Next up in our profile series of our partner founders in the Brands2Life Global Network is Dhrubajyoti Gayan of Candour Communications in India.
What led you to set up your own agency? Usually professionals feel restricted within some structures and see better potential in being able to do things in an unencumbered way, or even have big ideas that lead to their entrepreneurial journey. My situation was a bit different.
I used to head a JV between two Omnicom Group agencies in India, had great bosses and all the freedom I needed. However, when the JV fell apart, friends, colleagues and clients thought it would be a great opportunity for me to set off on my own. I saw their point and that was the start of my journey.
What are the three biggest things you’ve learned since founding your agency? Being the founder of an agency and working at a large organisation are very different. To set up an organisation yourself, you need to quickly grasp various aspects of finance, taxation, HR and other support functions, in addition to focusing on business development and client servicing. And all that takes up a lot more time than one might expect!
The basics of understanding industry sectors, individual businesses, what the client is looking for, agreeing on what needs to be done and just doing it honestly and transparently are always important. Relationship dynamics with vendors, financial institutions, prospective employees, clients and so on can be quite different when working at a large agency versus being a founder too, especially when you are new and small.
And last but by no means least, a sense of humour is a critical requirement!
What inspires you each day? The nature of this sector of business throws up one challenge or another on a daily basis. This can range from strategic questions for a client with a major handicap, to an emerging crisis, to people movement threatening existing set-ups and so on and so forth. I thrive on these.
Then there is the fact that this business is always changing and very rapidly. Figuring out what tomorrow is likely to look like and fighting it out one tiny step at a time, so that we as an agency, or a group of people can claim our rightful place in that future is inspiring enough.
What are the common misconceptions around doing comms in your market? For someone who is unfamiliar with this market, it might look like doing comms here is very different. In my opinion the fundamentals are pretty much the same. However, you have to factor in complexities given India is vast in terms of area, population, languages, religious and cultural beliefs.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in PR since you founded your company? The depth and variety of services that any agency today provides, and the mind space that it occupies at the CXO level, has vastly increased. That also means that it attracts people with varied competencies, making it a far more vibrant eco-system to work within.
What would you say is your biggest learning from adapting to working during a global pandemic? I think the world around us is changing. Amongst other things, technological advancement is making physical proximity immaterial to a large extent. However, we have been doing things in a particular way for far too long and didn’t realise what these changes could mean to us.
For example, people need not come to an office on a daily basis or travel hundreds of miles for a meeting to maintain optimum productivity. Such realisations have changed the way people look at employment and work life. Everything will revolve around a professional’s responsibilities and impact, not how many hours they are clocking. At the same time, this will bring along with it some new challenges, for example what the definition of an organisation will be or the relationship between an employer and employee. In the end though, the personal freedom that these evolutions will enable in the professional lives of people should help see us through.
Which campaign are you most proud of having been involved in? Its very difficult for me to pick one campaign over others, but I derive the greatest satisfaction from working on issues rather than just brands.
The fun of reading volumes to get to the crux of an issue, understanding various points of view, figuring out what might play out how, and finally to structure something that will concisely communicate a particular point of view that resonates with audiences is very exciting. Of course, when these stand the test of time and challenges from various quarters, nothing is more rewarding.
What do you enjoy most about being part of Brands2Life Global? Being in touch with the latest developments around the world in our field is probably the biggest benefit. And of course the networking and new business opportunities that come along with it.
Candour Communications joined the Brands2Life Global Network as a partner several years ago. The agency has significant shared experience with clients such as Sonicwall, Redis Labs, Collinson Group, Xynteo and Yoti.
