 My guest today is someone who has spearheaded the vision of the glitch of working with ambitious businesses like Netflix, LinkedIn and the Stanley believer. She is someone who has truly built a gender inclusive organization. We are pleased to have with us today, Pooja Johri CEO of the glitch. Hi Pooja, how have you been holding up? I mean as well as can be to be honest but thank you for having me. It's obviously a challenging time for everyone in the world and I'm sure we're all doing our bits to stay positive and keep moving forward every day. Absolutely. So tell me how is life changed after lockdown for agencies like yours and what were the initial hiccups when you started working? Were there any operational challenges and how did you adapt to this now? So you know to start with something positive and then going on to the obvious challenges that a lot of organizations would have had right? We have taken decisions, rejigged you know our business operations, our services, areas which would have otherwise taken us a few years to go back and reflect and do you know I think we've really leaped forward and taken some very very quick and decisive decisions over the last four months to ensure that we are as an organization ready for you know what's to come because I do think that you know while things are still changing and everyone's talking about the new normal, the new normal is yet to come once things come you know once there's a vaccine or there is a medication or whatever you know it will really reflect on the kind of areas that we don't you know we continue to take forward from lockdown the good of the lockdown how do we take that forward you know one such example for me is really how you know I know for sure that at least for the foreseeable future I wouldn't have more than 50 to 60 percent of my workforce in in back in office because I just would want to ensure that everyone is able to get you know the work-life balance which has been you know something that is unheard of in agency lives right so I think that has been you know a definite positive but besides that I feel you know a lot of agencies like ours that are digital natives digital first a lot of our talent is you know very equipped to work online we've been doing this for many years the transition was not as difficult you know there were obviously the initial hiccups also the initial excitement of being able to work remotely then it sort of went into the process of oh my god this is what I have to be doing for the you know for a fairly long time keeping all of those things in mind I think people rigid very quickly as an organization you know very very quick to adapt to newer you know remote working policies and ensuring that you know we also handle to the best of our ability mental health and the mental health crisis that you know that everyone is really feeling and going through right so also if you can take us to one of your work done during lockdown and how did it all come together maybe your work you know that's a that's a good example the Netflix home stories piece was was you know executed everything was done remotely from you know from the actors to producers to directors everyone worked out a completely different location and I think it was a very ambitious project something that we wouldn't have imagined if someone had told us even a few months before lockdown that this is how you will put together an entire series we would have laughed it off but you know we have an incredible team at Glitch my colleagues are extremely you know extremely capable and we have the best unit I believe in the industry for people you know to be able to pull off something of this scale with the quality that we were able to pull off right also tell me what is the general mood like in terms of client spending are they now ready to like spend or are they tightening their purchasing do you see green shoots now are they having the conversations so you know let's start from when the whole pandemic actually hit us and you know clients reacted differently different categories reacted differently entertainment was a different reaction versus an fmcg or you know or other industries for that matter and is it moving is it getting better I think it is you know the everyone's realizing the endlessness of it everyone's realizing that this situation is not a 21 day or a one month or a two months lockdown anymore right this is the situation we're going to be in for the foreseeable future so we now all have to get on with our lives and clients brands customers we're all seeking a level of normalcy and as we seek normalcy you know to a certain extent the experiences that we would want are also you know we're going to desire them all over again so we are going to want you know to spend on brands and brands are going to definitely want to advertise so we're seeing a lot of movements coming up but you know one thing to note here is that the customer acquisition cost will definitely go down now because the today's customer is so connected I mean we have a hyper connected consumer today because of what happened during lockdown you know just the shock of the fact that I'm not going to be able to go out and buy something has even made my mom is living with me over the lockdown period and helping me with my daughter so my husband and I can still you know work while we're at home and I can see how connected she is on her phone and how easy it is for her to order or you know or to speak with her sisters in different parts of the world or engage even in community groups within you know in the area that we live in so it's hyper connected and brands are being very very smart I feel martec and an omni channel presence in a time like this is going to be great for businesses because your acquisition cost is going to go down you no longer just having to spend on TV to you know acquire consumers I think it's interesting it's a great time for everybody apart from obviously the stress of the pandemic and and the scariness of it there are you know fewer areas of opportunity for sure interesting so also this entire situation has gotten a great deal of people in the way we work where you see the opportunity or new areas new opportunities that have like kind of cropped up new ways