Women are just as good as men in the field of digital marketing and branding. Women being great communicators are doing incredible work in this field all over the world, and they are being recognized for it as well. After all, who would believe that there is anything that women cannot do? As the years go by, the spectacular work women do is inspiring endless people out there.

Priyanka Bhatia, a strategic thinker, brings her expertise in digital communication to the table to ramp up a brand's digital footprint. Inquisitiveness towards branding and marketing led her to establish Brandophile, one stop solution for all brand building and digital marketing requirements.

Priyanka comes armed with a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Delhi University, post-graduation in Marketing & Media studies along with her industry experience of having worked with various agencies and as a consultant. She also brings in the understanding of how various senses influence brand perception and consumer behaviors in digital and retail spaces. After getting multifold experience spanning strategy, media planning, and creative design, she decided to start a unique audiovisual marketing agency.

Priyanka talks about her cross-disciplinary expertise and views on the trends developing in the marketing industry in an indepth interview with the Women Entrepreneur Team.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of Brandophile. What Differentiates You From Numerous Other Agencies In The Market?
Brandophile is a Delhi-based communications agency enabling global brands to tap into audiovisual branding, digital marketing and retail experience design. The brainchild of my partners and I, Brandophile is the culmination of our love for branding and marketing.

While most digital marketing agencies view brands from merely a visual design lens, we approach it from a holistic, multisensory perspective. We bring to the table, our expertise and understanding of how the various senses influence brand perception and consumer behaviour in digital and retail spaces.

For instance, music usage across most brands is tactical and inconsistent, and not strategic and cohesive. Sound & music are usually afterthoughts or add-ons to digital campaigns and do not offer a competitive advantage. At Brandophile, we focus on developing a unique musical framework that reflects the core brand values and permeates the entirety of the brand’s communication engine.

What Factors Led You To Found An Audiovisual Branding And Digital Marketing Agency?
The average consumer is exposed to over 5000 branded messages every day. A vast majority of these messages, primarily visual in nature, barely manage to register. In the age of rapidly mutating media landscapes and diminishing attention spans, brand custodians, whose primary role is to capture consumer mind space, need to reevaluate their approach to building memorable relationships with customers. They need to develop a robust strategy that can give them a competitive advantage.

“Research suggests brands that use audio brand cues capture 8.5 times more attention than brands that don't. Audiovisual branding and digital marketing are a match made in marketing heaven”

Research suggests that brands that use audio brand cues capture 8.5 times more attention than adverts that don’t. In the digital world where every second matters, the need is for a solution provider who can help businesses capitalize on audio branding to differentiate themselves and leverage their AV identity across digital touchpoints in unique, engaging ways. Audiovisual branding and digital marketing are a match made in marketing heaven. Audiovisual brands naturally fit into the digital ecosystem, most of which is capable of both audio and visual. So, we are strategically placed to cater to this emerging demand for cross-disciplinary expertise.

From The Standpoint Of An Experienced Professional, How Would You Say The Digital Marketing Industry Has Evolved Over The Past Few Years? What Are Some Of The Most Impactful Trends Developing In The Industry Currently?
While the past decade has witnessed a steady increase in digital ad spends and the number of brands leveraging digital communication, it is the pandemic that has significantly catapulted digital adoption both in consumers as well as companies. The pandemic induced digital changes will continue to persist in the post-pandemic world, and brands will double down on creating engaging digital experiences using AR & VR.

AR will continue to become more commonplace. It will become a staple for both B2B & B2C brands, as communications become more experiential in nature.

In addition, there will be a fundamental disruption in the way brands do digital advertising. With the onset of the cookieless future, and the resultant difficulty in ad targeting and behavioural analysis, the need for possessing first-party data has become paramount.

Throw Some Light On The Approach You Take While Working On A New Project Or Campaign. What’s In Store For The Future Of Brandophile?
Every industry comes with its own unique set of challenges and consumers. Research is the key to understanding them and developing successful brand communications, be it digital or physical. Our clients and we invest significant resources into researching digital and physical behavioural patterns of consumers, their emotional states, and their needs during various stages of the buyer journey.

We then define the business goals that clients wish to achieve digitally and agree upon KPIs to gauge performance. The well-informed and data-driven strategy enables us to develop high performing solutions that exceed client expectations.

I’m optimistic about what the future holds for Brandophile. We are currently in the process of increasing the breadth of our service offerings through partnerships and talent acquisition across disciplines such as aromachology, neuroscience, AR & VR.

By the end of this year, we plan on transforming Brandophile into a multisensory branding agency that designs bespoke digital and retail experiences for innovative, visionary brands that wish to connect with their consumers in a distinctive, holistic manner.

What Would Your Words Of Advice Be For Women Aspiring To Be Foray Into The Field Of Digital Marketing And Entrepreneurship?
My piece of advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs is to believe in themselves and continue to grow personally and professionally. Both society and the industry will keep challenging you, but you need to have faith in your ability and rise above them. Go out, network, create connections, talk to people, nurture your skills and stand up for what you believe in. As for digital marketing, the industry is rapidly evolving & spontaneous, it is imperative for aspirants to constantly upgrade their skillsets and stay abreast with the latest developments.

Priyanka Bhatia, Co-Founder & Head Of Digital Strategy, Brandophile
Co-Founder at Brandophile. Entrepreneur/startup executive with expertise in brand building, digital marketing and lead generation. Consultant and Head of Brand Strategy at Peddle Plus, a retail-tech startup. And providing Services like Google Ads, Social Media Marketing & Advertising, Audio Branding, Content Marketing, Visual Branding, Offline Marketing. Graduated from Delhi university and master's from New Delhi institute of Management, worked as Manager (International Incoming) AIESEC in Delhi IIT, Brand Building & Strategy Professional Creative Inc.