In an emailed interaction with Medianews4U, Siddharth Devnani, Co-Founder & Director, SoCheers, spoke about the agency’s growth trajectory, South expansion plans, the process of conceptualising campaigns like The Family Man Job Hunt and Mirzapur Purvanchal Ke Samachar and more.
You have recently expanded to the South. What are your objectives behind the same and what is the clientele you would be looking at?
Our recent expansion to the South not only expands the agency’s wings but also enables it to diversify its offerings and leverage the immense potential of the market. The Bangalore office will primarily focus on tapping the vibrant start-up ecosystem in the city and expand the agency’s e-commerce capabilities. The team is actively hiring across verticals given the expansive talent pool of the city along with renowned brands to its roster in the coming months.
Can you elaborate on the process undergone to conceptualise and conceive campaigns – The Family Man job Hunt and Mirzapur Purvanchal Ke Samachar?
For both of these campaigns – The Family Man Job Hunt and Mirzapur Purvanchal Ke Samachar – we wanted to weave a story as entertaining as the shows themselves. Therefore, we identified the unique insights about all the aspects of both the shows – including their target audiences, tonality, fan following, social chatter etc. and then placed them at the centre to craft an engaging narrative around it.
So, when the second season’s trailer for The Family Man revealed that Srikant Tiwari (the protagonist), was looking for a new job, we initiated a unique ‘Job Hunt’. In an innovative amalgamation of reel and real, we got industry leaders like Ankur Warikoo (Nearbuy), Kabeer Biswas (Dunzo), Ritesh Agarwal (OYO) and Manu Kumar Jain (Xiaomi), to act as influencers, and interview the fictional character of Srikant. This unique setup added to the hilarity, the script and the execution amplified the reliability of the campaign amongst the Indian audience, given the ‘virtual work and interview’ being the only option during the pandemic. By engaging the audience in conversations around Srikant’s job options on social media, it successfully reignited the fans’ love for the show.
Similarly, given the immense popularity of Mirzapur, the fans were ardently waiting for its second season, and they were eagerly expressing this on social media – so, we listened! To give them an engaging recap, to welcome them back into the world of Mirzapur, and to do it entertainingly, we created a video property, titled ‘Purvanchal Ke Samachar’. It was creatively framed in the format of a news debate show, which is a commonality in every Indian household. From the title, to the content, to the acting – the overall tone was seamlessly ‘Mirzapur’, building a stronger connection with the fans and resulting in further enhancing the engagement.
You have announced a partnership with MindPeers – a mental strength platform. Can you elaborate more on this partnership? Can you talk to us about the diversity and inclusion at SoCheers?
I strongly stand by the belief that it is the people who build the organisation and it has always been our prime focus to keep them at the centre. It, therefore, stands to reason that we want to craft a place which is not only creatively thriving but also cares for their overall wellbeing. The recent association with MindPeers is a step towards re-strengthening our efforts towards the same.
Moreover, we realised that the attention we gave to our mental wellness during the pandemic has since dwindled somewhat, maybe because the effects were pretty apparent then and now we’ve found a sense of normalcy again. But caring for yourself is a process for a lifetime, which is why I hope that with MindPeers we can feel free to explore our holistic health again, with some expert help.
According to you, what are the key marketing trends that Indian marketers need to focus on in the coming years?
Smart and innovative use of data is fast becoming a differentiating factor in many of the advertising campaigns today. Data has the potential to help create the most relevant, relatable and personalised content for consumers. Hence, how a brand researches and employs data will significantly determine their digital presence and the relationship they have with their target audience.
Another marketing trend that I see coming up in a big way is the integration of advanced technology into digital storytelling to create a holistic experience for consumers. Its path can be traced in the meteoric rise of all things digital, virtual and, especially, metaverse.
Consumer behaviour has drastically changed over the last few years and so has their acceptance towards brand messaging and campaigns. The younger audience is always on a look-out for more authentic and honest brand messaging in terms of reliability and relevance. The potential a genuine messaging has to impact perceptions, is unparalleled, and it won’t take long for brands to recognise it and actively look to leverage it.
Throw some light on the ways SoCheers is using technology as a support system for the organisation and clients.
Being a digital-first agency since our inception, everyone at SoCheers has grown up living and breathing digital; and evolving with it too.
We try to see how a new piece of technology can make an impact, and how a brand can be a part of its ecosystem.
Moreover, the research and data analysis, by the recently added Digital Intelligence & Analytics (DIA) division of the agency, has already helped create specialised playbooks and significantly increase clients’ outputs. We also conscientiously employ social listening, which allows us to gauge the ongoing conversations and audience sentiments to accordingly shape a campaign’s narrative. I enjoy it immensely when the factual, unwavering data comes together to produce a creative piece of storytelling experience, which resonates with the audience.
We also have plans to inculcate technology more innately into our work in the near future. We have invested in and experimented with technological advancements like virtual reality and metaverse, in order to be able to deliver a more impressive execution in segments like Augmented Reality.
What are your goals for 2022 and beyond?
My goals for SoCheers for 2022 and beyond can be summed up in three words – Expand. Explore. Evolve.
Expanding the scale of the agency is the central goal. With our ever-growing client base, we want to expand our capabilities, hence we’re working on establishing a larger team. The expansion of our footprint in different geographies is also paramount, and with a new office in Bangalore, we’ve already taken the first of many steps towards the same. The presence will also be furthered by putting our work up on more international stages, competing with the industry stalwarts.
We are looking to explore sectors that we haven’t worked with before to augment our client roster, aiming at a sustainable long-term growth which will be reflected in the growth numbers. We have also actioned plans to explore dedicated tech platforms to further our offerings and build on our digital-first approach.
We have always taken pride in our culture and we want to take it a step further, effectively evolving into one of the best places to work at. Another step in our evolution process will come from substantiating our efforts to give back to the community and helping the society in any way we can.
