Tell a story

The startup culture has been burgeoning in India. However, there’s stiff competition all around. To stay ahead in the game, one needs to have brilliant ideas along with great marketing tools. Only then can a startup taste success. 

Prateek Kumar, CEO and managing director of NeoNiche, a Mumbai-based experiential marketing agency, tells us how marketing has become the need of the hour. “Our basic needs have changed from ‘food, shelter and clothing’ to ‘food, shelter, clothing and the internet’. We need to have all the latest updates to feel connected with the rest of the world,” says Kumar.

The internet has become a tool in our hands that has changed everything — for good and for bad. But Kumar adds that the internet has given the power to youngsters to aim higher to make better choices when it comes to careers.

Talking about how a startup can survive in the face of tough competition, Kumar says, “When it comes to conceptualising a startup it is important to consider the problem that you are trying to solve and if there are already many players in the field, you have to think differently, aim higher and make better choices and, most importantly, learn.” 

He points out that even when it comes to startups it is important to sell themselves and make their existence felt so that the reach of the startup is optimised. “To do so, marketing is required. Marketing is not only about selling the brand and reaching targets, it is also about engaging people so that they identify your brand and associate with it,” he says.

Marketing has evolved with time. It has now become a two-way communication between the consumer and the seller because of which the arms of marketing are spreading deep into business modules. 

“More than selling the product it has become a way to tell the story of the product. Previously, there was so much of noise clutter of brands with the way people were bombarded with advertisements across verticals. Now, different marketing tools have come into place,” he says adding that if a startup sells a product through a story and, more literally, with an emotion attached to it, then it ends up creating an impression on the minds of people. 

“Once people identify your brand they automatically start talking about it and even if they are not buying the product they are advertising for you merely by talking about it,” says Kumar, adding, “Never think of marketing as an expense. Believe it or not, marketing is return on investment, so take chances, understand the demographics and then make decisions.Startups are fuelled with not just ideas but with effective ideas that work for consumers.”