Losses may happen, but the brand's DNA should be profitable: Aman Gupta, boAt
Gupta, founder of boAt, was in conversation with Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW and founder exchange4media, at the e4m Conclave held in Delhi on Thursday
The e4m Conclave held in Delhi on Thursday saw popular Shark Tank India judge and CMO of boAt, Aman Gupta in conversation with Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, BW, founder exchange4media.
Aman Gupta spoke about his journey of how he started the company and the ways in which he navigated the struggle of the real world.
"When we started, we did not have the luxury of investments. None of these investors invested in us because there was a telecom mobile manufacturer hangover which was happening in the country. So they all ignored us and they thought that we will also die soon. So unfortunately, we had to struggle our way, we had to figure out ways of saving money. I could not even afford a marketing agency. I went to YouTube and I learned how performance marketing and Amazon ads work and I did not even have that much money and so when you don't have money, you have to innovate and do the things yourself."
His dedication to bringing his products to the market was so intense that in the initial days of introducing his products, he cleverly sent his wife and then his mother to demand his products at the famous Khan Market of Delhi, before which the shopkeepers were not ready to keep his products.
He showed the shopkeepers how there was enough demand for boAt products through this little trick, they finally kept his products and thus the journey began.
Gupta spoke about the need for looking at profitability as a main goal. "If you look at what is happening in the startup world today, finally people are realizing that profitability is important. Gone are those glorious days of burning money, and I'm very happy that the ecosystem is changing and people finally are looking at profitability as an important metric, which was getting lost in transit earlier. I'm not saying that losses will not happen. I might also make losses maybe this year, maybe next year. But the DNA has to be profitable. So that is changing."
Gupta believes in an ever-changing marketing world. "Marketing keeps changing. Every few years, I feel marketers keep changing and evolving. If you don't keep up with the times, you'll die soon. So I personally feel in my company also the average age of marketing is 23. The people who grow up as big marketers if you don't listen to the younger guys, also become redundant and they start giving these old-world ways of doing marketing, which may or may not be relevant in today's world. I may be wrong here. But I personally still feel I'm not the marketing head. My 22 to 25-year-olds are actually my marketing heads and I report to them. In fact, I challenge them and when they come up with these ideas, I am the first one to be a critic because I don't know what they're doing. But when they do what they're doing, it's just that the new audiences relate more to them."
"That generation is very different. So I feel that I can hire a good CEO, which we hired. I can hire a CCO, which also we've hired. In marketing, I haven't found anybody who can take this role. So I feel it's a very important thing for our brand, that we don't lose the pulse of the brand. And that's why I want to be the marketing head till the time I don't find that guy," he concludes.
