Spirit W | Marketing @ luxury brands: Creative Co's Aneesa Dhody Mehta

Creative Co., a 360 degree Brand Consulting & Marketing Agency offering services in Brand Management, Public Relations, Social Media and Luxury events currently services luxury and lifestyle brands in India, and those entering the Indian market along with providing customized turnkey solutions for clients. Headquartered in Mumbai, Creative Co has strong local affiliated networks in Delhi, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad, along with their global presence that extends to US and UK.

The Creative Co. team brings to the table over a decade of cross industry expertise under the steerage of its Managing Director and Founder, Aneesa Dhody Mehta.

Adgully caught up with  Aneesa Dhody Mehta, Managing Director and Founder, Creative Co to talk about her career, marketing strategies and growth and evolution of the luxury brand market.

Speaking about what made her choose this profession, she said, "The fact is that this market was nascent in those days, and therefore it was a new territory for me to explore. Also, my understanding of luxury brands and the affluent Indian consumer attracted me to this sector."

Since she has seen and experienced international market more than Indian market hence in terms of challenges she feels that the lack of understanding of the luxury market from international offices has always been a hurdle in the past."

"In addition, lack of avenues to showcase premium brands in an appropriate manner, as options are limited in India, lack of trained staff managing the brands in India, as well as limited budgets due to limited reach, is a challenge. In mature international markets, brands have multiple stores in the same city and the product sale volumes are high," she added.

She believes that working in this industry also leads to working with multiple agencies, which can create issues such as time management and reduce the efficiency/ productivity of the project as a whole. Government policies and regulations are quite strict and the red tape is very hard to overcome to create special events.

On asking about her key strengths and some of her endeavors that she is proud of, Mehta said, "Creative Co. is a full service marketing agency that specializes in servicing luxury and lifestyle clients. The reason we do so, is because of an in depth understanding of the local market and international brands. It’s very important to find a balance between international brand standards, and knowing what strategy will work locally, and also what can be executed locally."

"We understand the customer. Therefore, our strategies are tailor made to speak to them in a language they understand be it through PR, branding & communication, social media,  events etc.," she adds.

They work across sectors from media houses to hospitality, fashion, cosmetics, amongst others. As long as the client is within the luxury and lifestyle space, they can create a marketing campaign to reach out to consumers.

Mehta says, "We pride on being focused and professional at all times. No client is too big or too small for us. We are very dedicated and hands on. Clients that work with us, very rarely move to other agencies."

Launching Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Jimmy Choo in India was personally a huge experience for her. "I did everything from the launch events, to scheduling the media plans, rolling out the marketing calendar of promotions, sales, events, associations as well as studied the consumer’s buying behavior and mentality towards the entry of such brands in India" she explained.

The launch of Hermes in India was also a very special event which took over 5 months to plan. They also helped with the visual merchandising of the store for three seasons, until the brand was comfortable to hire another agency, since they do not offer this service in house.

Mehta shares that working on Ciroc, has been close to her heart, because they have seen the brand grow tremendously, with a national campaign executed for them. They have been their client since the inception of the company. "When we started out 3 years ago, people weren’t aware of the brand, but now, everyone knows the name," she adds.

When asked to define her stint with Creative Co, she says, "It’s not a stint, it’s a marriage! There are good days, and hard days, but the feeling of achievement when you do good work, and when your clients flourish from your efforts, nothing could be more rewarding than this. I have no complaints."

The company, started off with one client, and today they have over 20 clients in their roster, some of them with tremendous history and global presence. She considers it rewarding to be trusted and to work with such brands.

With over a decade’s experience in her kitty now, Mehta has seen the industry’s growth and evolution. When asked to evaluate the same she explained by saying, "When I first started was the time when luxury brands started making their foray into India. There were no benchmarks or statistics and therefore it was experimental and only assumptions were made on the pioneering brands that entered."

Further elaborating the above scenario, Mehta said, "Brand value and recall was what these luxury brands relied on heavily.  However many learned the hard way that the Indian consumer psyche and purchasing patterns were very different from their western counterparts despite having the purchasing power.  Ten years later and after much trial and error luxury brands have understood that their approach in other markets can’t be directly translated into the Indian market. They have also learned to be more conservative with their growth projections due to not only consumer reactions but also infrastructure problems that have inhibited the growth of luxury distribution in India."

As mentioned earlier Mehta has lived and worked in 4 different countries so when asked what understanding of their nuances has she gained in terms of global lifestyle and luxury brands in the market, she said, "That luxury doesn’t change from country to country. It is the consistency that matters and is an important factor. Whether you buy a Gucci product from London or Mumbai the entire package should be the same such as the experience, the service and the attention to detail. Another aspect is that brands need to be a little flexible in attracting consumers from different markets, to make them feel special . For example, some brands take on India inspired products, or conduct a special promotion or gifting exercise during Diwali."

When asked in what way combining market environment experience with corporate lifestyle insights has benefited her in her professional career Mehta said, "Sometimes when you are in a corporate environment you tend to get too caught up in the back end work like looking at budgets, the product line, marketing plans etc. Market environment experience is what keeps you in touch with the consumer which if not understood, the back end is only theory." 

"I have been in the luxury industry since the beginning and have seen its growth. There have been many entrants recently who have not experienced the evolution nor fully have understood the nuances of luxury in the international context which needs to be translated to the Indian market in a way that maintains the brands USP as well as appeals to the Indian consumer, " she said in terms of explaining how her company stands ahead of the curve.

Since the inception of Creative Co. 2  1/2 years ago, they have built an admirable roster of clients, which includes brands like iconic fashion houses Hermes and Gucci, Diageo brand Ciroc, designer shoemaker Christian Louboutin and luxury cosmetic manufacturer Lancôme and Clarins, GiftVault.com, Blues Jewellery Company and also high end hospitality brands such as Bardo, Ellipsis, amongst others.

When asked to share her views on the luxury industry in India and if it lacks organizationally, Mehta said, “The international luxury brands have very specific guidelines in terms of distribution, staffing training, imaging etc. But since India is a nascent market for luxury the basics are not in place. The international brands have to try and work around the present shortfall in the Indian market without compromising on the brand identity on which the brands have been built.”

There is an agency that has started training sessions for luxury brand management in India, and Mehta is sure that this market will grow due to demand in years to come.

"In order to service our clients, we plan on having subsidiary offices in other key metros in India, such as Delhi and Bangalore. We would also like to firmly establish our presence as the leading agency for any luxury and lifestyle brands, both national and international, requiring marketing assistance in India," concluded Mehta.