In an exclusive conversation with siliconindia, Abhishek Sharma, Chairman, Akkado, shares the inspiring story of Akkado.
Tell us about the inception story of your firm. What was the idea that motivated you to establish Akkado?
Jigsaw puzzles have always intrigued me. Seeing how each piece can come together to complete the entire picture, reminds me that every piece has a significance. If any piece is missing, it just distorts the entire picture. This is the very concept I applied at Akkado. Different verticals coming together to design the successful picture of Akkado as a complete integrated marketing agency.The idea of innovation inspired me to evolve. The grit and will to overcome the obstacles with innovative ideas and adapting to the situation was the key to my inspiration. The idea that changed my life. The vision to find the innovative pieces to complete the picture of dream inspired me to start my own integrated marketing agency that catered to various aspects of the industry, thus creating an impact.
How do you evaluate the current landscape of Marketing Industry in India? What are the present market barriers and opportunities in this field?
The Marketing Industry is ever so booming. In order to out-think tomor-row, you need to have the right kind of armoury. At Akkado, we have the ammunition that is the perfect blend of curious minds, budding aspirants and the experienced. The experience helps us to understand different sce-narios of different verticals. With their in-depth knowledge and a wide range of contacts, it helps us in deci-phering the marketing personality and stay up-to-date. Their deep knowl-edge of the marketing scenario and strong personal relations with clients helps us to be future ready. Mixing in the blend of experience are the live wires of today’s genera-tion. Their new age thinking and the urge to follow all trends give us a new perspective on things. The best part is their research & development skills. They have a knack of being techno-logically advanced and are updated on the current scenario. With my many years of experience, I have come to the conclusion that you need to adapt & innovate in order to overcome the obstacles. To excel in loyalty programs, first you need to get into the skin of the consumers, understand their emotions and think from their perspective. Defining the target group, measuring loyalty through all sales channel, and rewarding loyalty sufficiently are some of the major obstacles lingering. To understand the event and activation segment, budgets, venues, and technologies have always been the issues that we as an agency need to overcome in order to organize an impactful event. If we talk about Merchandising, quantity, quality, and logistics are few aspects that create a barrier for the agency. But all these obstacles are opportunities for us. We are an integrated marketing solution provider. As an agency, we take-up all the challenges and find solutions to overcome them. It is rightly said that every barrier is an opportunity for us and every opportunity leads to success.
Tell us about the major challenges that Akkado faced during the early years of inception. Also, how did you overcome those challenges to evolve as a recognized name in this segment?
With the ever-growing industry, being stagnant & monotonous is not a solution. You need to be proactive & persistent in order to stay ahead in the race. Constant evolution and rapid transformation are the essentials to stay in par with the changing scenario. Akkado as an agency took time to emerge. Just like water takes time to freeze, Akkado gradually emerged as one of the best integrated marketing solution provider in India. Bringing best talent on board was a step towards overcoming the obstacles. The idea was to have a youthful exuberance along with the experienced mindset to create the perfect blend to understand the market well. There is a constant evolution happening around the world to adapt and innovate in order to stay ahead of the race. This just gave me an idea to have an in-house team of experts that would help in creating magical experiences in events, loyalty, technology and merchandising. When all these aspects are present in-house, then all you need to do is saddle-up your steed and work towards the goal with utmost grit and determination. Challenges can be eliminated and opportunities will present itself.
What are the various pain points that clients come up to you with? Tell us about the initial steps taken by Akkado to mitigate these challenges?
to be well versed in the market. From creating a new loyalty program to curating the entire event to managing the logistics to developing technology, we need the right people for the right kind of job. Collaborations are effective when you have good relations in the market.Technology has become the epicenter of any investment by the client, whether it is loyalty, activations, events, or merchandising. But using technology comes with complications. With an in-house tech team, it gives us leverage from the others, as their expertise helps us in executing technology-driven activities seamlessly.Some minor concerns too need to be catered with utmost focus, as these small things can snowball into catastrophe. For instance, in Loyalty programs, identifying the right TG is a major concern, and how we can engage & interact with them time and again in order to keep their interest. In events & activations, finding the right venue is a major concern. For merchandising, quantity & quality is always the major factor, as the deadlines given are more often constrained.
What are the major services offered by Akkado? How are these services helping in meeting the inception ideology of the firm?
Akkado with a vision in mind and mission in hand is diligent to move forward and create everlasting experiences. The ideology has sowed the seed of success that will bloom into a tree of experiences. Our vision is to create a platform for all passionate individuals to come together and build a globally recognized brand for meeting aspirations, while our mission is to be a 360-degree marketing organization. To achieve this, we use various tools.· Loyalty & CRM: We create everlasting strategies & CRM programs with end-to-end service delivery. We use data to gain unique insights into customer behavior, which results in compelling loyalty propositions and effective engagement programs.· Events, Activations & Exhibitions: We create inspiring, creative and experiential events for all our clients. From customer events to internal communications to product launches, our experience within the industry has helped us to create memorable brand experiences that your audience will truly remember.· Merchandising & Gifts: Adding an element of resil-ient tangibility to consumer relationships, Merchandising is the arm that helps us render white glove services with the designing, branding and procuring of merchandise that helps clients establish a powerful association with their consumers, employees, and others. · MICE: Orchid’s travel partner `Travel Clinic’ expertise in planning the logistics, the hospitality of the guests and creating the entire itinerary of the event from ticketing, to their stay to travel to their entertainment. With an in-house managed app, we are able to provide our travelers with a seamlessly convenient experience of traveling abroad. · Audio Visual & Creative Solution: Enhancing the consumer-brand relationship and experience, we at Akkado also offer our clients with audio video, creative and media related solutions.· Technology Solutions: Our in-house team of tech experts help us to leverage our ideas to the clients with good technical support, henceforth convincing us and the client to go forward with the desired technology, whether it is app development for loyalty or tech-driven idea at an event or activation.
Tell us about the latest technologies you use in the process? Also, how do you ensure the quality of services through technologies?
Technological advancements are taking place every second. Clients are adamant on using the technologies that give a personalized touch and connect their brands with the targeted audience. Hence, we update ourselves about the technologies being used globally.For loyalty programs, App Devel-opment has laid the perfect platform for the brands to build upon and of-fer a truly personalized touch. Our in-house technology team has cre-ated mobile applications and inter-active websites for Honda Joy Club and Oreedoo respectively. We have managed a database of 200,000+ applicants on other applications and associated with many sponsors for our in-house property Orpay. For Events & Activations, technology is the most import-ant aspect that helps in creating personal-ized experiences. We have used Projection Mapping at various events that have brought alive the brand essence in a visually spectacular way.
