Bankupalli Ganesh Shastry
Managing Director
Instead of clinging onto a particular marketing medium, this novel paradigm, by chanting the mantra of creativity, pounces on every opportunity across the mediums, be it the phenomenal digital world, traditional advertising or television. No wonder the spends on TVCs and traditional advertising in the current financial year is predicted to grow by 10 percent and 11 percent respectively, alongside the continuing explosion in digital marketing (expecting a 27percent growth, as per Dentsu Aegis Network's latest report). A torchbearer of this novelty and dynamicity in demand generation is ‘Big Bears’ a Hyderabad-based award-winning creative agency that creates, thrives and maintains brands under one roof by offering a rare, holistic amalgamation of cutting-edge Advertising and Digital Marketing. Big Bears’ 360 degree services include everything from ATL, BTL & TTL Advertising to Internal Branding .
"Big Bears believes in a humanistic approach towards Digital Communication, where it is not about Digital Media taking-over Traditional Media, but about creating a better consumer experience through technology"
“From mind-blowing packaging to Guerilla Marketing ideas, we leave no stone unturned. We are led by creativity, which in truth doesn’t mean the conventional method of merely ‘trying’ concepts-out. It implicates a strong methodology that data mines into everything from our clients’ requirements to business operations, and target audience to come-up with a foolproof demand generation strategy and powerful & original ideas that touch the right nerve of the right customer,” asserts Bankupalli Ganesh Shastry, Managing Director, Big Bears, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) with more than three decades of experience.
Well-Informed Strategies win Games
Well, we are talking about making an impression on the great Indian consumer market, which is not only geographically divided, but also diverse in language, values, customs and trends. The emotional touch-points like sports, films, and festivities differ from state to state. If you are in pursuit of a football loving market other than the North East, you need to go down south to Kerala. If you target a traditional clothing market, it takes measuring the entire length of the country from Kashmir Valleys to the Pink City of Rajasthan and the land of Kanchipuram Tamil Nadu. Given this huge dividend any global or domestic brand looking forward to advertising in a certain state in India entails a brand ambassador who knows the depth of the market and that’s exactly the proposition Big Bears brings to the table in an end-to-end manner.
However, making the best out of the knowledge and market awareness takes a unique approach. In order to create powerful campaigns and reach the brand message to the right audience, it’s imperative to get off on the right foot. Unlike the conventional ‘briefing’ by agencies, Big Bears commences its operations with a wide open mind, wherein ideas, strategies and information formulated through anything from competitor analysis to online research and conventional research are shared to achieve total clarity about not only a product or service, but also the persona of the organization/brand.
It’s amazing the kind of wonders this approach can do. Let’s take the example of one of its recent reinvention projects: Café Niloufer the legendary traditional Hyderabadi café located in the heart of the twin cities, at Banjara Hills & Lakdikapul. The challenge eventually boiled-down to one question can you sell 1970s classic Hyderabadi chai in a new kettle, appealing to the young tea lovers?
Big Bears engendered a strategic Brand Plan to tap into the new market segment. It retained the brand colors that had been etched in the customer’s memory, and made Cafe Niloufer adopt the ‘best of both worlds’ the past and the present. Following hours of brainstorming, the company also came-up with a positioning statement, which says: ‘Yes, it’s the same taste that you love, with a new world charm’. Translate that into the local language with a touch of literary style, and it reads: ‘Wahi swad... Ek naya andaaz!’ The cafe, connecting three generations, became a great online influence and an instant hit among the young audience who wanted to spend some quality time with friends over tea and snacks.
We are led by creativity, which in truth doesn’t mean the conventional method of merely ‘trying’ concepts-out
A Team the Makes a Difference
“When different agencies handle Digital Marketing and Advertising, it naturally results in split communication. It’s a single Big Idea that must be communicated across each media and using that media to the fullest that works for a brand, while the team that executes that idea plays the most important role. We are blessed in that regard,” adjoins Bankupalli. Big Bears has an amazingly talented leadership team and a bunch of creative and enthusiastic people on-board who are passionate in their fields of strength. We are talking about a team that comprises international award-winning marketing experts like Nisha Jain (Big Bears’ Digital Marketing Head, who was recently awarded as ‘One of the World’s 100 Best Digital Marketing Leaders’), decades experienced marketing leaders like Shilpa Shah(Brand Director) & Kaustuv Ray (Creative Group Head), and client servicing wizards like RaunakVazir (Account Management Head), who help in making its offerings highly affordable. The other members of the team who have been moving with Ganesh since couple of years are Art Directors: Kalidas, Charan, Srinivas; Account Management (Servicing): Sarodhya & Arthi; Digital Team: Manoj (SEO) Surender (web designer), Sanjay (SMO), Rasmi (Influencer) & Srujan ( Content ); and Video Production Head Narender. With such a fantastic team, it’s not surprising that Big Bears works with established brands like Café Niloufer, AMB Cinemas, Agromech Industries, Kalinga TMT, Mahavir Soundroom, Meraqee, Shenoy Hospitals, Meraqee, and Suchitra Academy, among others.
