The internet has emerged as the single most disruptive force in the past two decades. Thanks to this evolution, today's consumers breathe digital in ways we could not even think of. No matter the size of the brand, it is safe to assume that digital influence is real with each brand getting an equal opportunity to put its best foot forward. With the widespread adoption of digital trends, the need to communicate with consumers through a myriad of social channels has become a priority. In this new age market, brands get brownie points if they can communicate effectively with their audience online. However, as easy as it may be to define, Digital Marketing is a complex terrain that can be understood and successfully navigated by those who are well versed with the nitty-gritties of this digital landscape.

Loveena Singhvi Mehta and Priyanka Ashar Dhanak are two young trailblazers who can rightly be called experienced Brand Communication and Social Media Marketing experts. Traversing the path of Digital, they are committed to help brands command the centrestage. Before the initiation of their own agency, Loveena had dabbled with Law as a career option and Priyanka was a Marketing enthusiast. Although on different paths in their careers, they bonded over a mutual passion for Branding and Social Media Marketing. A shared desire and vision brought them together to establish their brand, Little Tricks Media, in 2018.

Little Tricks Media is a Brand Communications agency that renders design-centric, strategy-driven, result-oriented and tailored solutions for its clients. It cuts through the jargon to deliver the brand's message effectively. For Priyanka and Loveena, their dream began out of their home offices in Mumbai. They saw promising growth and delivered impeccable results within a short period of time, setting up an additional office in Dubai. However, their influence is not limited to these two locations and is much widespread with commendable results for brands in a spectrum of industries.

The Women Entrepreneur Team got the opportunity to chat with the dynamic entrepreneurial duo - Priyanka and Loveena, and discussed their entrepreneurial journey, thoughts on Leadership, Digital Marketing and much more. Here are choice excerpts from the conversation.

Give us a brief overview of little tricks media. What are some important features about your expertise as marketers?

Little Tricks Media is a 360-degree Brand Communications agency that offers an array of Digital services across different industries such as Food & Beverages, Beauty, Fashion, Home Decor, Jewelry, Skill Development, and more. We specialize in Social Media Marketing, Branding, Package Designing, Website Design & Development, and a posy of other Digital Marketing services, ultimately making us a one-stop solution for brands. Physically based out of Mumbai and Dubai, we have spread our wings globally, with clients in Hong Kong, US, UK, Belgium, UAE and India.

As our name and logo suggests, any brand's value lies in the smallest details, it's just a matter of identifying them and putting them forward effectively. As a service-provider, this is one of our strongest suits and the reason behind our happy clients. We believe Social Media Marketing is where our forte lies and hence our most sought after service. We strongly advocate that strategy and research play a vital role for a brand and hence, this is where the game plan for each brand begins. Then comes the execution, where the content and the messaging for each brand is created to support its aesthetic value and its ethos.

Take us through your early educational journey and prior industry experience that you bring to the table. What motivated you to come together and establish a brand communications agency?

Loveena:  I started my career with Law and worked as a Lawyer for a year. Although, I always had a creative instinct which didn't sit well in the mundane nature of my work. This change of heart got me to try my hands at Digital Marketing, a buzzword which could be heard at every nook and corner. Soon after, I began working at a Marketing agency in Mumbai and I instantly knew that this was my calling. This job allowed me to unfurl my creative potential and gave me the practical exposure I needed before starting out on my own. I was always intrigued by the growing market for homegrown brands but realized that they tend to miss people's eye. This little realization gave me a vision, and put together with my passion, I co-founded Little Tricks Media in 2018.

Priyanka:  Unlike Loveena, I have always been interested in the world of Marketing and knew I wanted to dive deep into this industry to understand it better. So I went on to pursue my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from S P Jain School of Global Management with a specialization in Marketing. During this course, I gained global exposure as my curriculum led me to study in marketing hubs like Singapore and Sydney. After returning back to India, I worked with renowned companies like Reliance Brands and Future Group to put my knowledge to practical use. Armed with experience, I decided to delve deeper into this industry and pursued my Master's degree in Digital Marketing and Analytics from New York University. Shortly after, I began working for NY's leading Hospitality company. Driven by the vision to build and run my own agency, I decided to head back to India to fulfill my passion. A realization that sprung out of a conversation about homegrown brands, gave me an epiphany. With a shared vision and the same zeal to make a difference through my work, I decided to join hands with Loveena and co-founded Little Tricks Media.

Throw some light on the various roles and responsibilities that your current role entails at little tricks media. Tell us about some of the most significant milestones achieved by the company so far under your leadership?

When we started the company, it was just the two of us. We were responsible for everything that a business demands for. From menial tasks to liaising with clients, business development, accounting, posting, researching, and everything else in between, we did it all. Now that we've completed three years, we're a full- fledged team of brand strategists, graphic designers, social media managers and website developers. Inspite of having a support team, we are still actively involved in looking over the minutest details and ensuring our clients are content with the results.

