D'zine Garage - Delivering Value on the Web 

• D’zine Garage, that’s an unusual name. How did that come about?

It was all about coming up with a name, which would help us in our brand building without splurging money. Then it occurred why not take some kind of ownership of the space we are in… a name like D’zine did just that. So most part of our own brand building has already been done thanks to our name.

As for the Garage… well we started in a small Garage and we always wanted to remember that. What better way than to have it in your Company’s name. It helps us not to forget the past and keeps reminding us that one wrong step and we could be back there.

• What were your beginnings like?

The company was started by Vernon and Divyesh joined him soon. I joined them a few months later, when the team size was four to take care of the business. We were a good team since we all clearly understood our roles and the reason why we came to work every morning. Vernon had a very keen understanding of Interactive Design and Technology, while Divyesh was a fabulous Art Director. My business and marketing background gave the organisation the right business focus.

We started in a friend’s Garage, borrowed computer et al. When we could afford it, we moved into a 400 sq. ft. office at Kilpauk. That was a big day and we were all proud. We started this company because we found that in the early days of the Internet clients had to run between design shops to get their designs done and the techie shops for their programming needs. We felt what was singularly important was business communication and the need to brief only one agency on the communication needs. Otherwise the focus and objective would get diluted somewhere, which is what happened in many cases. So, at D’zine Garage we have a Creative Team consisting of visualisers, graphic designers and copywriters and also a programming team, which has skills in working on complex web and multimedia based applications. That has been our USP and we think that it is relevant even today.

• Isn’t it tough to talk people into buying your ideas? The Internet is still a myth to a majority of the people…or is that just my perception?

This may have been true a year back or earlier. Today, people are well informed and most of the people whom we meet have already had a website earlier. So, they have made mistakes and understand what is required for a good website. Or at least when we tell them what the approach should be they are able to relate to that. So, in a way it’s a lot easier today thanks to the mistakes that people have already made.

Also there is the “what next” factor. Most people have put up a website but they do not know what to do with it next. So that is where we step in and help their brand or company to grow in this medium. Our strategies and approaches in this context have been very successful.

• Can you elaborate on the “what next” factor?

After all the smoke had cleared, the Internet had settled down as a credible medium of advertising. In this scenario, brands are looking at leveraging the potential of the medium to build online communities as well as providing more value to their online customers.

This is where we step in and help brands move up the Internet value chain. We help them chart their online strategies and then hand hold them step by step towards their stated objectives while also generating business leads or revenues through such initiatives. In other words we help clients build their sites, enhancing the users’ experience, manage the sites’ content, market their brands online through innovative electronic marketing tools and also manage their Customer Response. All this is backed up by hard facts in the form of the website’s usage pattern statistics, so our clients do not only see the value we bring to the table but also have the benefit of evaluating the same through the statistics.

• Are they usually receptive? It’s my feeling that it’s easier to convince people on the content and presentation of a website, once the concept is through. I mean you wouldn’t have the usual hassles as advertising agencies do…

It is not easy but we have a time-tested process that we follow. This process takes care of issues that are likely to crop up during this activity and of course our experienced and capable team is another important aspect.

• You seem to have won quite a few awards…

Yes, we have been fortunate to be recognised by our peers and the advertising fraternity. The awards have given us a lot of encouragement in our work and have made us an organisation to reckon with in the Interactive Design space. 

• And would you say that the ABBY award was the crowning glory?

It felt very good to receive the award and be amongst the best minds in the business, but we are not satisfied with that. An ABBY is certainly a high point but an International Award like the Cannes Award is what would be our “crowning glory” and someday that will also be on our trophy shelf.

• You have recently opened your office in Mumbai.

We have been working with a few clients in Mumbai and we saw that the market was good for the services that we offer. After Bangalore we felt we should have a presence in Mumbai too. Also, the ABBY gave us some visibility. Vernon has moved to Mumbai to head the operations there since we felt Mumbai will be an important market.

• How would you rate yourself…on the local, national and world stage…if that doesn’t sound out of place?

I think we are no longer local since we are present in three important cities in India. We are rated as one of the best interactive companies in India. Our Bangalore office is doing good work for some large corporates. In Mumbai within two months we are already working with prominent MNC brands and large Indian companies. And in Chennai we have a dominant presence. The ABBY’s was a national event and so that speaks about how we are rated. On the world stage we still have a long way to go. We have clients in Japan, USA, UK, UAE and the Mediterranean region.  It’s still too early to talk about where we stand internationally as we need to do a lot in that direction. However, we would like to concentrate on the domestic market in the next one year, after which we would be setting up offices abroad.

The general perception is that we in India lack design skills and are just a bunch of “cyber coolies”. We have worked with a few overseas companies who started the relationship on that note but all that changed from the first design that we submitted. Today, we get one-line briefs without their creative guidelines and the creative freedom to do our own designs. It is good to note that we have helped change the “cyber coolie” perception in our own small way.

• What are the clients you are handling at the moment?

Ashok Leyland, Colgate-Palmolive, MRF, Mitsubishi Pajero, Mico Bosch, Royal Enfield, Texas Instruments and Club Mahindra are some of the clients whom we are working with at present.

• Of what I know, your client list is pretty impressive by any measure, yet you are low-key. Is that strategy of some sort?

This has been a strategy we have followed since the beginning. Do not create unnecessary hype… do “good work” and that should do all the talking. This has worked till now and we do not intend to change it.

• Where do you see yourself five years from now?

We would like to consolidate our position in the Indian Market and establish ourselves in India. Having done that we will look at overseas markets more aggressively. Couple of years from now we will definitely be an international interactive agency not to forget the “Cannes” award.