Mumbai: Revex Media, founded in 2017 and based in Gurugram, is an integrated business growth services firm that serves as an incubator and accelerator for brands. The company was conceived by two cousins, Utkarsh Arora and Nishant Bagla. Arora, who is the CEO, is steering the business so that it grows in alignment with the ultimate vision of the brand.
The founders initially started Revex to solve their own problems in terms of the gap in the services provided by different players in the industry that reap lesser outcomes. The founders noticed that all of the agencies utilised a one-size-fits-all approach, delivering commodity services without a proper strategy or a focus on the end goal and actual outcome.
Also, the founders examined how service providers try to hide their results behind equivocal numbers and how few take full responsibility for delivering top-line revenue. After identifying existing gaps, the founders created Revex, which stands for revenue with experience. Revex Media strives to work with clients as partners and to be fully involved in their growth journey. The firm acts like an extended team for 35+ brands to manage their end-to-end marketing and sales strategy and operations.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Revex Media founder and CEO Utkarsh Arora. His responsibility is to steer the strategy for all departments. He is in-charge of brand development and growth, as well as client network expansion. He is also leading the business vertical expansion for Revex to become a house of brands and an active partner in some of the D2C brands.
Arora graduated from Skyline Business School with a BBA. As an entrepreneur, he has years of experience in the digital space, dating back to his early college days. He witnessed the growth of the digital world during his college days and started working with a few new age brands to help them with their digital marketing needs. He joined a few companies in education, SAAS, and marketing service providers to lead their digital marketing departments. The role allowed him the opportunity to understand the industry.
At Revex Media, besides scaling D2C brands and working closely with the founders, he has also served 50+ diverse digital-first brands via Revex, assisting them in determining the best marketing and growth strategy. He is an active partner in a few emerging D2C brands, leading Revex Media to become a group of businesses in multiple growing verticals and investing in potential digital-first brands in his personal capacity.
His goal as a business enthusiast is to run a house of brands in various business verticals and create value for customers and team members. He has a vision with Revex to form a business building machine that can assist 100’s of businesses to grow and bring significant change by creating employment.
In addition, he seeks to build a 500-person team and establish a global presence for Revex Media over the next five years. His goal is to create a skin-in-the-game incubator for potential brands and help 50+ brands achieve more than one million dollars in ARR in the next 24 months. His long-term vision is to make Revex Media as a group of businesses that is becoming a catalyst for potential brands to grow in their categories.
He is a movie buff who enjoys watching films with his family and friends in his spare time. Arora tries to create a balance by slowing down on weekends, which acts as a window to take a break from the fast-paced business life. He enjoys meditation and nature as it helps him gain clarity and deeper thought control. He is also a fitness and health enthusiast as it enables him to be the best version of himself. In addition, he is a philanthropic person and loves doing charity on occasions to uplift the underprivileged.
Edited excerpts:
On the agency's effectiveness
Utkarsh: As an agency, we have successfully scaled 10+ brands by 500 per cent in the last 24 months and are also working with some young and potential brands to help them grow.
On the impact of Covid-19
Utkarsh: Covid-19 has been the worst time for many, but we looked at the adversity as an opportunity where we started digital transformation services for brands to go digital. We not only accelerated our growth rate in the last two years but also doubled our workforce and didn’t cut any salaries for any of our team members.
On the company’s goals for 2022
Utkarsh: In fiscal year 22-23, we expect to increase revenue by 250 per cent and double our client base.
On the company’s USP
Utkarsh: Revex treats clients as partners by bridging the smartest minds under one roof, which results in a productive and accelerated approach.
However, beyond following the performance-oriented work culture, the brand sees its USP in real, outcome-based strategies that it executes. This has resulted in catalysing the growth of some brands by 10x.
There are a few marquee agencies in India that work primarily with brands that have financial backing, and most low-cost agencies do not provide the service quality that established and growing agencies are offering. Revex’s strategy, on the other hand, is to build brands rather than reap all profits from the start-ups.
The goal is to work with selected brands and collaborate with them to help them grow without compromising on talent or quality. Revex offers a more in-depth approach that operates on a more holistic model by doing revenue share and performance-based compensation deals with potential brands. The brand’s motto is to make its partners big in order to make Revex big.
