“Content is the new currency and brands are built on Content,” said Arun Iyer, Founding Partner, Spring Marketing Capital while speaking at the Adclub Madras’ AdTalk
According to me, there are only two types of people-intelligent and foolish. Anyone who can solve a business problem through the lens of creativity is intelligent. I realized that the business of advertising is challenging and I started thinking about it around 2013-14 when the e-commerce boom in India had actually started.
In the good old days, the advertising agencies were insiders of the client companies, where they spoke to us about what’s happening in the business and the problems faced, and how we can change the businesses to lead to growth. These days we are considered outsiders and are just provided with briefs. They say that we needn’t be worried about the business aspects of the companies, instead, we are asked to concentrate on the advertising part of it.
Iyer further threw some light on the business model of Spring Marketing Capital.
“We don’t barter our service for equity. We offer capital and marketing expertise to partner brands. We are a Skin in-game marketing consulting firm. The Spring Marketing Capital Fund will invest in consumer-facing companies that have achieved some level of product-market fit. Along with our capital, we offer our extensive marketing experience and expertise to help these companies to build the brands of tomorrow,” he said.
Iyer said that the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for him and the company,
“We are on the positive side of the business once the digital ecosystem in the country starts booming,” he said.
He elaborated on the experience of working for Freecharge, which was founded by Kunal Shah.
“The campaign we launched for Freecharge became insanely successful and later SnapDeal acquired Freecharge. It was the biggest internet transaction in the country at that point of time – $400 Million,” he said.
He spoke in his association with Byju’s during the initial days and the brand’s growth stages.
“When you start making too much money out of education as a business the country will see you as a villain. We are used to certain pre-written notions about the image of teachers. Byju’s is changing the face of education in the country. They have built a corporate brand that has a noble mission other than making money,” he said.
Iyer further spoke about Spring Marketing Capital’s working experience with Levis, Starsports.com, Surf Excel, Google. Tanishq, and more.
