Jinal Shah is The Vegan Marketer.
Since launching my biz in 2020, I’ve connected with A LOT of vegan marketers. I’ve realized that while marketing is an integral part of the success of ANY business, it can be beneficial for vegan businesses to work with vegans not only because of the value alignment, but because vegan marketers know how much harder we have to work to help brands stand out from conventional businesses.
However, not all vegan marketers are proudly “out” as vegans, and I want to change that. Hence, I’m starting a Vegan Marketers series, beginning with a brilliant woman in India who I’ve connected with on LinkedIn and followed on Instagram. Jinal Shah is The Vegan Marketer who works with vegan and plant-based businesses to market their products. She specializes in unusual, actionable, low-investment marketing solutions that can attract and retain vegans and non-vegans alike, and her consulting includes marketing strategy, content marketing, product marketing, marketing, and competition audit (SWOT). She’s a 2x TEDx speaker, a member of PBFIA (Plant Based Foods Industry Association), and a content contributor for Vegan First.
Let’s learn about Jinal!
When and how did you go vegan?
I became fully vegan in October 2021. I was a partial vegan (no leather or fur, no pure milk, and only cruelty-free cosmetics) since 2000. It was a health crisis that pushed me to go fully vegan.
How did you get into marketing, and what kind of marketing you do now?
I have been a marketer for 16 years and even studied marketing for 7 years in college. I have been an on-demand marketing consultant for 8 years, specializing in strategy, ideation across product marketing, brand awareness and lead generation, proof of concept, social media, SEO, content writing and marketing.
What kind of work fires you up right now?
Since December 2022, I have chosen to laser focus my marketing experience and skills towards helping only vegan and vegan-friendly brands and businesses. I get extremely enthusiastic about any work that relates to marketing a vegan brand, be it 1:1 consulting, brainstorming, content writing, strategy, and ideation.
Share your best marketing win, and one marketing horror story.
My best marketing win was a proof-of-concept study and building a launch strategy based on it at Unilever. It was an outstanding learning experience. There are no real marketing horror stories for me, because every bad experience ended up being a wonderful learning opportunity, leaving me richer in marketing experience at the end of it.
Who or what vegan company do you think is crushing in marketing right now?
Oatly wins hands down. Be it their distinct and consistent brand voice, personality, wit, or cheekiness. They manage to get their message across every single time. And even if they stir up controversy every now and then, they at least get people talking about veganism and its eco-impact. I also like allplants for their consistently different marketing efforts.
You can contact Jinal at TheVeganMarketer.com.