of working um I you know I the something that I said at the start right that we have this unique opportunity to rewrite the agency life narrative you know the agency work life narrative and I think that if we're able to do this well and you know we're working on it very actively as I said I would definitely want us to continue having in rotation remote working as well so just imagine if you're able to you know rent out an airbnb somewhere by the beach and still continue to do you know still continue to work um and if that would we allow people to have those opportunities and for talent to have those opportunities it would be fantastic it's completely we you know it we've we have completely changed the the you know the concept of having to work inside office to be efficient um and that is interesting it's a great opportunity for us you know on the factor of efficiency we will as a as a business unit be far more efficient as well because I feel you know sluggish costs on on rent and on travel etc I can really be managed better to reinvest in our talent and reinvest in acquiring new talent or having different kind of pay packages or larger bonuses or whatever I think you know we're still discovering everything that we can as we're starting in long-term decisions um we can you know we have unique opportunities to really also change that that agencies don't really pay that well uh right you know I'm still discovering it I'm really hoping that we're able to get to that direction well at least that's the intent and you know we don't overlock down we have people from we we acquired consultants and people from different parts of the country and the world and that was interesting we would not have been able to do that um had things been in a normal state we've been able to use skill sets uh from across the globe and it's a great opportunity for us because we no longer restricted to geography the other one is collaboration I have never seen my offices collaborate the way they are right now um you know if you were to look at a bombay or a denny they were always two units doing their own thing but today again not just by geography the kind of collaboration that this is breeding the kind of uh you know growth it is breeding it's it's fantastic and I really hope that continues and the last one is the you know this notion of being on of doing an online meeting is inefficient uh I think the number of memes that have existed on the internet about you know things like I took a five o'clock five a.m flight to go to deli which is actually a 30 minute meeting on zoom you know just those kind of memes that I've been going around on the internet are proof enough that I mean we can be so much more efficient with our time and do so much more in our day if we're not wasting it on travel um so these are some of the opportunities that I see um for organizations as we move forward so Annali I didn't know what are you missing the most about about your office about my office I'm I'm definitely missing all of my colleagues and the just being you know to be honest having human contact right to be being able to hug them or or uh you know be in brainstorms together or the thrill of being sitting in front of a client and doing a meeting those are all exciting you know those are areas I miss but I'm also the kind of person that believes in in looking at the glass half full sort of a scenario where there is there is a lot of good that we can take out of this as well and reinvent our business model um that that's a huge opportunity for us today right so uh you know there's been a there's been a stream of dreadful news affecting our lives plus there's video fatigue and people tell me that work from home is almost like work when you go seven so how are you kind of motivating your team what are your teams telling you yeah I mean there is no denying that I feel it myself that uh I'm I'm a lot more tired than I used to be when I used to be traveling and going to work or I mean there is no denying the fact that there is video fatigue and uh and all of the areas of just the stress that we're working constantly but again I feel that as the world starts opening up again and we are no longer restricted to just doing this from our homes that we have the opportunity to the breather and go out into a restaurant go watch a movie and come back but still operate uh during work hours remotely that is where the shift will really come in and I don't think right now when we're all still in lockdown but as the world opens up and our policy is really coming to play where we you know where we balance out remote and office working um I think there is a there is a there is something there that could really unlock um a lot for us interesting so lastly what would be your message to brands and agencies on how they should cut through the clutter rather than being it so uh you know the rules don't change uh to advertising and marketing we've got to be authentic uh you know and people today we they need to be real they need to be uh you know we need to realize that every moment is not a moment to to market um and the principles of marketing and advertising don't necessarily change but the availability of the kind of this of speaking to a hyper connected consumer is a brilliant opportunity we've leaped 10 years uh you know that I I've read somewhere that COVID is the chief transformation slash digital officer of the world I mean something that would have taken 10 years has already happened so brands and agencies need to capitalize on that uh because you have a hyper connected consumer and you're going to be able to reach that consumer at a far lesser acquisition cost so huge opportunity for us um as brands I uh you know ones that have not invested in my tech or omni channel uh or have an omni channel presence this is the time to do it and for agencies like us I think it's just about while the idea is always going to be central but the number of platforms and the uniqueness of which we can talk to consumers uh is a very rich playing field for us so I mean let's make the most of it perfect thank you so much for this very delightful very insightful conversation I hope to see you at your office things get back to normal yes I'm so connected take care all the way