Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Hemaang Gandhi: This is an interesting story. Around 2009 August, I had just left behind a hectic stint as Chief Marketing Officer for Pratham Group (Real Estate) in Baroda and was planning to start something of my own or maybe joining one of the family businesses. A friend working for a real estate developer asked me to suggest a communication agency for his organization. In a detailed conversation, he suggested that I take up the assignment as a consultant or work as an agency for I had a good exposure from the client-side in working with various agencies. In the next day's meeting he introduced me to his management where they asked me to hire a few people and work as per the presentation I submitted. That's how Rioconn was started..
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Rioconn Interactive Private Limited
Hemaang Gandhi: Rioconn is a full service agency. Since day 1 we haven't differentiated between the offline / online clients and have given them equal weightage. Our services include brand strategy development and deployment, creative services, social media management, digital marketing activities, SEO and last but not the least web & app development.
Great Companies: What makes Rioconn Interactive Private Limited different from hundreds of other Digital Marketing firms?
Hemaang Gandhi : I would say 3 things - people, planning and passion. Though a medium scale agency, our policies have given room to our people to explore avenues in their day to day activities and the subsequent exposure has made them experts in their own field.
Rioconn is a melting pot of ideas and chaotic at the surface but there is always a calm in our chaos because deep down, Rioconn has nurtured a talent that is impeccable in its planning.I don't recollect a single incident where we have missed a deadline; forget the onboarded clients but not even for the client pitch.
There is a passion in everything we do. We get involved with every bit of our being in the work and act as a catalyst to provide desired results to our clients. This allows our team and client both to stay longer with us. On record, our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd client as well as the first few team members are working with us even today.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Hemaang Gandhi: In the initial phase the struggle was getting good team members and of course, clients who pay us well. That struggle continues even today. Ahmedabad, though a rapidly growing market, has the presence of some large agencies. At the same time, we also have agencies coming in from Mumbai to acquire some of the best local brands. A middle-level agency's dilemma is either to stay local and relevant or expand in the other markets and strain the resources. Fortunately, Rioconn has successfully executed the strategy of being locally relevant as well as getting clients from the cities like Mumbai, Surat and even some in the overseas market. Our flexible approach has won us quite a few clients from big-ticket agencies as well.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Rioconn Interactive Private Limited?
Hemaang Gandhi: Post Covid Scenario is quite different. Even the clients who never believed in digital, have started looking at digital as one of the core tools for their promotional and branding strategy. At Rioconn we believe in constantly focusing on innovative methods of integrating new tools and technologies in the brand strategy to help brands expand their reach and generate better recall. Rioconn soon will have a team working full time on futuristic tools for AI, VR, and Machine Learning
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Hemaang Gandhi: The era of conventional creative agency and traditional digital marketing has gone. If you have something extra (even an idea) which can deliver better ROI for the client, as well as connect them to their audience faster through your cultural IQ, then this is the field to be in.