The Disrupters: iCubesWire brewing fresh ideas to achieve ‘True ROI’
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Surviving and thriving amid the presence of large agency networks are the smaller, independent agencies, often referred to as ‘boutique agencies’. Quite often created by former employees of larger networks venturing out on their own, and sometimes by people from different professional backgrounds, these independent agencies are being increasingly recognised for their brilliant campaigns and benchmark-setting innovative thinking.
Adgully is presenting its latest feature offering – The Disrupters – which will put the spotlight on such small independent agencies that have been setting a blazing trail in the advertising industry with their work, their new way of operating and ideation, which have been creating disruption in the way the advertising business is done in India.
Featured in this edition of The Disrupters is iCubesWire, a digital marketing solutions company which help brands acquire and retain clients through the web, mobile, email, videos, and so on. iCubesWire is associated with multitudinal brands like Flipkart, Paytm, Kotak Mahindra, Sanghi Cement and real-estate pioneers like Central Park. Besides performance marketing, SMM, SEO, Mobile Marketing, ORM, iCubesWire has also forayed into product vertical with artificial intelligence to explore far-sighted possibilities of the digital world. It is committed towards imparting round the clock solutions that elevate the brand presence digitally and leave a unique impression of the brand.
Sahil Chopra, CEO and Founder of iCubesWire, is a highly motivated and adaptive digital marketing professional and Internet evangelist, with an expertise in Internet strategy development and execution. Chopra has over 9 years of experience in digital marketing across multiple traditional and emerging channels.
In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, Sahil Chopra narrates the story of iCubesWire’s creation, how it ideates on client briefs, how its thinking and agency culture is different from its contemporaries and above all – how it has been disrupting the advertising industry. Here’s Chopra in his own words…
The iCubesWire Story – How it all began
iCubesWire came into existence 8 years back in April 2010. The journey began with the bootstrap process and has been functioning independently ever since. It is overwhelming that the organisation has experienced an upward growth vertically as well as horizontally for nearly a decade now. We are aiming to continue being an independent organisation, wish to amplify our work, grow in numbers, push digital boundaries further and explore farsighted possibilities for as long as we can.
The objective & vision
The objective behind the company was to create a marketspace in the digital domain which offers instant results and imparts 360-degree solutions to the clients. We are constantly enhancing our vision and affixing elements to our manifesto. We are nearing our vision and each time we push it further to create higher benchmarks. Thus, we believe we have achieved only 10 per cent of our objective and it will reach a perfect 100 per cent only when we invent a pathbreaking product in the history of digital landscape.
Genesis of the agency name
iCubesWire was a concoction of a few words that represent what we do. The alphabet ‘i’ stands for Internet, ‘Cubes’ represents unit of measurement, and ‘Wire’ is the virality that the digital network offers. Our logo rightfully imparts justice to the name and is the identity we live by. It is a unique name which was finalised after multiple choices and brainstorming.
Giving creative ideation an edge
The creative ideation process isn’t limited to only a few people. Creativity isn’t subjective, an idea, an out-of-the-box thought can pop-up in anyone’s mind. Thus, we seek suggestions and ideas from everyone around the office and then incorporate it to the best of our abilities by tweaking it to suit the client’s requirement and the brand image. It is a hub where fresh ideas are brewed every day and turned into exceptional strategies that garner desired result.
Tackling the client brief
Being the pioneers in performance marketing for nearly a decade, we understand the end objective of a business, which is to achieve ‘True ROI’. Thus, we thoroughly study the brand, gather the insights, understand the nerve of the client and suggest means to derive maximum ROI. Keeping their brief in mind, there is a constant evolution of ideas that we leverage and build strategies upon, which emerges fruitful for the brand and helps them achieve their end objective.
Creating disruption
We are among the few agencies in the country that has a dominant presence in performance marketing, is a full-service digital agency and a technological vertical functioning smoothly across geographies. This clearly has been our USP and there are various verticals that we wish to delve into as we grow. Everyone in the respective fields dutifully carries out their responsibilities while at the same time contributing their share of ingenuity to enhance the overall ideation.
Running an independent operation
The biggest advantage of running your own independent operation is that there is freedom to carry out your decisions for the welfare of the organisation. Launching a product to shutting down another to expanding to newer verticals, the choice is clearly autonomous. On the other hand, a disadvantage of running an independent agency is that it takes time to create a legacy and gain the trust of the prospective clients which can be achieved from tough grind and exceptional work.
Key clients
We have an extensive list of esteemed clientele, which includes industry giants like Amazon, Paytm, Flipkart, Central Park, Konica Minolta, Make My Trip, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and the list spans to all the verticals who have believed in us and have helped us walk closer to our vision.
Working out the pitch advantage
Just like the two sides of a coin, there are pros and cons associated with everything. In case of independent agencies, there is an ocean of opportunities waiting to be dived into. Though there is a risk of drowning in the vast ocean, one has to believe in them and aim towards sailing on the surface with the right technique and farsightedness.
The challenges & opportunities
This could also be the era of endless opportunities which offer a wider scope to explore, invent, innovate and execute ideas that have only been thought of initially. Small independent agencies should focus on quality work and building unique prepositions which will lead them to success. They can bank upon the need of the hour and predict the future prerequisite to create demand for their products and services.
Running an independent operation
I always aspired to start a digital organisation that offered round the clock solutions under one roof, and I am glad to have taken that step 8 years ago. iCubesWire is like my child that I nurture and aim to make it the biggest agency. Amidst all the challenges, turmoil, ups and downs, establishing this organisation has been worth every second, penny and effort.
The 5-year plan
If the speculations are to shape up as per the expectations, then the organisation will grow manifold horizontally as well as vertically with more office spaces being opened-up at various geographies along with increase in manpower. The organisation will continue experiencing concentric diversification with added products and services being offered to the clients. Thus, we are aiming at overall growth and prosperity of the organisation in the next 5 years.
