The Innovator 25:

Anjali Kapoor

Head of Digital, APAC

Bloomberg Media 
Hong Kong

“Always ask questions and be curious — you never know how an answer might turn into a spark of an idea”

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Anjali Kapoor is head of digital for Bloomberg Media in Asia, a role she has held since 2015, when the media giant launched a dedicated Asia-Pacific website for this region. Kapoor has built a team of of digital editors based in Hong Kong that work to unify Bloomberg’s powerful existing media assets – including Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Markets and Pursuits magazines, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio and original digital video — to deliver relevant stories for Bloomberg.com. Prior to Bloomberg, Kapoor led the The Globe and Mail’s digital strategy, helping to transform the title from a traditional publisher to a digital-first media operation.

How do you define innovation?
Innovation comes from passion and doing something you love. It's about putting a concept or idea into motion in a way that resonates with people and they want to engage with it. Whether it's executing a big idea or tweaking a workflow to do things better, innovation is always about finding a good solution to a problem.  

Most innovative PR/comms campaign you’ve seen in the last 12 months?
Nike Unlimited Stadium

What brands and/or agencies are most innovative when it comes to marketing/PR?
Facebook, Netflix, Nike, Coca-Cola,Google.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider ‘innovative.’
Finding new ways to tell stories beyond words — with data and images and video. Particularly in business journalism, there is such an opportunity to connect with different audiences through so many different channels and platforms. 

In what area of marketing/PR do you see the most innovation?
Content & creative. The ability to tell great stories and engage people personally is so important. 

How would you describe the communications/PR industry’s level of innovation?
More innovative than other marketing disciplines.

Where do you see the greatest opportunity for marketing & PR to become more innovative?
Planning & analytics.

Who most influences how innovative a brand’s marketing/PR is?
CMO

Who is your mentor and why?
The best mentors are the ones who quietly coach, inspire creativity and freedom to do good work. The people I work with daily inspire me with their creativity.

How do you find inspiration?
I am always curious and find inspiration from reading and listening constantly and try to be exposed to a wide variety of content, conversations, podcasts, books. It's good to step out of your comfort zone. 

What is your advice for people seeking to bring new ideas and ways of doing things to their organizations?
Always ask questions and be curious — you never know how an answer might turn into a spark of an idea. Perseverance if you know something is right. Use data and analytics to present an argument. But at the end of the day it's about changing hearts and minds, to try something new. That's the hardest part of bringing new ideas to fruition — changing a culture. 

In your opinion, what’s the most innovative place in the world?
I think the way e-commerce is upending traditional businesses is fascinating in this region of the world, and how that is tied to creative branding and content production. 

What’s your favorite time of day and why?
Very early morning. Being able to spend time reading, thinking over coffee before the busy day starts.