Bharat Rajamani and Amit Kapoor Launch Consulting Firm, 'butterscotchmango'

Bharat Rajamani, CEO & CO-Founder, butterscotchmango announcing the formal launch of this new venture today on 1 July 2020. butterscotchmango is a specialized marketing consulting firm focusing on Marketing Cost Optimization & Transformation, Digital Consulting & Transformation, and Revenue Enhancement Solutions.

Butterscotchmango is committed to deliver client-centric innovative marketing solutions through our people, tools, and technology. Founding Team includes cumulative work experience of over 60 years across Consulting Firms (KPMG, EY, Accenture), Media Agencies (GroupM, Dentsu Media, LodestarUM), and Media-Owners (Sony Pictures, Times of India Group).

While talking with BW Bsuinessworld, Bharat Rajamani has shared his insights and goals about introducing this venture. Excerpts from the email interaction are here:

24 years in marketing consulting with big names – KPMG & EY. What is your thought behind co-founding a specialized marketing & media consulting firm? And why do you think now is the right time for the same?

A spoonful of absolute joy that makes you forget what came before - The right people, the right knowledge and the right mindset - That’s the recipe to taste marketing & media transformation.

Marketing & Media Consulting is my passion; embarking on this entrepreneurial journey, we are committed to creating an agile and innovative platform that provides customized marketing solutions to our clients. At butterscotchmango, we believe in looking at the problem from the client’s perspective, recommend an actionable solution, and handhold the client in its implementation. Implementation is where most consulting firms leave the client alone; we willing to address this gap and walk the entire path together with our client. Today, it is imperative that someone takes up the initiative to bridge this ever-widening gap of external consultants and preferred partners.

What is your take on post-COVID advertising opportunities? How will it impact marketing strategies and budget?

This pandemic has not just modified consumers’ media habits but has also altered the behavior and perception towards consumerism, values, and messages of brands.

Speaking of media, we all have witnessed the significant drop in advertising spends across medium due to various factors such as drop-in revenues, lack of original content, lockdown, etc. However, I am confident that advertising spends will soon see a rebound from big advertisers as people and economies return to normalcy and brands will want to maintain or grow their pre-COVID SOV.

During these mentally, emotionally, and financially testing times, Brands need to be more considerate and empathetic in their messaging and focus more on safety, hygiene, and overall well-being of not just their consumers but also of society and environment. This is also the time for brands to showcase their values, ethics, and responsibility towards society. All this must be done while subtly promoting your brands and products. At the same time, brands have to be cautious to avoid being perceived as opportunistic in these times. And this will continue for some time even after the pandemic is over.

Has the time already come for digital to lead; ahead of TV. Which other media can play a significant role?

Honestly, while we all are optimistic about the adaptation and subsequent growth of digital media- avoidance of other media is a tradeoff. Over the past 2 decades, I have seen this that each of media like Print, OOH, Radio, Ambient, etc have their critical role to play in the communication mix for brands. But yes, Television is still the medium with the highest reach, even in the developed countries, and advertisers know this. And at the same time, digital has seen double-digit growth over the years and will continue to do so in the near future. Though a part of the digital growth is at the expense of traditional media, esp. Print and Radio, however, I believe it is also fueled by an overall increase in marketing spends and small & local first-time advertisers exploring the digital-only approach.

So rather than looking at each medium in isolation, advertisers and agencies are focusing on an integrated media approach that utilizes strengths of each medium to enhance and complement that of other mediums. While they are jumping to adapt and leverage digital media to the fullest- we will help them to make that leap by setting ground principles best for them.

You spoke about the founding team with relevant industry and consulting experience. Why do you think all of you are better equipped?

The USP and biggest differentiator for Butterscotchmango is its founding team. Professionally, we have been working together for over a decade, our thoughts are aligned and we share a common passion for Marketing & Media Consulting.

Cumulatively we have over 60 years of work experience between the founding team members – Narayanan Ramachandran, Karandeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, and myself.

Narayanan Ramachandran – Director & Founding Team Member, butterscotchmango, a seasoned Marketing and Media Professional with over 18 years of experience across Leading Advertising Agencies, Media Houses & Consulting Firm. He has donned multiple hats across Marketing Functions, Advertising Agency, Revenue & Digital Consulting. He has successfully strategized and executed many Go To Market Strategic marketing programs which have won many awards and industry accolades.

Karandeep Singh – Director & Founding Team Member, butterscotchmango, a marketing & media professional with 12+ years of experience. He has a unique mix of industry and consulting experience at leading Consulting firms and Media Agencies such as KPMG, EY, Accenture and GroupM. He is a seasoned media professional who has led and successfully delivered large marketing & media assignments in India & Global Markets. He has closely observed marketing strategies across categories and geographies that enables him to deliver great value to his clients.

Mandeep Singh – Manager & Founding Team Member, butterscotchmango is a Marketing and Media professional with 7 years of experience working as a Media Planner & Marketing Consultant. In his earlier stints at EY and KPMG, Mandeep had worked on projects assisting various advertisers across different sectors in achieving media efficiencies and cost savings for their marketing spends. He started his career as a Media Planner with leading agencies before joining Consulting space.

Overall, we have come together for one reason, which is that there is a lot we all can offer clients. With the consulting experience and layering it with creative Data and media capabilities, we believe that we can assist the client in their marketing transformation journey. More so in the current scenario when the marketing teams all over are embracing smart media and digital possibilities we can help them with strong blueprints in this journey to make it more exciting and risk-free.