Gunjan Pai From CopyLove Helping Startups & Corporates To Build A Remarkable Brand Identity
Creating strong Branding means initiating a strong and positive bond between the business and the clients. Branding brings a vision to the clients, which, help them to remember the company and the products, and services it is dealing with. The aspects introduced while constructing a brand includes a logo, name, the jingle it uses, the tagline, the message the company is associated with, etc. When a company develops a brand, it introduces a new offering to the market competing with other similar products. The elements used in the formation of the brand help in the development of the company as it leaves an impression on the mind of the people purchasing it.
Following are some of the important reasons to opt for branding solutions for your brand :
1. Branding influences recognition: One major element of your brand is your logo. If people out there recognize it as belonging to your company, it means your branding has worked. Your logo is the face of your company and accompanies all your stationery and correspondence and advertising. Ideally, your logo design should be simple and memorable and powerful enough to give the impression of your company that you want to convey.
2. Branding builds trust: If your business has a professional look, you immediately get the trust and credibility of the people. In fact, it will influence people to buy your products and services, believing that you are legitimate and your products of high quality.
3. Branding goes hand in hand with advertising: Another element of your branding is advertising. Depending on the medium of advertising (e.g. radio, TV, print, billboards, etc) and the type of people you target for your products or services, a brand is formed.
If your company’s advertising focus is too narrow, your company could be isolated and could lose its chance to expand abroad. On the other hand, if the advertising focus is very broad, and a definite impression is not formed through advertising, the company will not attain top of mind recall among customers.
4. Branding builds value for your company: If yours is a strong brand, it will give value to your company way beyond all your physical assets. A successful company’s real asset is its brand that has created a value far beyond its factories, warehouses, offices, etc.
5. Branding provides inspiration to employees: Employees at times are fired not by just work but towards a big goal. When employees are one with your mission and objectives, they feel proud to work with you and set out to achieve the goals the organization sets. If your employees can rally round the company logo and its ideals, your branding has worked.
6. Branding generates referrals: People love to talk about the brands they choose and why they like them. Such people, without knowing it, can be your local spokesperson for your brand. If you have a strong brand, it can easily generate referrals for you or even viral traffic.
Today We are presenting the Interview of Gunjan Pai The CEO & Founder of CopyLove. CopyLove is a young and innovative startup providing end to end solutions in branding, marketing, marketing communications & brand identity development to young startups, ventures, SME’s & Corporates. Lets See what Gunjan has to speak about her startup and how they help other ventures to enhance their visibility & branding.
1. What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
We’re called Copylove. The reason is simple – we love copywriting and content writing.
2. Who is your target Audience/clients?
Agencies, corporates, entrepreneurs, anyone who needs written and creative communication or matter to reach out to their customers.
3. Where is your venture based (city, state, country) &what are your geographical target areas?
Our registered office is in Mumbai, India but we are a 100% virtual set up where our team works from Mumbai, Goa and other places. Our target geographies span across the globe, though our clientele is majorly India-based right now.
4. What problems does your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
Businesses or brands want customers to know about their products or services. We help in creating the right picture about a company and its offerings using language that the customers can understand. We act as a bridge between the product and service promise of a brand and how a customer perceives it.
Our services include developing concepts and copy for the following:
Identity & Branding
Brand names
Taglines
Logo design ideas
Brand positioning and essence
Tone of voice
Creative strategy
Marketing & Collaterals
Brochures
Adverts
Newsletters
Packaging
Point of sale
Environment branding
Event concepts
Digital & Social
Websites
Taglines
Articles
Email campaigns
Audio Visuals
Presentations
Social media campaigns
5. Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it come to existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
Copylove was born when I was freelancing as a copywriter with design studios and agencies. As the next level, I wanted to create something rock-solid. In 10-12 years (7 years working in leading agencies O&M and Lowe Lintas, and 5 years freelancing) I had built a network of happy clients and collaborators. Creating my outfit was a challenge I threw on myself.
Now for the idea behind my venture: I always wondered – there are so many design studios, but why don’t I hear of copywriting studios? Why don’t we writers make our presence felt? We are important at a conceptual and creative level. There is a dearth of good and dependable writers. I decided to kick off a copywriting studio with a team of solid writers and project managers.
6. Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
Even though there are many advertising agencies and content companies, we do not consider them competition. For us, everything is a collaborative opportunity. We don’t say this because it sounds good, but because we really mean it. We partner with creative agencies to support their work and add value. I read somewhere that “there is always enough work for everyone” – I believe in it.
We stand out because of our experience, quality and dependability of work, and these are our differentiators.
7. How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us something about your co-founder/s
The decision was simple for me. My husband had quit his Merchant Navy career. He is great with managing numbers, taking tough calls and boosting morale. He jumped in as co-founder and now takes care of finances. He is the backbone and a powerful presence working from behind the curtains.
