The game of marketing & advertising is no longer the same as it was a few years back. Change is the only constant in this industry and today brands are all about reaching out to every prospective audience through whatever means possible. With such high competition comes a great deal of expectations to meet across the spectrum.
It is safe to say that the next wave is a wave of consolidation. Brands/Clients today are looking for everything under one roof with respect to services. This is the wave that Schbang – a Mumbai headquartered Integrated Solutions Agency is proudly riding on. The agency brings various integrated marketing services under one roof and creates ‘The Whole Schbang’ for its clients.
The Trio
Schbang, the Integrated Solutions Agency founded in 2015, is the brainchild of Harshil Karia, Sohil Karia and Akshay Gurnani, the Co-Founders.
Harshil Karia, the MD has been in the digital space in India for over 10 years. He’s worked extensively with brands across the spectrum creating relationships with the likes of L’Oreal, Godrej, Castrol, Pidilite and MAC Cosmetics – to name a few.
Akshay Gurnani is Schbang’s CEO whose eight-year-long journey started with a 6-month stint as a Financial Analyst. After which he moved on to making waves in the marketing world at a growing digital marketing agency. In 2015, he co-founded Schbang and went on to work with several national and international brands (Mattel, Cipla, Kaya, Baskin Robbins, Philips, Leveza, etc) with a team of over 250 talented, young minds across Mumbai and Bangalore.
Sohil Karia, the Design and Technology Director, has worked with brands such as BBLUNT, GoodKnight and Asian Paints in his seven-year-long journey. He started his career at the age of 18 at a start-up and paved his path to being a Senior Art Director. At Schbang, he has formed and trained the entire design and web team creating a range of quality websites for national and international brands.
The Young Business
This four-year old agency is currently working with leading brands from within the country and is creating a mark internationally too. The team strongly believes in #CreatingASchbang with all the work that is done and making a mark for itself and its clients. Schbang, originally spelt, as Shebang is a word created in the 17th Century and is typically used as a phrase “the whole Schbang” which is a testament to the company’s offering. The logo which is a” # “fused with an “!” is a UNIX code operative that is called a Shebang. It essentially means ‘read what follows in its entirety’– a reference again to its quest for completeness.
The team at Schbang has grown from three to over two hundred and fifty, managing over 50 brands simultaneously. Schbang’s guiding principles include:
- Client’s Business Wins, We Win
- Our Word is our Bond
- Creativity is Sacred. Aesthetics are God
- Partnerships with Win – Win Attitudes
- Be Culturally Relevant, Always
- Build Local. Serve Global. Learn Global. Serve Local.
- Technology to Simplify
- Think, Plan and then Execute Fearlessly
Being Unconventional
Schbang today thrives on the relationships it has built in the past couple of years. Schbang’s idea of being different from competition is quite simple – ‘Ensuring that the clients business wins through the solutions it delivers’. The agency’s philosophy is that it should help the client see completeness and help brands converge all mediums. It offers holistic solutions that include Creative work for Print & OOH, Digital Content, Search Engine Optimization, Technology, Design, Video Production, Photography, Media Planning & Buying, Influencer Management and PR.
The company has won 28 awards in 2018 for multiple brands – Rajasthan Royals, Ashok Leyland, Goodknight, Beardo, Xiaomi, Kaya, Raw Pressery, UNO, Godrej Nature’s Basket and many more. It has also been featured as a part of the LinkedIn’s list of Top Startups in India in 2018 and won the Digital Agency of the Year Award at CMO Asia.
Creating a Healthy Culture
Schbang takes proactive steps to help its employees voice out their issues and seek help without any inhibitions. Creating a healthy work environment starts from day one with the induction, making new employees aware of the company policies, frameworks and key people, to set the right tone. It welcomes its people with a Schbang Potli – it’s a knapsack of hope, (some things included in this little bag are a key – to help you open other doors when one closes, a flower – to remind you that you will grow and blossom, an eraser – to help you fix all the mistakes; to name a few) – that holds a lot of value and intrinsic meaning to the role they are about to take on. It’s a guiding light to what’s in store for each one on this new journey and somewhere gives them hope to be able to succeed in their endeavours that eventually help them #CreateASchbang.
In an attempt to create awareness and helping people, Schbang collaborated with Trijog. It spoke with some big names in the industry that have battled mental health issues as an effort to let people know that it is OK to speak up regarding any mental health issue. They also worked with Simple Origami Ideas to change perception about the dreaded #BlueWhaleChallenge. It took to social media where it urged its teams to make origami blue whales and share the same on their social media platforms to give the #BlueWhaleChallenge an image makeover and a positive memory. They urge employees to have a healthy lifestyle and has conducted a fun app integrated challenge that allowed them to count their daily steps and incentivized participation. The competitive spirit amongst team members not only allowed them to up their fitness game, but also brings about a happy positive energy to their day-to-day life.
And Now To The Future
The trio is all advice to the even younger guns and entrepreneurs in the industry. They advise to:
- have a solid business plan
- hire right, spend time and have patience with the team
- invest and build the right environment and culture for people productivity.
- ensure that everything being communicated is translating to the business result
- keep consistency in providing all-round solutions.
Schbang and its founders have always aimed high and have big plans for the future. Its long-term goals include creating waves internationally and having a feeder system from India to the world, bringing the whole Schbang! It is also aiming at drawing a net revenue of 100 crore by 2020. The team is confident of making these dreams come true with the help of its steadfast principles backing it every step of the way and is definitely looking forward to bringing #TheWholeSchbang in 2019!
