We Have Identified Targets For Acquisition: Atul Hegde

What inspired you to venture into digital marketing and start your own company? 

Entering the digital marketing space was a natural progression for me, considering my two decades’ of experience in media and advertising, with a strong focus on digital marketing. 

When it comes to YAAP, it has been structured differently, resembling a consultancy or law firm rather than a traditional CEO model. Our team operates as partners, each overseeing specific geographies or practices, fostering agility and innovation, a crucial factor in meeting evolving client needs. Our approach resonated with clients who sought experienced professionals backed by a startup's agility. YAAP addresses contemporary marketing needs, where digital platforms play a pivotal role.

Over the years, we’ve made strategic acquisitions to enhance our capabilities. Notably, we acquired Elephant Design and Optify, integrating their expertise into our service offerings. Despite being a relatively young company, YAAP boasts of a diverse client portfolio spanning multinational corporations to home-grown brands. Our client centric approach and ability to deliver results have been keys to our success.

In a competitive industry like digital marketing, how do you set YAAP apart from other agencies?

The first thing to understand about digital marketing is managing expectations. Seventy per cent of digital marketing is grunt work. It's the stuff that happens in the background, behind the scenes. For instance, consider search. If I'm selling a product on Amazon, how do I ensure that my product appears when a customer is ready to buy? Do I have enough organic SEO going? Do I have sufficient content? See, everyone wants their content to go viral, but that's just a small part of being consistently successful. It's crucial to get the basics right.

We should focus on the long tail of influencers. They might not have millions of followers, but they have significant influence within their niche. Many people think influencer marketing is just about reaching a massive audience, but it's more nuanced than that. Even with a thousand followers or even 500, the influence we have within those networks is incredibly valuable. That's where technology plays a crucial role. So, educating our clients about these nuances is incredibly important.

How did YAAP achieve a rapid global expansion within a short timeframe? 

YAAP's journey has been characterised by innovation, strategic acquisitions and a client-centric approach. Our geographical footprint extends across India and beyond, with operations in Singapore, Dubai and soon Riyadh. This expansion underscores our commitment to serving clients globally and tapping into emerging markets. Our growth trajectory reflects the evolving landscape of digital marketing, where agility and expertise are paramount.

How has the company been pioneering the use of generative AI in content creation?

Last year, what started to disrupt the industry and I think it's going to define the next three to four years for this industry is the use of generative AI in content creation. Again, we’ve been among the first to create a small AI usage lab within the organisation in Bangalore. There we experiment with various tools that are available in the market and not create our own.

The key for content creation in AI, is actually training people for prompts. About 10 per cent of all the content that we create today is AI generated. I feel in three years, it will become 50 per cent. Artificial Intelligence helps in two things – first it takes away regional bias. So my team here can create content for Saudi Arabia. The AI can be taught to do that. I don't need to have a team on the ground there to create that content. Saying that, we do need to understand local nuances and understand the language. Second, it’s the sheer quantity of AI.

Are you looking for more acquisitions in the future?

Going forward, acquisitions will play a crucial role for us this year, as we concentrate on expanding our presence in the content and generative AI sectors. Our focus is on strengthening our influencer marketing platform.

Of significant importance, we're preparing to go public this year, entering the capital market in India. Currently, we have identified approximately eight potential targets for acquisition. We plan to acquire at least two of these companies this year, one in the content space and another in the AI sector.

Our leadership emphasises partnering with individuals who possess an entrepreneurial mindset. From our humble beginnings with 15 team members, we're on track to reach around 150 this year, using technology to maintain efficiency.

Generative AI is poised to revolutionise the content industry, representing a significant shift from our initial focus on the Indian market. Despite our global expansion, India remains a substantial contributor, accounting for about 65 per cent of our revenues.

I'm particularly optimistic about our prospects in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia. We're gearing up to establish a physical presence in this promising market, which has recently opened up to us. We’ll continue to focus on these three buckets that we run – the three Ds: design, discovery and distribution.