Brand management plays a vital role in creating a positive brand image of a company or a professional through dedicated activities in business media, social circles, and various industry verticals. On reaching a certain level, many companies choose to include public relations and brand management mode of communication as it helps build brand awareness, respect and credibility in the industry.
Some media professionals have precisely identified the importance of brand management and provide effective solutions to the clients by first creating and then enhancing their brand image. The two brand management catalysts, Nupur Singh and Akash Kumar from The GearBox Media, have stood the testimony of providing effective brand management solutions to numerous clienteles spanning a wide range of industry segments.
Nupur shares, “It is said a lot can happen over a few cups of coffee. And The GearBox Media is the live example of that.” While Akash adds, “Business buyers don’t buy our product or service; they ‘buy into’ our perspective and approach to solving their problems.”
These two young professionals from the Public Relations sector, who had seen it all and gathered enough PR success recipes, decided to establish a one-stop place for modern-day brand management needs. And over the last few years, through The GearBox Media, Nupur and Akash have been working with some leading brands and personalities.
In an exclusive interview with Insights Success, the dynamic duo takes us through their professional journey sailing successfully through the challenges and their exciting vision for a vibrant future.
Please, tell us about how you have achieved such a tremendous success.
Nupur: Today, The GearBox Media has clients across every sector. While we have strived for new opportunities, we have always gathered strength from our past successes. From handling marquee events to tackling our clients’ brand promotion and reputation management needs, we have done it all! Our strong relations with the media houses (print and digital) have obviously eased our work.
What professional qualities and values do you think your clients, colleagues, and employees admire in you the most?
Akash: The compliment that we get most often is about our agility and ability to quickly adapt to the changing business needs of our clients. We have been available for our clients round the clock and even on weekends. It is not something that is very praiseworthy because it takes a toll on your work-life balance. But being a small agency, we have always kept our clients a priority and delivered as much as we could.
Nupur: As far as our colleagues and employees are concerned, we always try to strike a balance between work and play. Team outings, midweek luncheons, weekend parties, and whatnot. We try to mingle with each other as much as possible and develop a healthy working environment. It adds a lot to the company’s success in the long run, and even the employees feel a part of the growth very much.
Please brief our audience about The GearBox Media, its USPs, and how you are currently positioned as one of the best product/service/solution providers.
Nupur: The GearBox Media has gradually gained recognition among the PR and media community. And getting to understand what worked the best for the company is interesting to know. This recognition can be attributed to the praiseworthy work that we delivered for our clients (most of which are technology startups).
In fact, we have been delivering such good results to our clients that we get more than half of our new businesses through word of mouth publicity and references from our existing clients.”
Akash: Another very important aspect is that though we are a very small team, we never let that come in the path of our growth. We have always put extra efforts and investment in expanding our service offerings, be it digital PR, influencer marketing, media buying, etc.
Our service portfolio is only getting bigger with time. Apart from just public relations, The GearBox Media has also aced media buying service by offering the most competitive rates for various publications.
Considering the current industry scenario, what kind of challenges do you face, and how do you drive The GearBox Media to overcome them?
Akash: Public Relations and brand building practices are changing every year. There is no point in sticking to the age-old methodologies anymore. At The GearBox Media, we try to mingle the new with the old. And we have a proven process for that as well. Our service umbrella covers all the things your brand requires to grow.
Nupur: Here are some of our services,
- Brand Building: Whatever be your goals, we can fulfil them!
- Media Planning and Buying: We plan and place your news on prominent media channels.
- Events Promotions: Create a buzz and draw good reception for the events.
- Content Writing and Distribution: Create brand-oriented content and distribute them through the proper channels.
- Industry or Competition Mapping: Help you understand the scopes in the industry.
- Profiling, Speakership, Participation in industry-based events
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into your space?
Nupur: Entrepreneurship is catching up in India like never before. This entire decade will be about successful entrepreneurial journeys. It is overwhelming to see the leap of faith and courage that today’s youngsters are taking. It is commendable. The only key to success is persistence and consistency; both are interdependent.
PR requires a specific skill set that does not necessarily come from theoretical degrees. In PR, work experience, communication skills, and media know-how beat everything else. It will only come with experience and a good set of mentors. Akash and I both have been really lucky to have spectacular mentors in our previous agencies who helped us shape better and made us industry ready.
How do you envision scaling your firm’s operations and offerings in 2022 and beyond?
Akash: The GearBox Media is your one-stop destination for brand awareness, reputation management and public relations. Indian business market is more competitive and ripe than it ever was. But a brand needs to stay highlighted to find a place in the hearts of the Indian consumers. We help you build that brand awareness and boost your brand’s reputation through our proven methodologies.”
In our short journey so far, we have an envious clientele. Clients from different business sectors have attained success by trusting us. We are really proud of the fact that most of our clients have forged a long-term relationship with us. And that shows the success of our service methodologies.
We are leaving no stone unturned in being a one-stop-shop for our existing clients (be it for traditional PR, digital PR, media buying, etc.). We are also a perfect pick for potential clients by offering insights-based PR planning and proven results.