“We believe that, 'value lies in the smallest details, it's just a matter of identifying it and putting it forward effectively, this is one of our strongest suits and the reason behind our happy clients'”

We believe that communication plays a crucial role with an organization. To actually make it happen, we communicate with our team and clients on a daily basis. As a team, this is something that has enabled us to build a deeper connection individually and helps us bring out the best in each other. Irrespective of the quantum of success a company achieves, one's clients and team will remain the most critical asset. We give utmost priority to feedback and are always available to address the team's and the client's briefs and concerns.

One of our milestones is reaching out to a significant audience and building a wide clientele over a short span of time. Not only have we expanded our reach but have seen Little Tricks Media become a full-fledged service Branding platform, covering all things Digital. Last year we also broadened our base and opened doors to our Dubai office.

“Our main objective is to teach our team as well as learn from them, as we believe that every-one is equipped with their own unique skill set and knowledge. There is so much to learn from and as leaders we are open to learning – loveena”

What challenges does the brand communication and marketing solutions sector face currently? What tools and strategies do you employ to overcome them? How do you synergize growth for brands under your guidance?

The wave of digitization has made it easy to access and consume information. With the rise of this wave, the consumer's attention span has ebbed considerably and hence the demand for good quality, but quick information has taken an exponential leap. And especially since the pandemic, brands have realized the importance of a digital presence and are racing to be `number one' in their respective segments to overcome this challenge. In this process, many brands are missing out on the spotlight they deserve. Many brands do not know how to kick start their digital journey to reach their audiences, for an instance. And in the process of trying to do it all, the clarity on their brand identity, brand positioning and marketing objectives often get clouded. However, these are the times where we at Little Tricks Media take these as opportunities. We employ an effective and research-based strategy while capitalizing on opportunities and delivering consistently. Here is a glance at some of the practices that we adopt for our clients; ensuring 1-on-1 personal time with the client; assisting clients to understand their priorities and offering them a lens to see how we're materializing their vision into a reality. We also emphasize on being completely transparent with our clients throughout the process.

They are informed about our plan of action and every detail is conveyed to them before going through with it. We welcome client inputs throughout and implement them wherever we can, which is something our clients laud us for. We are appreciated for the promptness of our team, and our nature of being always approachable and available to the clients. Focusing on the day-to-day tasks, our work is focused and aligned to promote growth for our clients. Strategy is important but execution is a mammoth task by itself. It is all about taking small action steps, improvising wherever necessary. We create weekly plans, and the metrics are analyzed regularly to understand what works best for the brand. The one size fits all strategy doesn't work in the real world and therefore, we tailor each strategy as per our client's needs. This enables us to communicate their brand message in a concise, yet compelling way.

Throw some light on your guiding leadership philosophies.

At Little Tricks Media, we are committed towards practicing Servant Leadership. We believe that only when we selflessly put our clients and our team ahead of ourselves, can we truly reach the heights of success. On a day-to-day basis, our main objective is to not only guide our team but primarily, learn from them, as we believe that everyone is equipped with their own unique skill set and knowledge. We are, because they are!

We move away from the company hierarchy, as we believe that the entire team must work towards one collective goal of understanding our client's concerns and providing them with the best experience. Our team is our strength, which will constantly take Little Tricks Media to new heights. You must have heard the famous quote, "Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success", we translate this into action by staying accessible to work with the entire team, and by holding ourselves accountable for the decisions we take. We are an `open to ideas' agency where each voice is heard, and new ideas are encouraged. We involve our team at every step of the process as we feel their inputs are of high value.

We, as a team, recognise the importance of effective communication, especially while working remotely, and we have mastered the process of making communication seamless. And as leaders of the company our values of selflessness, service, and good communication, allows us to work together without a hitch.

“It is about breaking the plateau and moving out of your comfort zone. It is only when you challenge yourself, you do things you never knew you were capable of – Priyanka”

How do you both keep yourself well aligned with the periodic evolutions occurring in your respective industry and the technology domain?

Marketing is an ever-evolving phenomena that is subjected to periodic developments and overhauling. To keep ourselves in pace with these advancing trends, we rely on seeking the right information through credible articles, websites, Instagram pages and from our own team as well. Keeping in mind our agency's global influence and clients spanning across different countries and industries, we keep a track of global news and trends which can be further integrated in our strategies to keep our work relevant. Our weekly team meetings are also a great way for us to stay on top of the latest developments in the Digital space and to share ideas amongst ourselves. The diverse inputs enable us to better understand each other's perspectives and varied viewpoints.

Drawing from your experience as successful entrepreneurs, what advice would you give to other women who aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs?

Speaking from experience, our advice to other women entrepreneurs is to follow your passion and grow in the field you are interested in. Invest yourself in the process of growing and working towards your passion. When you do that, work won't be a task but something that you wake up and look forward to doing every single day. Let your passion be your motivation. Even on a long hard day, you go home with the satisfaction of moving towards your purpose. We, ourselves started by following something that we were really passionate about. It is about breaking the plateau and moving out of your comfort zone. It is only when you challenge yourself, you do things you never knew you were capable of.