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Hello!
I am Manu Prasad

A Fractional CMO for startups and SMBs.

With over two decades of experience in companies such as Myntra, Urban Ladder & most recently Scripbox, where I was the CMO, I am a full stack marketer, having led diverse teams across brand, digital marketing, growth, social media, content and PR. 

Since 2024, I have worked as a Fractional CMO on brand and growth initiatives, for startups in multiple domains – foodtech, omnichannel D2C, mobility, global staffing etc. 

SAY HELLO
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Manu Prasad | Fractional CMO
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tl; dr version

All about the Fractional CMO in 1 minute

What is this organism?

A Fractional CMO works with the founding/ leadership/ marketing team on brand and growth challenges, until the organisation is ready to hire a full-time CMO.

Who are your clients?

Early to growth-stage startups and bootstrapped businesses that wants smart, lean marketing. Mature startups with a specific problem in growth, brand, content etc

What do you do for them?

Clarity : On brand and marketing objectives
Momentum: With processes and execution discipline
Outcomes: Using dashboards and metrics that matter
In essence, accountability at a fraction of the cost

The Fractional CMO toolkit

I call it OTP for ATM. No, not money, and not 24/7,
Own The Problem for All Things Marketing.

Brand Strategy

Aligning the brand to the business, and creating positioning and value propositions to drive growth.

Communication Strategy

Converting the brand strategy into creative effectiveness across multiple consumer touchpoints - digital and offline.

Growth: Acquisition & Retention

Creating efficient methods of acquiring customers through paid and organic means, and making them profitable.

Marketing Analytics

Setting up a cadence, and dashboards, to monitor and improve brand and business metrics.

Stakeholder Management

Handling internal (leadership, marketing team, investors) and external (vendors, agencies) stakeholders for all things marketing

Hiring & Mentoring

Building and equipping a team with processes and a mindset to help the organisation meet business goals

We've not come this far to only come this far

Let’s connect to understand your needs, and find a way to work together.

SAY HELLO

The Fractional CMO you need


The 'ex' axis

Two decades of experience across legacy brands, agency & startups in India

I have worked in diverse domains – from fashion to media to wealth management, and furniture and lingerie in between. This helps me understand your context faster, recognise patterns from unrelated categories, and implement frameworks that fit.

myntra logo
scripbox logo
Urban Ladder logo
Times of India logo
GroupM
MidDay logo

The 'why' axis

A full stack marketer with leadership expertise in brand, digital, and growth

The chart gives you a quick read of how long in my 21 year career I have been working on specific domains. The youngest is PR (‘only’ 7 years). I can help you with a holistic perspective, or a deep dive into one or more specific marketing domains.

Brand Management
90%
Performance Marketing
60%
Content
80%
Social Media
60%
PR
35%
Marketing Automation
40%

As seen on

Fractional CMO ET Brand Equity
Manu Prasad Fractional CMO

& more

A sense of kaam

Creatively effective. Boringly efficient. 

Manu Prasad | Brand Campaign | Positioning

Brand, Positioning, Campaign

Scripbox - Invest with Confidence

Manu Prasad | Brand Campaign| Influencer Marketing

Brand, Lead generation, Campaign, Influencers

Scripbox Tax Saver

Manu Prasad | Digital Marketing| MarTech

MarTech, Marketing Automation

Scripbox Martech

Manu Prasad | Startup Mentor| Accel

Startups, Mentorship

Accel : Seed to Scale

MORE PLEASE

Ready to get, set, grow?

LET'S CHAT

Brandwidth

A full stack marketing podcast 

From the blog

Recent posts, media contributions, and more

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KEEP READING

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Manu Prasad, and what does he do?

 

Manu Prasad is a Fractional CMO based in Bangalore, India, with 24+ years of experience across brand, growth and marketing. A full stack marketer, he was previously CMO of Scripbox and has held leadership roles at Myntra,, Urban Ladder, Times of India, and Group M, and mentored startups as part of Accel’s Seed to Scale program. 

Since 2024, he has worked with startups and growth-stage businesses as a Fractional CMO, helping founders with brand, growth and digital initiatives and bringing structure and senior leadership to marketing without hiring a full-time CMO. (ET, afaqs)

What does Manu Prasad do as a Fractional CMO?

 

As a Fractional CMO, Manu Prasad partners with founders and teams, part-time or on a project basis to:

  • Define positioning, brand and GTM strategy
  • Build repeatable acquisition and retention loops.
  • Align marketing goals with business metrics 
  • Orchestrate internal teams and agencies and set up processes that scale.

This provides

  • Clarity – on brand and marketing objectives.
  • Momentum – with processes and execution discipline.
  • Outcomes – using dashboards and metrics that matter.

You get the expertise of a CMO – strategy, execution, team alignment and oversight, without the full-time cost.

Q: What makes Manu Prasad an ideal Fractional CMO for Indian companies?

Diverse domain Experience: From 2011-2023, he has worked in leading early-mid stage startups across categories – Myntra, Urban Ladder, Scripbox. As a Fractional CMO he has worked with clients in foodtech, Fashion D2C, Mobility – used 2 wheelers, Global gray/blue collar staffing , Building materials ecom,, and Medtech. Different customers, different contexts, different playbooks, and different models. 

Full stack expertise: Strategic and hands-on experience in all facets of brand and marketing – consumer insights, brand management and advertising, digital acquisition and retention, content, PR, martech, social media – helps him talk strategy and ops with equal fluency to CXOs and operators. 

Leadership: In addition to leading and aligning teams who have managed different aspects of brand and marketing, he has also mentored startups as part of Accel’s Seed to Scale program.


When should a company hire a Fractional CMO?

A company should consider a Fractional CMO when it has a working product or early traction but its marketing lacks senior direction. Typical signs are a marketing team that executes without a clear strategy, multiple agencies or channels pulling in different directions, founders spending too much time troubleshooting marketing, or a business that is ready to scale but does not yet need a full-time CMO. It’s the bridge between founder-led marketing and hiring a full-time CMO. 

Why hire a Fractional CMO and not a consultant or an agency or a full-time CMO?

 

The choice depends on the problem. A consultant is usually brought in for advice or a defined problem; an agency primarily provides execution; and a full-time CMO is appropriate when the business needs permanent marketing leadership.

A Fractional CMO sits between these models: providing senior marketing leadership, owning key decisions and working with the existing team or partners, without the commitment of a full-time CMO.

 

 

Fractional CMO

Full-time CMO

Marketing Agency

Primary role

Marketing leadership + strategy

Permanent marketing leadership

Execution

Owns

Priorities, strategy, team/partners and outcomes

Entire marketing function

Agreed channels/campaigns

Works with

Founders + internal team + partners

Internal organisation

Client team

Best suited to

Businesses needing senior marketing leadership before a full-time CMO

Businesses ready for permanent C-suite marketing leadership

Businesses with strategy in place that need execution capacity

Commitment

Part-time

Full-time

Project/retainer

Speed to Deploy

Immediate onboarding (Within days).

Lengthy 3–6 month hiring and recruitment loops.

Moderate; requires setup and asset handoff.

This is not Marvel, there is no post-credits scene. 

But can I interest you in my pitch for startups and SMBs?