Revex Media collaborates with a group of visionaries in business growth, marketing, communications, and technology to raise the bar for promising businesses. The company’s existence is based on exponentially scaling its partner brands and empowering their businesses to make a massive impact in their industry.
Revex has formed numerous alliances with technology partners, RBF partners, and product manufacturing partners. The brand works closely with a few other agencies that specialise in various fields to complete the project. There are hundreds of agencies with fewer than 25 team members that are targeting the same audience. However, Revex’s goal is to compete with agencies with 80-100 team members, 20 crore+ yearly revenue, and a strong portfolio of clients.
The brand distinguishes itself from its competitors because its funnel growth approach is focused on the real outcome; pricing is better than the other established players for at least 24 months; the brand understands not only marketing but business fundamentals; and the brand facilitates accountability and performance-led DNA, which many large agencies lack.
On the big challenges
Utkarsh: We have seen the fundamental gap in founders' understanding concerning how important branding is for their business in the initial stage. Nowadays, there are so many commoditised products being launched without a storyline. It is a fact that to be successful in today’s digital world, your ‘why’ is more important than your ‘what.’ Therefore, from day one, keeping a clear understanding of the brand and how it is different is imperative.
On reaching the company's goal
Utkarsh: Revex closely worked with Tintbox to scale the brand from Rs 4,00,000 in revenue to a Rs 5 million monthly revenue run rate. This is just one of the many case studies and success stories the brand has created. To state one more time, Revex worked with NutriZoe to double its revenue in the last six months.
On the definition of ROI
Utkarsh: We define ROI as pure top-line revenue in comparison to the investments we are making. In the digital media space, it is possible to hedge losses with consistent improvisation in the strategy. It is much easier to change digital campaigns compared to traditional media.
One of our core values is ‘clarity’. We do not engage in any project until we have clear numbers in front of us that are to be achieved, factoring in all the costs. This has helped us to reduce our chances of any failure. In our observation, we see many brands do marketing just because their competitors are doing it. In this case, they lack understanding, objective, and commercial viability. Mere spray and pray doesn’t work in the real world.
On scaling up manpower
Utkarsh: We are following the concept of talent density. We aim to be 100+ this year while maintaining a talent-dense organisation. We are working with brands on big commitments and responsibilities. Therefore, our focus is to bring the brightest minds in the digital world to work with us.
Our strategy is to become the digital-first industry leader in the next 12 months, partnering with 30+ potential brands. The brand attributes its success to two things: team size and revenue. For team size, we are projecting 100 team members for FY 22-23; 200 team members for FY 23-24; and 300 team members for FY 24-25. Revex anticipates revenue growth of 100 per cent in FY 22-23, 120 per cent in FY 23-24, and 250 per cent in FY 24-25. Furthermore, Revex Media intends to expand its presence in Dubai, Canada, and the US in order to attract more international business.
On SEO strategy
Utkarsh: SEO has changed a lot in the last few years. To win SEO, one first needs to quantify ‘value’ in the strategy. What value does the content bring to the audience, and should that be the main question? If one is not including content marketing in the SEO strategy, then it will be challenging to materialise anything productive.
On paid campaign’s selections
Utkarsh: Paid campaigns are now a part of the entire content marketing mix. At the end of the day, it is more about what is visible to the audience than mere targeting. We see most of the targeting is now moving to AI-based audiences, which honestly is surpassing the manual campaigns. Here, the only game changer now left with the campaigns is the content. It has to be well thought out as the audience is smart enough to sniff the authenticity and credibility of the communication served.
On LinkedIn’s role in social media marketing
Utkarsh: LinkedIn is currently in its growth phase. Therefore, it’s definitely the right platform for the brands to cash in. We are seeing some great results from LinkedIn now, which we didn't get before.
On how adtech is evolving
Utkarsh: As digital spending goes up year over year and we step into cookie-less environments, the ad tech platforms are going through a massive change. Privacy changes are bringing the need for innovation. In the coming years, we will see a lot of automation and AI/ML-based targeting becoming the core of ad tech platforms.
On the impact of web3, the metaverse, and NFTs in the next three years
Utkarsh: The fundamentals of marketing will remain the same. Wherever the consumer's attention goes, the brands will flock to it to reach and engage with them. Even though the tech is early, it would be a mistake not to take it seriously. In the coming three years, we will see it becoming the mainstream, and it will be on every brand’s strategy list. We are preparing for it!
