Content and marketing strategies are working in silos: Ritesh Singh

Digital marketing & communication consulting company Arm Worldwide (formerly Arm Digital) is bullish on its nearshore and offshore operations and recently established its foothold in Singapore to cater to the South East Asia market. Headquartered at Gurgaon, the company has operations in Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune as well. 

Since its inception, the organisation has kept its focus global and catered to several foreign markets along with India. #ARM has worked with an exhaustive list of national and international brands, including start-ups, BFSI, fintech, technology giants, leaders in education space, etc., devising innovative, 360-degree digital marketing and communication strategies around four key service areas – Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, PR & Technology. 

Working with a zest to push boundaries of communication and setting new benchmarks with diverse perspectives incorporated in brand engagement, a number of awards ranging from the likes of winning the ‘Most Creative PR Stunt’ in South-East Asia, to a gold in IAMAI and IPRCCA, Big Bang Awards to Inkspell were won and are testimonials to company’s work. #ARM Worldwide works on a wide spectrum of clients from the likes of Bajaj Finserv, Pearl Academy, Zee Learn, Capital Float, Ashiana, Pearson India, and Nearbuy, among others. 

Ritesh Singh, Co-founder and MD, #ARM Worldwide, speaks to Adgully on the company’s growth strategy, challenges and opportunities, its ARMpreneur programme, content marketing and more. Excerpts: 

How is the transition from Arm Digital to Arm Worldwide panning out?
As #ARM Worldwide, we are entering our fifth year with a #High5. Every year, we had added a new dimension to our business for our customers, ‘digital PR’ a year before and ‘traditional public relations’ service last year with our unique lens of digital and content marketing. 

As part of our expansion plan, Singapore is the first market we have stepped into and parallel to this, focus on off shoring continues to give us the tail wind. 

With new services and new geographies adding to our business, rebranding was a must from ‘#ARM Digital’ to ‘#ARM Worldwide’. 

Post the rebranding, what is the scale up you are expecting in your revenues, business growth, clients?
There’s no cap when it comes to growth in this business and there are multiple factors for it. With digital gaining importance in the life of brands and organisations, consulting companies like ours have growth possibilities both in India and in global markets. 

India’s digital advertising market is growing at 30-40 per cent year-on-year, with the last published figure close to Rs 7,000 crore, which is one part of our business. Additionally, strategy and management services (Social media, SEO, Content Marketing, Public Relations, and Influencer marketing) are also growing multifold. We believe size of strategy and management services is safe to assume as another Rs 7,000 crore, with a total market size of Rs 14,000 crore. 

At #ARM Worldwide, we are crafting new ways of solving brands/ customers business and marketing challenges; like we launched our PR service last year and have done globally recognised and awarded work in our first year itself. Our intent is ‘to handcraft solutions’, no cookie cutter approach and that’s what has ensured growth of our customers and our organisation. 

This year, we are adding a new chapter to our offerings with ‘Inbound marketing’ and shall share further details in the near future. 

What are the challenges that you have faced in going for the global markets?
We have worked for many of our clients with their international marketing needs, designing and executing solutions impeccably. We have had case studies, award winning and business transformational work to showcase. The country and its talent is recognised world over for expertise in technology, decision makers do understand cost benefit in off shoring to India. In the digital world, many agencies have had a successful offshore model, a lot has been done by many companies in different ways and that lead to one of the biggest challenges we have faced in terms of changing perceptions around Indian companies on their commitment and quality in this domain. 

Our aim is to build #ARM Worldwide as a marketing and communication consulting company crafting global and local country specific digital strategies and ensuring that the brand and organisation we work for, grows in its business. 

How is your Singapore foray shaping up? Please tell us about the work done there, client acquisitions, associations, etc.
It’s not been long that we entered the Singapore market; results worth celebrating and, therefore, sharing will follow soon. Unlike a global company entering a new market, where the strategy is simple – get an anchor client and roll – in our case, it’s an Indian company with global expansion plans; anchor is our zeal to grow. We had a good start; we are providing our strategic services for a globally recognised university in Singapore. We have also been shortlisted to participate in pan Asia digital marketing pitches by global companies with regional headquarter in Singapore and some advanced talks are on. 

Please tell us about the #ARMpreneur programme?
At #ARM Worldwide, we strongly believe in the concept of entrepreneurship and value the spirit of entrepreneurship. As an organisation, we have always done efforts to incorporate a culture of entrepreneurships. We want to train team to be able to take calculated risks, have an ownership mindset and incorporate self-efficacy and optimism. As part of #ARMpreneur programme, we train individuals and provide regular mentorship throughout the year. In a few cases we went overboard, three team members got inspired to open their respective ventures and we stand with them to help them succeed. 

Do you think Indian businesses have been able to efficiently harness content marketing?
A variety of case studies are available online on content marketing and the best use of this technique, however they are global examples and India is still catching up. Undoubtedly, we produce good content and are launching innovative marketing campaigns, but content and marketing strategies are working in silos. ‘Content marketing’ is about meticulous plan from content creation to its distribution and amplification. We believe and practice, the fact that consumer listening, data had driven insights and integrated communication yields best results, often organisations tend to jump the process and focus on ROI. A well thought out approach incorporating the framework of content marketing has been instrumental in creating case studies like TEA-A-ME. 

Nikhil Sarna has recently joined as National Creative Director. What will be his immediate focus areas?
Client demands are no longer restricted to a visually appealing copy and creative content, but an integrated creative solution for the brand. Nikhil brings experience and innovative mindset to strengthen #ARM on all areas, including creative and content – effective design and communication solutions underpinned by data driven insights, conceptual thinking framework and meticulous attention to detail. 

Going forward, where do you see the future growth prospects coming from?
In a scenario where ‘connected millennials’ rule the roost, digital is the only way forward. Global brands, SMEs and startups are shifting focus and energies towards a digital approach ranging from marketing to media to public relations. With an ever evolving digital landscape, innovative technology is going to shape marketing as we know it. To keep abreast with fast changing consumer behaviors, real time marketing has become the new norm. Brands that adapt sooner to changing trends will grow faster. Agility is the key. World is moving fast and getting digitised, connected world is the future.