MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications Private Limited

Marketing Consultant

Agrovision India

Digital Consultant

Verb Your Brand

I have been an agency guy for well over 15 years, and while I enjoyed every moment I spent in all the agencies I worked at, clients I worked with, pitches I won and those that I didn’t (only to see the idea being released by the incumbent agency a month later), and the all-nighters - there was something missing.

Agencies - large or small, have become more efficient as responders and not as much as creators, solution builders, and growth partners. I am sure there are some exceptions, but largely, this is the industry truth.

I started Verb Your Brand (VYB) in 2019 with the simple intention of creating effective growth strategies in collaboration with business owners and founders, implementing it with their marketing teams, and being held accountable for the results. 

A complete 180 from what an agency does. 
VYB works almost exclusively with founder driven businesses.

Founder

White Digital Canvas

The vision with White was to create a true-marketing partner for legacy and new age businesses alike with the core focus on strategy, creative and performance.

I was part of the founding team to re-launch the agency, led the strategy, built a network, developed existing businesses, brought in new customers, and hired the A-team across multiple functions and roles.

White has been (so far) the most invested that I have been in any project - physically, financially, and emotionally, And hence, the lessons learnt from this experience will go a long way in determining whom I partner with, projects I work on, and more.

Partner and Director of Strategy

Synapse Information Services Pvt. Ltd.

Located in Panjim, Goa, Synapse was truly a revelation for me. Counting some of the biggest names in the industry as clients, competing with agencies 10x its size - it had all the makings of what could have been a great success story.

As a business head, I was responsible for growing the business, hiring and mentoring teams across functions, and building new revenue streams.

I wish that I had more time and emotional bandwidth to contribute more to the business.

Business Unit Head

SapientRazorfish

The most rewarding year of my career. 

As the head of strategy, I was responsible for positioning the agency as a strategic partner to large enterprise clients like Aditya Birla Group (UltraTech Cement, Fashion, Capital, and Learning and Development), Mahindra and Mahindra (Automotive, Group Transformation Projects), Eureka Forbes, Asian Paints (Training and Workshop), among others. 

I spent a lot of time with the business development team to get insights from prospective customer conversations, to either tailor-make our solutions through our local and global network of specialists or implement the existing solution and learning that would exist within the agency.

I was recommended by the CEO to be part of the Publicis Drugstore India launch team. 

Publicis Drugstore India is an initiative to foster relationships between large companies and early stage start-ups for mutual benefit.

Head of Strategy

Anvis Digital Pvt Ltd

It was an all hands on-deck role - strategy, business development, media planning, account management, hiring, and creative. The fun of being a part of the founding team of what will be a large and successful digital agency in the coming years.

Across my two stints (Feb 2015 - April 2016, and 2018) at Anvis, the team grew from 4 to 25, revenue grew 5X, client logos 3X, and the agency managed to differentiate itself from others by focusing on growing founder-driven brands.

Vice President Business

Clickiya Digital Pvt Ltd

Clickiya was my first startup - a content creation and distribution agency. 

The idea, which I realized within 4 months of launch, was way before its time. Clients were just getting used to paying for social media posts, and they were certainly not ready to pay for creating digital content IPs and then spend money distributing it to create a community of believers and enthusiasts. 

Needless to say, the business folded within a year. We however, managed to get in a few brands who saw the future and were ready to take the plunge. 

At the time of shutting down, we broke-even and the rights to name were retained by one majority shareholder.

Co-Founder

World Wide Open

The in-house digital agency of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG). 

As a lead of strategy and creative I was responsible for all things digital (social media, websites, apps, media) at Reliance Communications, with a dotted line reporting to the CMO.

This was my first full-time ‘digital’ role and at the time I couldn’t have asked for a better environment to fasttrack the learning curve, and the team which supported me and held me accountable at the same time. 

Among many industry firsts, the few notable ones were the launch of iPhone 5S and 5C, Twitter Support Bot, and custom-built dashboard for customer support.

Lead Strategy and Creative

Focus Circle Brands Pvt. Ltd.

I learned everything I know about advertising, and building business here.

Over the six years I donned as many hats - from Sr. Account Manager to Business Head - the journey was quite fulfilling and filled with invaluable professional and life lessons. 

Pune office - among the first 5 hires as Sr. Account Manager, I grew to lead the office and make it the most profitable unit of the agency. Team grew 4x, business 6x.

Delhi office - in the firefighting role, I managed to stop the client churn, built the positive momentum, hired the A-team, and turned the loss-making unit to break-even in 16 months.

Mumbai office - the first national role, I was responsible for the business and team growth across all the units (Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai). Revenues grew 2.5x, team 2x, gross profitability improved to 16% from 12.5%.

Focus Kids - partnered the founder to launch India’s first interactive social network for kids between the ages of 5 and 13 - worldoo. From user surveys to product launch and getting the first 1000 users - this journey has been like no other.

Leadership Team

With over 20 years of experience in the marketing industry, I have built brands, grown businesses, and led teams across various domains and scales. I am the founder of Verb Your Brand, a marketing agency that helps businesses of all shapes and sizes drive growth via customer experience (CX). 

I am passionate about creating effective growth strategies in collaboration with business owners and founders, implementing them with their marketing teams, and being held accountable for the results. I am also fascinated by the potential of generative AI and ChatGPT to enhance CX and communication. I have acquired multiple certifications from Google Cloud Skills Boost to learn and apply these skills in my projects. I am always open to discussing business or marketing challenges or brainstorming some crazy ideas. Feel free to email me at swapnil@verbyourbrand.com.

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