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Prateek N Kumar is the man spearheading the experienced team at NeoNiche Integrated,. He is aiming to create an agency loved by every stakeholder. He started his career in hospitality and hotel management after which he decided to actively participate in the growth stories of several startup – agencies, giving him tremendous on-ground exposure and hands-on training in the field. His dreams led to the birth of NeoNiche. Prateek is driven by passion and a view-point of always looking at the big picture and these ideals coupled with his versatility and adaptability, help him be the excellent leader he is.
Breaking the mould and challenging the normal, Prateek’s greatest strength is the ability to pick the right person for the right job, create self-sustaining and profitable ventures and then stepping aside to let the new leaders take from that point. Described as the Milestone Man, Prateek’s first campaign was back in the 7th Standard for his friend running a fire-cracker stall during Diwali. In conversation with Afternoon D&C’s Dominic Rebello, he reveals his passion for his business and how he plans to take things into the future
What drives you?
To define it in three words, Ideas, Innovation and Insight of doing something different, creating experiences and adding value to businesses in different industries. I love waking up every morning with a purpose of working with this great team that I have, who try to execute every idea to perfection. If it hadn’t been for my team, I don’t think it would have been possible to do half the things we do and to achieve half of the things that we have achieved in last 5 years.
How big is the potential for a business like yours?
Globalization and technology advancement, shape the way we perceive and see things today like never before. Strategies, tactics, and operational processes that just a decade ago reigned supreme, now look a little out of sync, when viewed through today’s brand perspective. As the line between traditional ATL and BTL agencies have started blurring, marketers have started looking for more robust agencies that could rise up the ‘value chain’ and be more integrated in its approach. What we see as BTL in India is only the tip of an iceberg. There are exiting times ahead.
Any major customers that you now cater to? What kind of numbers do you expect from a business like yours?
Currently we are working with more than 100 global brands .Our customers are from all across the Globe. For NeoNiche our clients including some of the biggest names from Fortune 500 list. Our clientele is spread across different Industry verticals right from IT, ITES, BFSI, Manufacturing, Media, Healthcare and lifestyle, many of these clients are spread across the globe. We also have a special cost plus profit model for startups and SMB space.
Any statistics to compare with international standards?
In India the story of experiential and digital marketing has just begun. We have a diaspora of demographics; culture barriers, smaller towns and villages need more infrastructure, education and the internet. Though the same is changing at a very swift speed, to view it with international benchmark will not be fair. Rather, insights which are unique and experience driven are more apt way of gauging the progress.
How do you plan to scale up; raise funds through seed or venture capital or simply grow the old fashioned way through rising turnovers?
We built NeoNiche the old fashioned way by bootstrapping and building brick by brick. As a company, we have been profitable from the very first year. Our excellent year on year growth has been possible primarily because we have scaled up and continue to do so with our value based approach. We don’t have any need to raise external capital.
Who would primarily be your consumer audience?
Though our primary audiences are Corporates who want to reach out to their customers with a memorable brand experiences, we do have offerings for individuals as well.
Where do you see yourself five years down the road?
Our vision is to become the most respected and caring experiential marketing company in the world and our goal is to solidify that position in the years to come. In next 5 years we see ourselves adding more value to the ecosystem that we serve and to build NeoNiche into a Rs 100 crore company.