Keeping the Ears Wide Open, Like a Bear
‘Big Bears’ is a dream company long-nurtured by its leadership team who believed that they could open a first-of-its-kind agency in Hyderabad that would be equally strong in Creativity, Strategy, and Digital Marketing. And when they eventually launched the company in 2018, a bunch of dedicated experts, they hit the ground running. An aspect that startups around the globe find as a herculean task getting the right people, Big Bears crossed it before inception and there was no turning back. It’s been a dream start to the company. Today while we increasingly move into a more refined phase of digital marketing with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the company believes in a humanistic approach towards Digital Communication, where it is not about Digital Media taking-over Traditional Media, but about creating a better consumer experience through technology. “We Bears keep our ears open for every change in the trends and markets,” avers Bankupalli, whose passion for creativity in truth goes beyond his professional pursuits. Towards cultivating creativity in school/college students through a carefully designed curriculum, he conducts classes in Oakridge Schools, College of Defence Management, and various other schools & colleges.
Towards Creativity
“The boundaries that these classes explore are like none other. The extent of some of the children’s imagination is just inspiring. They think so wildly and have not been conditioned to think otherwise. So, there is a lot of potential that is tapped into,” adjoins Bankupalli. Furthermore, with him joining hands with his wife Ratnamala, who is Special Educator with Post Graduate in special education and a special Bed, the couple conducts a special educational program for ‘Special Children’: Justart. “It’s been almost 12 years since we started conducting classes for special children. Our children here are in fact special in thousand different ways. For instance, we have a have a special child who joined us at the age of eight. He is now 17 years old and has completed nearly 100 mind-blowing paintings,” he concludes. Creativity definitely seems to have a great future through the hands of the great leaders like him!
Key Management:
Bankupalli Ganesh Shastry, Managing Director
A born traveler, Bankupalli is addicted to creativity. A Chess freak, he also loves Shuttle, Cycling, Painting, and Drawing. Hailing from a highly educated, family, his father Bankupalli Rangadham is an Army Personal, and mother Padmavathi is a graduate and a house wife. He has two beautiful children as well.
•Graduate in BFA
•Former Creative Head at JWT and EURO RSCG
•Former CEO of TMI Group’ advertising wing
•Worked on brands like Pepsi, Airtel, DRDO, UHG, Axis Bank, UN Bio-Diversity, United A.P. Tourism, Indus International School, Suchitra Academy, VivekamFinancials, HICC, and GMR Airport, GVK,EMRI, and so on.
•International work exposure on brands like Toyota Honda and Panasonic
Key Management:
Shilpa Shah, Brand Director
•B.Com Honors graduate from St. Ann’s College
•Diploma in Interior Designing and Multimedia
•Worked with Bank of America
•The only women entrepreneur in the bicycle industry in India
•Activated Business Development projects for national and International clients
Kaustuv Ray, Sr.Creative Group Head
•Economics Honors graduate from St. Xavier’s College
•Worked with JWT and R K SWAMY BBDO (Began with Bates Worldwide)
•Won many advertising awards works featured on One Show
•Worked on Brand creation for AP Government UN Convention on Bio diversity Airtel, Pepsi, Hospitals, Tech Mahindra and Kimaya MF Global
Nisha Bengani Gandhi, Digital Marketing Head
•B.Com Honors graduate from St. Ann’s College
•MBA in Marketing from Osmania University
•Diploma in Software Engineering from NIIT
•Worked with Accenture as Global vGuru
•Worked with clients like Google, Hyderabad Metro Rail, Lions Club, and ADP
RaunakVazir, Account Management Head
•Graduate from Bhavan’s Degree College
•MBA in Marketing
•Worked with JWT and HSBC
•Worked on brands like Airtel Pepsi and Coromandel
•Developed GMR Airport pre-launch campaign
Big Bears in Spotlight:
•Starting from Brand Identity and Communications Strategy, Big Bears is into full-fledged Digital Marketing and Advertising. Its rich experience spans across Product & Services Brands, Corporate Communication, and Recruitment Advertising at national and international levels.
•Internal Branding is one of the company’s key strengths, where its clientele comprises Retail Giants, Entertainment Companies, Hospitality Clients, and others.
•Big Bears has also carved-out a niche in TVCs
Quick Facts:
Year of Establishment: 2018
Office: Hyderabad
Offering: 360-degree creative advertising services, including ATL, BTL & TTL Advertising
