MAM
Curry Nation to consolidate creative biz in 2013
MUMBAI: For Priti Nair and Naggesh Pannaswami, it wasn‘t the best of times to start their entrepreneurial journey. The Indian economic growth story was getting stained by a slowdown and harsh winds were blowing from Europe, the US and other parts of the world.
A contrarian mood was, however, ruling the agency world. Media professionals were chucking their jobs and taking the plunge to 
become masters of their destinies. Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi had started Taproot while Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat and Joy Sengupta had set up their own agency Scarecrow and Raj Kurup had flown solo with Creativeland Asia.
The infection spread to Nair and Pannaswami and they founded Curry Nation in January 2011. “It is always scary when you start on your own. But we knew we had to do it,” Nair recalls as we settle for a chat in the conference room of the new office at Mahim.
For the duo, there was no need to get the early frights. They had a founding client in Emami and they were clear that they could tap the small and medium-sized Indian clients.
“Yes, we were fortunate in having Emami right from the start,” says Nair.
Then the whole thing was about drawing in talented people. “Fortunately for us, we had a good bunch of people joining us in the first year itself. Even before we went into a formal proper office, we already had three people on board apart from Naggesh and I,” says Nair.
Along the journey, Emami‘s other brands got added and so did other personal care brands. Today, Curry Nation lends its creative services to brands like Borosil, 18 Again, Emami (personal care brands) and Himani.
Having completed two years, the homegrown advertising agency Curry Nation is where its wants to be – in the thick of things, doing the kind of work it always wanted to.
The team at Curry Nation has also grown to 18 people working out of a new office in Mahim. Happy to talk about her team, Nair says “they are a bunch of happy people doing the kind of work they like and believe in”.
Curry Nation ended 2012 with one of the most visible and controversial campaigns of 2012 – the ‘18 Again‘ project. The communication about 18 Again, a brand of vaginal tightening cream, attracted a lot of attention and the campaign was pulled out by ASCI following complaints regarding its social effect.
Nair describes ‘18 Again‘ as one of the highlights and challenges of the year. “As a product, there was always going to be a challenge considering the client wanted to market a vaginal tightening cream as just that and not under the veil of anything else. As far as the communication goes, I am very proud of it. It is something that will stay in our show reel for long. I am proud that we did not succumb to clichés while charting out the communication and made the ads about celebration instead of showing the Indian woman as downtrodden and distressed till the product came along,” she explains.
About the controversy that surrounds the ad, Nair believes that even a 10 second placement with the term ‘vaginal tightening cream’ would have evoked the same reaction. “We have been in the business long enough to know that you have to be sensitive with these kind of products. It’s a country that is still hidden under morals and notions like that and it is hypocritical at times. We have gone through the whole process of doing Balbeer Pasha and Liril. Increasingly now the case is that people jump to conclusions and start having issues with everything. If you see the kind of commercials that have been pulled up, even chocolates and sauces commercials are pulled up. All because somebody wakes up and objects because now they have the right to voice their opinion,” she points out.
The year 2012 also saw Curry Nation start its own media division with their first client Weikfield. The agency also handled the media duties for ‘18 Again‘.
Looking ahead at the year 2013, Nair and Pannaswami have their eyes set on two goals – consolidate the creative business and enhance and grow the media division.
Explaining further, Pannaswani says, “It will be a phase of consolidation for us and for organic growth. Most of our growth has been 
organic. What has happened is that our existing clients have been giving us more business while we have added few clients. We do want to spread ourselves into other categories as well. But, again, there are only so many categories that are opening up in terms of ad spends. So this year, we would like to consolidate the brands that we have and focus on the media division which needs support and growth.”
Looking at Curry Nation’s client roster, one observes two things – most of the clients are from the personal care/ health care category and all the clients are Indian companies.
Nair explains that while neither has been a conscious occurrence, Curry Nation as a creative force lends itself well in both cases. “The DNA of Curry Nation is Indian-ness. We are very clear that we want to create communication that is relevant to contemporary India. India is a bit of a macro country and the people are very dimensional in their emotions. It is not like a single layer, there are multiple nuances to our culture. We always look for an Indian insight to employ in our communication and this is what makes us a good fit with Indian brands which is evident in our roster of clients.”
On the acquisition front, Curry Nation is happy going solo as of now. “We are happy to be in a new and bigger office. It gives a feeling of growing. And it is satisfying. We are where we wanted to be as of now,” signs off Nair.
MAM
PropertyPistol appoints Hemant Bajaj as chief marketing officer
Proptech firm taps global marketing leader to sharpen brand and growth strategy.
MUMBAI: In the fast moving world of proptech, building homes may be the business, but building the brand is just as crucial. Propertypistol, the proptech driven real estate advisory platform, has appointed Hemant Bajaj as its chief marketing officer (CMO) as the company looks to strengthen its brand narrative and accelerate growth across markets. Bajaj will lead the company’s marketing operations across multiple geographies, overseeing brand strategy, integrated marketing initiatives and revenue aligned growth programmes as Propertypistol prepares for its next phase of expansion.
The appointment comes at a time when the proptech sector is seeing rapid digital adoption, with companies increasingly focusing on leadership talent capable of combining technology, data driven marketing and customer experience.
Bajaj brings experience spanning India, South East Asia and the Middle East, where he has worked on scaling brands and leading digital transformation initiatives across multiple industries. His work in the marketing and media ecosystem recently earned him recognition as a ‘Powerhouse Leader’ at the Mastermind Awards in Dubai, highlighting his track record in managing high impact marketing mandates.
Propertypistol founder and managing director Ashish Narain Agarwal said the appointment comes at a pivotal stage in the company’s journey as it looks to strengthen its market presence.
“Hemant’s appointment comes at a defining moment for us. As we scale our market position, it is vital to have leadership that blends strategic vision with executional depth. Hemant’s deep understanding of brand and business alignment will be instrumental as we redefine the proptech landscape,” Agarwal said.
Bajaj said Propertypistol’s technology first approach to real estate advisory was one of the key reasons behind his decision to join the company.
“Propertypistol has established itself as a technology first platform that is redefining how investors navigate the property market. Having led marketing transformations across international borders and fast paced industries, I recognise the exceptional strength of the foundation built here,” he said.
He added that his focus would be on accelerating the company’s digital marketing capabilities while building strategies that deliver sustained value for customers and partners worldwide.
The leadership move reflects Propertypistol’s broader effort to strengthen its executive team as the proptech industry evolves rapidly. With property search, advisory and transactions increasingly shifting online, companies in the sector are investing heavily in marketing intelligence and digital platforms to stay competitive.
By bringing Bajaj on board, Propertypistol is betting that sharper brand positioning and technology led marketing will help it stand out in an increasingly crowded digital real estate marketplace.
