: we make it easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to do business anywhere in the world. It’s that simple. Whether I’m presenting this value proposition in India, Pakistan, or the United States, it doesn’t change. Because it addresses a real customer pain point – something businesses are actively looking for a solution to. When you go into different markets, some bits and pieces may change, but the central theme of your value proposition – or your story – should never change.
If, as a brand, you can keep that consistent over the years and across regions, that consistency becomes your brand identity. That’s where I stand when it comes to the conversation around customizing stories or marketing to different types of audiences.
Q4. What advantages can startups gain by leveraging platforms like Alibaba.com?
Like I said, the value proposition that Alibaba.com – or even the larger Alibaba Group – stands for is that we're actually helping small and medium businesses, including startups, to do business anywhere in the world.
And as our founder, Jack Ma, always says in his interviews and whenever he meets employees, Alibaba is not an e-commerce company – we’re a company that enables e-commerce companies. That's the core value proposition we stand for. Our goal is to create a level playing field where small and medium businesses can compete head-on with the giants.
Big global brands of the world already have their procurement channels sorted; they have their own procurement agents. But for small startups or SMEs, especially in a cross-border business scenario, it becomes really tough. It's not easy for them to go to different markets, find the right buyers, attend multiple trade shows, or visit sellers to check the quality of the products they’re buying or selling.
Cross-border global trade is actually an expensive affair if you take it offline and don’t have deep pockets. But with the help of technology and e-commerce, we’re enabling startups to have a real shot. Since it’s tech-enabled, even with a small budget, businesses can experiment. You can quickly try entering a new market, and if it doesn’t work out, you can pull back, pivot to a different product, or explore a new market altogether. There’s a lot of room for quick iterations and learning.
Q5. How does your company provide training and support to help businesses in emerging markets?
For training, any seller who joins Alibaba.com is provided with a comprehensive one-year roadmap. If it’s a new seller, we guide them on what they need to focus on in the first three months. Once they’re familiar with the platform, we outline what they should work on in the next three months, and so on. The entire year is broken down into clear, step-by-step training milestones. As for how the training is delivered, it happens in both online and offline formats.
For online training, we host sessions every Thursday on our social channels, and they’re completely free of cost. Even if you’re not an Alibaba.com member, you can still visit our Facebook page and attend our e-commerce trainings (www.facebook.com/GGSalibabaindia).
These sessions typically run for two to three hours and cover various topics.
Apart from that, we also travel across cities, invite our existing customers, and conduct offline training sessions. We sit with them, understand their challenges, and work with them to find solutions.
