Equations PR and Media – The Upcoming Leader
With the emerge of new products and services almost every other day, it becomes difficult for a brand or company to keep their products/services in the limelight with proper awareness to their customers and the world. The need for a brand management firm is always dire and one of the most crucial aspects of making the product/service attain its desired level of reach and also the respect and response from the market.
Brand management firms not only take the product/service into the market but also maintain its name, the required PR relations with the customers, digital marketing, etc. thus the work of a brand management company is one of the most important and effective methods a company or a brand can use to slingshot their product/service in the market.
In comes Equations PR and Media, the unique and custom-tailored PR solutions specialist. They not only take the PR of a company by storm but also manage the brands most effectively and efficiently so the client gets the maximum value and solutions which are custom made for their specific problems or targets. With more than 100+ satisfied clients and an affiliate pan India network, Equations PR and Media is on its way as one of the leading and sought-after firms in the PR industry.
In conversation with the Founder and CEO of Equations PR and Media, Priyanka Bhatt. Let’s hear more about Equations PR and Media, its services, and her entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us about your firm and the starting journey of Equations PR and Media.
Equations PR and Media is a boutique PR firm based in Mumbai with an affiliate network pan India. We established ourselves in 2015 with small office space in Mumbai. Today, we are a young, dynamic and ambitious team of professionals who believe in making a difference to our client’s businesses. This means that we understand our client’s vision, their problem areas, and challenges and accordingly come back with a suitable and recommended communications plan.
Equations PR and Media have worked with over 100 + clients and delivered services par excellence in areas such as education, start-ups, healthcare, fintech, technology, retail and FMCG, entertainment amongst others. It has been an immense honor to be awarded 30 under 30 by Adfactors and PR Moment, to be awarded by Silicon India as the Top 20 Promising agencies to watch out for in 2020, and also to get featured in leading publications such as Business World, Adgully, Silicon India, etc amongst others.
With more than 100+ satisfied clients and an affiliate pan India network, Equations PR and Media is on its way as one of the leading and sought-after firms in the PR industry.
Like any other start-up, the first few years were tough as getting clients and setting up a team wasn’t easy. As an entrepreneur, you have to don many hats right from finding the right set of clients to partner with to set up the right team to servicing those clients to sustain the business and looking after the day-to-day operations.
Not to say, other challenges like looking into the finances, operations, admin, HR all come together and is many pieces of the puzzle that needs to fall in place. Gradually, when we bagged the first client after six months of tremendous hard work, a lot of doors opened up for us and one thing led to another.
Tell us about the services offered, how they are different, how do you take these services ahead and any new additions to the services.
Though Equations PR and Media started like any other PR agency looking after regular PR for organizations, we slowly evolved into a completely integrated agency with a 360-degree view of what needs to be done from a complete brand management perspective. Today, we not just look at PR as an element of marketing, but look at problem areas that the client is facing and try to address those through the services we provide. Today Equations PR and Media are into Brand Reputation Management, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Content Management, Brand Alliances, Crisis Communication, and even Spokesperson Media Training which is an integral part of any PR exercise.
Our business is a people’s business we deal with people, their perception, and their aspirations. All these are highly intangible. The first thing that I would seek as a next step for the organization is to strengthen the relationship with existing clients while we keep adding to the portfolio clients more of them from diverse sectors. Equations PR and Media is witnessing a shift towards digital and that is where the next opportunity for agencies is. I would look at building a strong digital vertical to support the existing set of services so that we can offer holistic services to our clients.
I believe there is no right time and you have to realize your true potential, moreover, dream big and chase your dreams.
Equations PR and Media is talking to a lot of new-age tech companies and that allows us to understand what is trending today. As I said, digital is something that I would want to focus on, particularly as I believe that the team today is fully conversant with traditional PR and branding. Across many hurdles and challenges, we emerged stronger and better than before.
With the same energy, we are striving towards a new year of our journey with the focus of building ourselves as a digital-first agency. Where we will diversify and amplify our services with a 360-degree PR, marketing, and communication approach incorporating ideas from a digital perspective of lead generation, SEO, social media, ORM, analytics, and so on.
Please tell us about yourself and what made you take a career in Marketing and Public Relations?
After having done a 9 am to 5 pm job for a few years, I leaped at the young age of 24 years to start a company and become a Managing Partner of a firm. Equations PR and Media was specialized in PR and I set up the entire PR vertical for them managing and juggling a whole lot of responsibilities including the creation of a website, identifying different areas of revenue for growth, business development, and operations of managing a full-fledged team, etc.
Getting the right people on board was the key ingredient to a successful business as clients often look at ‘Whose handling my account’ and how adept he/she is at the skill set. Having done this, I decided to start my own venture ‘Equations’ in 2015 as I was motivated to work for myself. That’s how my professional journey began and since then, there was no looking back. Needless to say, my family support played an immense role in believing in me and my passion to achieve something in life.
I believe there is no right time and you have to realize your true potential, moreover, dream big and chase your dreams. Just a leap of faith with a never say die attitude, the rest will fall in place. Needless to say, achieving your dreams required great passion, determination, and perseverance. I think being an entrepreneur, will make one think differently and learn to be bold at times, but I do believe entrepreneurship comes at a cost – A cost of sacrificing your family life, your social life, and much more.
Each day, I challenge myself to do something bigger and better. I am self-motivated to wake up each day to look forward to going to work and conquering the world. Going to work every day no longer seems like a drag as I am living my dream and not someone else’s.
Storytelling comes naturally to me and owing to the personality I have; it was very easy for me to make connections and stand out in a crowd. I realized this during my college days when I did not get through the Advertising course, I wanted to pursue from XIC. I then applied for the Post-Graduate program in PR and Corporate Communications and soon realized that my strengths lie in dealing with and meeting people, the ability to think and be creative, building stronger connections with people, team management, and so on.
I was always an active member of the organizing committee of my college fests and enjoyed being a part of the events and PR departments. It was only a matter of grooming and excelling from hereon.
How would you go about developing your team and evaluate success?
Equations PR and Media conducts regular brainstorming sessions on various subjects. There are regular meetings to discuss issues relevant to organizational growth and culture development apart from the routine client discussions. Our Tuesday ‘Knowledge Sharing’ sessions have helped the team to think differently and open up new ways of thinking on strategies. Talking about adding numbers, I think that depends on the skill sets that our client’s nature of business demands is what I consider important while building a team.
Though we have certain benchmarks of measuring ROI through qualitative and quantitative analysis at Equations PR and Media, for us success is the satisfaction of the client. There is no other barometer of success in our business than a satisfied client. For us, if we can solve the complexities of the problem and address the areas of concern for the client, that’s where the true growth lies for us as an organization.
