Content & narrative strategy
Defining the company narrative, messaging and storyline — then building the editorial system and governance that keeps it consistent everywhere it shows up.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Aparna Kallakuri
Integrated marketing leader — strategy, content and communications.
Nineteen years turning complex enterprise technology into narratives that move pipeline, perception and people — across the GCC, India and global markets.
19
Years in marketing & communications
$200M
Pipeline influenced to date
120%
Lift in web traffic & engagement at ZainTECH
82%
Internal engagement at EY GDS
150+
Demand marketing assets shipped
About
The short version.
“19 years is tough to summarise in a few paras — but I’ll try.”
Having worked with some of the biggest brands in the world, collaborated with almost every geography on the planet and contributed in almost every marketing area there is, I believe I am still getting started.
My work spans content strategy and creation, brand and internal communications, campaigns, digital and programmatic marketing, analyst relations, influencer and community marketing, thought leadership, events, and go-to-market strategy — for technology, consulting and digital services businesses in the GCC and global markets.
What I actually do is build clear narratives, integrated programmes and trusted partnerships that turn strategy into measurable business impact.
Never stop learning, and always leave a mark wherever you go.
Practice
Four areas, one integrated approach.
Brand & corporate communications
Internal, engagement and external communications for organisations at scale — leadership campaigns, media readiness, employer brand and executive visibility.
Go-to-market & demand
Taking offerings to market: GTM strategy, omni-channel activation, campaign and programme management, and data-driven optimisation across the buyer journey.
Analyst, influencer & community
Building the relationships that shape how a market sees you — industry analysts, influencers, user communities and the events that bring them together.
Proof
Four pieces of work, and what came of them.
ZainTECH · 2024–2026
Rebuilding a company’s voice from the ground up
Context
A fast-growing GCC digital services business needed one narrative across a broad, rapidly expanding portfolio — and a web presence that could carry it.
Move
Owned the annual company-wide content strategy, defined the narrative and messaging, and rebuilt the website from scratch on an SEO-led architecture.
Result
120% increase in traffic and engagement over the previous site; content and campaign programmes contributing roughly 35% of company pipeline.
ZainTECH · Content operations
One offering, nine assets
Context
Every service offering needed content across the full buyer journey — at a cadence a small team could not produce one asset at a time.
Move
Built a repeatable, AI-powered repurposing pipeline that turns each offering into nine or more multi-channel assets mapped to pre-sales, demand and conversion.
Result
150+ demand marketing assets produced to date, from a system rather than a scramble.
ZainTECH · Analyst relations
Getting on the analysts’ map
Context
Buyers in the GCC increasingly shortlist from analyst evaluations — where a young brand had limited presence.
Move
Built and managed the analyst relationships with IDC and Gartner across the region, alongside an external positioning and thought leadership programme.
Result
Contributed to Leader recognition in IDC MarketScape and Gartner Magic Quadrant reports.
EY GDS · 2022–2024
Communications at the scale of 25,000 people
Context
Consulting teams spread across worldwide EY GDS locations needed communications that felt like one organisation rather than many.
Move
Designed and governed internal and external communications, media and leadership campaigns for 25,000+ members, and built the internal comms programmes underneath them.
Result
Record-high NPS of 74% and 82% internal engagement, with strengthened brand perception for a 9,000+ member business consulting team.
Career
Nineteen years, five organisations, three countries.
2024–20262 yrs 2 mos
ZainTECH
Senior Manager, Content Strategy
Dubai, UAE
Owned the company-wide content strategy and narrative, rebuilt the website on an SEO-led architecture, created the AI-powered content repurposing pipeline, and built the analyst relationships behind the company’s IDC and Gartner recognition.
2022–20242 yrs 1 mo
EY GDS
Assistant Director, Brand Marketing and Communications
Bengaluru, India
Designed and governed internal and external communications, media and leadership campaigns across 25,000+ consulting members worldwide, and led branding and communications support for the Sri Lanka location.
20225 mos
Soroco
Content Strategy Manager
Bengaluru, India
Led organisation-wide content strategy for demand generation, category creation and brand — improving web performance by 100%, reaching a 110% social engagement rate, and managing analyst relationships with NelsonHall, Everest Group, HFS Research and Forrester.
2009–202212 yrs 4 mos
IBM
Marketing and Communications — four roles
Bengaluru, India · Dubai, UAE
Twelve years across programme communications, community marketing, external communications and analyst relations — including an assignment out to MAFTech in the UAE.
The four IBM roles
-
Communications Lead, MAFTech UAE — assignee-out from IBM Global Business Services
Set up internal communications for a newly launched technology vertical and led the internal content strategy for branding and positioning, linking corporate teams to 9,000+ employees.
-
External Communications Lead
Led analyst relations with Gartner and Forrester, external communications and event storytelling for IBM Blockchain, and internal communications for a 4,000-person business unit.
-
Marketing and Content Manager
Led strategy for the 34,000-member WebSphere group within the IBM Middleware User Group Community, against a total user base of 93,000 — driving $60M in opportunities and $6M in revenue through virtual events and content marketing.
-
Program and Communications Manager
Ran two enablement and certification programmes for IBM Business Analytics on a $140K annual budget, with communications for 600+ business partners worldwide and 80+ impact collaterals.
2007–20091 yr 11 mos
Hewlett-Packard
Channel Programs and Communications Manager
Gurugram, India
Managed partner programmes and communications for HP’s Imaging and Printing Group across India’s tier-2 and tier-3 consumer channels.
Voices
From people I have worked with.
“Her ability and attitude to easily take on new challenges and projects definitely make her a valuable asset to any team. Fun but always professional, Aparna brings great energy into teams that she works with.”
“Aparna is a thorough content creator and communicator, and adds a fun element to the team she belongs to. I have seen her excel in her job wherein peers and stakeholders have always been appreciative of her contribution.”
Beyond the brief
Education, advocacy and the tools of the trade.
Always open to an enriching chat about work and how one can contribute beyond it — AI writing workflows, female representation in various aspects of life, mental health and neurodivergence in organisations, and what allyship truly looks like.
Advocacy
- Mental health awareness facilitator
- Women in STEM promoter
- Workplace neurodiversity promoter
- Certified diversity ally
- Causes: children · civil rights and social action · health · human rights · social services
Education
- Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management Marketing and Operations · Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore · 2005–2007
- Bachelor of Engineering Industrial Engineering and Management · Visvesvaraya Technological University · 2001–2005
Certifications
- UX Foundations: Content StrategyLinkedIn · 2024
- Finding Purpose and Meaning in LifeUniversity of Michigan · 2023
- Content Strategy
- Also: Agile basics, project management, inbound marketing and content marketing
Toolkit
- Marketing & analyticsHubSpot · SEMrush · Google Analytics · Unica NetInsight · Dripify · Mentimeter
- Media & listeningCision · Muck Rack · Meltwater · Zignal
- Content managementUnily · Acoustic · SharePoint · WordPress · Drupal · HubSpot
Languages
- TeluguNative
- EnglishBilingual
- Hindi · Kannada · GujaratiFluent
- GermanBeginner
Based in
- Dubai, United Arab EmiratesUAE residence visa · Indian citizen
- Markets worked: GCC, India, Sri Lanka and global
Contact
Let’s talk about the story you need told.
Whether it is a narrative that needs sharpening, a communications function that needs building, or a go-to-market that needs a voice — I would like to hear about it.
aparna15k@gmail.com