Vivek Rastogi is the Director of Ecommerce at Colgate-Palmolive, the firm that sells household brands like Colgate, Speed Stick, Irish Spring, Softsoap, Tom's of Maine, and others. Vivek held numerous leadership roles over the past 15 years, spanning across different geographies and countries,.including being responsible for the Amazon Channel for more than three years. He holds an MBA from S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research and a degree from St. Stephen's College.

Over the last several years, he has climbed up the ladder at Colgate-Palmolive. In 2014, he became the National Key Account Manager in India, and within a year became their Customer Development Manager in the UK. In 2016, he held the Head of the Customer Marketing/Retail Marketing position in India. A year and a half later, he earned the Associate Director for the Amazon at Colgate-Palmolive in the US position before taking on his current role.

Amazon provides an open marketplace where anyone can create a listing and start selling their products without a lot of hassle. This is because Amazon has removed many barriers to entry commonly faced when starting a brick-and-mortar store, which has led to the entry of many private label brands and poses a threat to big national brands.

So what can these large brands do to protect themselves and stay competitive in this marketplace? Vivek Rastogi advises them to embrace this reality and not challenge it. In addition to promoting their brand's equity, such brands should adapt and improve their marketing strategies, supply chain management, and communication strategies to cater to changing market needs. They should go back to focusing on their brand's equity which can play a significant role in making the brand competitive.

In this episode of the Buy Box Experts Podcast, Vivek Rastogi, the Director of Ecommerce at Colgate-Palmolive, joins James Thomson to talk about the strategies Colgate-Palmolive uses to stay competitive on and off Amazon. Vivek talks about the tools Amazon provides brands to help them monitor and protect their listings, the importance of brand equity, and the challenges brought about by Amazon's supply chain system. Stay tuned to hear all about it.