Kartik Sahoo: Changing the outlook on BTL Marketing

Kartik Sahoo is the CEO and founder of BrandLand Advertising Pvt. Ltd. Having come from a struggling background, he was determined to pursue his dream. He pursued his MBA and worked in the pharmaceuticals and health-care industry for about 6 years in sales and marketing, finally launching BrandLand in 2016.

Mr. Sahoo on his journey and establishing his company

For Mr. Sahoo, being an entrepreneur and having a start-up was a big dream. He started working at the age of 18-19 to start saving money.

Entrepreneurship came by chance and not by choice for Mr. Kartik. He says it is always difficult when someone says that you are not good at something which you always believed to be good at.

The day he lost his job, he got a call from his senior for a job as a consultant for re-branding of a hospital. He mentions that his first project offered him a huge learning scope.

Eventually, he started working with multiple start-ups as a consultant and freelancer. ZipGo was the first full time work that he got in 2016 after which he started BrandLand Advertising.

What are the main or key areas of BrandLand?

BrandLand is primarily based on traditional marketing, as Mr. Kartik Sahoo’s background is in offline and BTL marketing.

He mentions that when he was working as a marketing head/manager, one would rarely find a professional agency for offline and BTL marketing.

We positioned ourselves as the most trusted agency when it comes to BTL marketing and especially brand activation. We wanted to say that BTL is also something to be proud of, BTL is something we need to brand qualitatively. That’s why we went into an offline, traditional style of marketing.

On their recent BTL campaigns

Mr. Sahoo mentions multiple instances of their successful brand campaigns. One of their campaigns which was launched before the COVID-19 pandemic was with Amsha Properties.

Since November is considered as diabetes month, they decided to take the position of ‘Celebrating Life’. Amsha Properties have a celebration zone in between their 2 blocks. Their campaign idea was to organize an event named Walk-to-Stop Diabetes wherein people walk for 5-7 kms. The route started and ended at their project, allowing the participants to have a look around their newest real-estate project. They successfully managed to get 200-300 families to experience Amsha Properties.

They also have interesting plans for the post-COVID scenario.

Due to COVID, many businesses were affected. Digital marketing managed to survive somehow, but since you focus on traditional marketing, how did it affect you?

COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire community, especially the events industry. While the government has allowed us to conduct events under certain guidelines, the acceptance level of the consumer is still low.

Mr. Sahoo being an optimist believes that the BTL, events, expo and exhibition sector will get three times the business that they were getting. This new normal will not be normal forever. When we get back to the way it was, it will have a positive impact.

What is BrandLand USP?

I believe that USP in terms of our attributes, our trust. We want to be somebody who the clients can trust to get the job done as a single joint-team.

We are bound to make mistakes, but the key is to be transparent with your clients, accept your mistakes and aim at improving ourselves.

Message for up-coming entrepreneurs

Do not rush into entrepreneurship. It is good to be excited about your idea, but give it time to think over it. Get an in-depth knowledge about the passion that you plan to pursue. Building strong roots and base is important.

Get a bit of working experience to learn about risks, risk-taking from someone else before taking it yourself. Learn from others’ mistakes so as not to repeat them and plan for your and your venture’s future accordingly.

Don’t ever give up, believe in yourself and give your best.