World Wide Open’s big surprise for employees
India based digital agency, World Wide Open, that comes from the house of corporate major Reliance, has kicked off quite a beginning for itself. In a short period of four months, the agency has grown its business by adding some large corporate names to its client roster and already has team strength of over 50. Winning a silver trophy at a local award only added to its list of highs and the agency boss, Kushal Sanghvi – CEO, World Wide Open, did what any good leader should – celebrate the win with the team by organising a good surprise.
Prior to Mr Sanghvi’s arrival, most of the digital work that Reliance was doing as an agency was taking place under its gaming platform Zapak. “Clubbing client work under its name was diluting the brand. We hence started World Wide Open in January 2014 with the mandate of setting up a digital marketing practice, or to create the second Mudra of sorts,” explained Mr Sanghvi in a conversation with DMA.
Throwing some light on the agency’s business development process, Mr Sanghvi noted, “Being a Reliance company, we first decided to look for companies within the conglomerate itself. That didn’t mean that we won any Reliance businesses by default. We had to pitch to win any business as the company has engaged agencies such as Ogilvy, Grey, JWT and others in the past. Today, we are working with the telecom roster and the Mutual Funds team and we see that as an achievement.”
Some of companies for whom World Wide Open’s has created digital campaigns include Reliance 3G and Big Flix from Reliance, Horlicks from GlaxoSmithKline, Axe from Unilever and Pepsi and Mountain Dew from PepsiCo amongst others.
Differentiation is important to World Wide Open. “We have strived to not get labelled as another agency. We are people who understand business and will help grow them. We don’t just call ourselves digital domain experts but we have invested in building the right team to achieve this,” asserted Mr Sanghvi.
Celebrating the team was what World Wide Open’s surprise was all about. On May 14, 2014, traditional musicians playing the dhol (double headed drums) stormed the World Wide Open Mumbai office, shaking people out of their everyday tasks. A professional turban maker joined in and got busy wrapping heads with red and pink turbans. Impromptu photo sessions and karaoke followed. The day rounded off with a party at a popular restaurant in the office premises. For the agency’s staff, a typical workday transformed in to an extraordinary one.
Employee engagement initiatives are designed to create such energy but planning something in the middle of the week scores an extra point.