8. How did you hire your first team members? What skills do you want in your employees/team?
Hiring our team members was, and still is, an organic process. During my freelancing days I had met up and / or mentored different people. A few stayed back in my memory because of their excellence. I reached out to them and they were happy to jump on board.
In terms of skills, we look for creativity, expression, good understanding of branding and of course, a brilliant body of work. But most importantly, we look for willingness to learn, integrity and a passion for doing great work.
9. What expansion plans are you looking for in the next 2 years, next 5 years?
With a powerful and steady team, we are looking at growth with big and steady businesses. We are already doing prestigious work and are ready to be a business of the future. We want to increase the frequency of big assignments, so that it can translate to consistently great business and earnings. In 2 years, we want to grow to a team of 10-12 people, each treating Copylove as their own, handling work efficiently, earning big and giving their best.
In 5 years, I see us as a flourishing copywriting agency with clients and teams across the globe, working on our content niche.. Our team will work with us with pride; as we will become synonymous with premium quality copywriting that works for clients like magic.
10. Where do you want to see yourself in next 10 years?
Our business is founded on some basic principles (eg. 100% virtual set-up, work from anywhere, no leaves counted etc.) and that will stay the same over time. We want to create incredible work with these. We want to graduate from being a copywriting agency to being a knowledge leader in the copywriting and entrepreneurial space.
11. What are your goals over the next 1, 3, 6 and 12 months?
Goals over 1 month: Bagging prestigious and large scale projects that gives the team creative satisfaction and boosts revenue
Goals over 3 months: Winning exciting and prestigious retainers that bring in great work and consistent revenue
Goals over 6 months: To build enough earning and the team putting up a great show, to be able to give everyone great raise and increment
Goals over 12 months: Expand the business and capacities of the team and have enough consistent business to get more senior team members on board
12. Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
None, as we haven’t planned for it yet.
13. What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
We believe that there are no problems, only situations. We too faced many tough situations including recruitment issues, expenditure in wrong places, too much overheads, slow business and so on. We even ran into losses for a short phases. The only way we resolved them was to keep clearing our minds and keep moving. We never quit.
14. What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
The most challenging part for me was to change my approach to work. I am a passionate person and enjoy working for the love of it. I did not see my work as a business or money-earning proposition until I started Copylove and heading my team. I had to change my perspective and see myself afresh as a business person. So turning my passion into a business was a challenge. I overcame it by consistently working on it, as I knew it was the best thing to do. Once again, I did not quit.
15. Are you married, single or in a relationship?
Married
16. What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
As a creative person I have many hobbies. I am deeply interested in art, craft, music and travel. I do a lot of it in my non-work time. Spending time with my family and friends is also something I love.
17. What’s your favorite food & holiday destination?
I am a foodie – so whether it a roadside snack or a fine dine, they’re all my favourite food places. My favourite holiday destination is my home town Nainital.
18. Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
My father is my idol as he works for passion, and has built a formidable career based on that. My mother is my silent but biggest motivator as she believes in me. Also, reading success stories of leaders and especially women motivates me as I can relate to them.
19. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
There are two major differences:
The thrill, independence and freedom of working for yourself and shaping your life and work the way you want to, cannot be described
The massive learning curve – you fall, you get up, you walk again – cannot be experienced unless you are an entrepreneur
20. If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
I am content to have gone through the ups and downs of my career to be where I am today. I would not want to do anything differently.
21. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
Our business is designed such that we can work from wherever we want, including our homes. Thus, I can be there for my family, and make time for my friends. I would say being an entrepreneur has brought me closer to those who matter to me.
22. Anything you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
Just believe in yourself, and implement the three Hs – hard work, honesty, humility.
23. Tell us something about your education & family background.
I belong to Uttarakhand and my father was in a Government job where we were transferred to different cities. I have grown up in Assam and Kolkata from where I got my school education. I graduated in English from a leading college in Kolkata and completed my Masters in Mass Communication from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.
I come from a liberal, trusting and fun family, and today as a mother I imbibe the same values in my son.
24. What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains?
Our USP is our collaborative and friendly attitude, which creates a sense of dependability and ease for clients. We are lean, hands-on and treat our client’s businesses as our own. We build great relationships and clients count us as a part of their set-up. Our consistency, willingness and refreshing approach is the reason why we have long-standing clients, some for over 10 years now.
25. What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses & Start-ups today?
Internally, your own attitude or giving up before time is the greatest threat. You got to keep motivating yourself to go on.
Externally, the world is changing fast and it is easy to get left behind. Not staying updated with the changes is the biggest threat. It’s critical to be in step.
26. Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?
Yes, I consider myself successful. I measure success by my ability to give my 100%, give my best to the client, my team its due and make time for those who matter. If at the end of the day, I go to sleep with a good, honest conscience, knowing that I did better today than yesterday, then I am successful.
27.Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person
Gunjan Pai
Registered Office: Copylove Communications LLP, A-603, Orchid, Valley of Flowers, Thakur Village, Kandivali East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400101
+91-98207-87098 | [email protected] |www.copylove.in
