Tag: Manish Porwal

Prabhu Tony takes the top job at Alchemist; Farhan Khan to lead Clay real estate unit

MUMBAI: Alchemist has rejigged its leadership stack with Prabhu Tony stepping up as chief executive officer – mainline business, and Farhan Khan taking over as head of Clay, the agency’s specialised real estate vertical.

With over 14 years of brand, strategy and creative leadership under his belt, Tony has been instrumental in driving Alchemist’s growth trajectory, particularly in the Delhi market. In his new role, he will spearhead national operations, doubling down on scale, agility and deeper client impact.

Meanwhile, Khan—who has spent over a decade building Clay into a formidable force in real estate marketing—will now lead the vertical’s pan-India expansion. Known for his sharp sectoral insights and steady revenue growth, Khan is expected to replicate his regional success across new territories.

Alchemist managing director Manish Porwal said: “Prabhu has been a reliable driver of our growth, combining strategic thinking with a profound understanding of achieving significant results for our clients. His leadership as CEO will guide us in our next phase of growth. Farhan’s skill and vision have significantly boosted our real estate division, and his expanded role is a logical progression to extend that success to other regions.”
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Tony, reflecting on his rise, added: ““The Delhi chapter gave me the playground to learn, build, and grow, and now I look forward to extending the same energy across all Alchemist’s offices. I’m grateful to Manish for his mentorship over the years and will continue to draw from his wisdom as I step into this new chapter.”

The moves mark a decisive push by Alchemist to sharpen its creative-commercial edge and deepen partnerships across its core verticals.

June 18, 2025
FirstHandle appoints Alchemist as its agency for Media Strategy and Communications

Bangalore: May 17: Delhi based Mobile App firm First Handle has hired Alchemist for brand building and enhancing its footprint across the country even as its traction has extended to Mumbai and Bengaluru since its launch in the capital, less than a year ago. The agency will handle the strategy, planning, and the creative responsibilities of the brand. The account will be handled by the agency’s Delhi office.

Says Gaurv Sinha “We, at FirstHandle were looking for a team/agency that matches our standards of operations, understand our business philosophy and will help us find a standing in a market as diverse as India. We are happy to have on board Alchemist, a leading Marketing Solutions provider, as the drivers of our brand and social strategy and execution partner.”

FirstHandle Led by Gaurav Sinha as the CEO has found increasing traction enlisting over 15,000 retailers in less than a year and hopes to add another 25,000 in the coming months.

This strongly backed mobile app is meant to help find treats and treasures at a discount! Manish Porwal, MD Alchemist said: “We pride ourselves in contributing to strategic growth for businesses. We are excited to partner with FirstHandle, to work on their brand and social strategy. The challenge for us is to create an exciting communication plan to make this brand into a go-to-app for every person who steps out to shop”

May 18, 2016
FirstHandle appoints Alchemist as its agency for Media Strategy and Communications

Bangalore: May 17: Delhi based Mobile App firm First Handle has hired Alchemist for brand building and enhancing its footprint across the country even as its traction has extended to Mumbai and Bengaluru since its launch in the capital, less than a year ago. The agency will handle the strategy, planning, and the creative responsibilities of the brand. The account will be handled by the agency’s Delhi office.

Says Gaurv Sinha “We, at FirstHandle were looking for a team/agency that matches our standards of operations, understand our business philosophy and will help us find a standing in a market as diverse as India. We are happy to have on board Alchemist, a leading Marketing Solutions provider, as the drivers of our brand and social strategy and execution partner.”

FirstHandle Led by Gaurav Sinha as the CEO has found increasing traction enlisting over 15,000 retailers in less than a year and hopes to add another 25,000 in the coming months.

This strongly backed mobile app is meant to help find treats and treasures at a discount! Manish Porwal, MD Alchemist said: “We pride ourselves in contributing to strategic growth for businesses. We are excited to partner with FirstHandle, to work on their brand and social strategy. The challenge for us is to create an exciting communication plan to make this brand into a go-to-app for every person who steps out to shop”

May 18, 2016
Alchemist launches specialist agency Clay to cater to real estate sector

MUMBAI: Marketing solutions company Alchemist has launched a specialist agency called Clay to solely cater to brands in the booming real estate sector.

Clay will be helmed by Farhan Khan as business head and COO, who was previously with Xeco Marketing as COO.

Along with Khan, Clay has also roped in communication specialists and associate managing consultants Anushree Murkute and Amy Mathew with their respective teams. Both Murkute and Mathew come from an advertising background.

With offices in Mumbai and Gurgaon, Clay started out with five retainer and three project based clients. The retainer clients include Disha Direct and Nirvana Reality, Rajasthan based ARG Group, Delhi basd Novell and real estate technology start-up Realty Redefined.

The Clay division will report in to Alchemist CEO Anujita Jain. “Clay is providing genuine strategic advice and execution together, a never before complete solution from under one roof. It will be giving through the line services to the currently pressured Real Estate segment. These include brand and communication strategy, advertising, direct marketing, CRM, events and activations, lead generation and management, digital and social activation, velebrity endorsements and more.”

Alchemist director and magicbricks.com founding member Rajkumar Remalli added, “Clay is about creating brands in the real estate world, which was hitherto ruled just by project launches, successes and failures. No more will investments made in one product be non-cumulative to others by the same corporate brand.”

Clay also has its own creative, digital, CRM and events and activation support teams. The agency will draw on Alchemist’s strengths in outdoor advertising and celebrity management combined with new skills and ideas.

Khan said, “I have seen clients yearning for true strategic advice and the commitment of the same advisors to walk the talk and talk. Clay is meant to do exactly that. We have already done invaluable value addition and created IPs for our clients in this little time we have been operational. Establishment of World Broker’s Day is one such proud achievement.”

The company has also initiated the celebration of World Broker’s Day on 9 June every year. This is an insight driven strategy for the real estate brokers, for recognising their thankless services they provide to the customers. The campaign climaxed with a packed audience convention on WBD in Mumbai. Apart from benchmark ideas, Clay is navigating clients through the current challenges and pressures and has several projects line up like Wollywood, City of Music, ARG One, Maple Leaf, Reso’villa, R Square, Agent Search, etc.

Disha Direct MD Santosh Naik said, “In Alchemist and Clay we find partners who do what they say. They walk towards results and go beyond the brief. They provide business strategy and not just marketing. They execute for results, not applauses. I am glad we connected and are working together.”

Alchemist MD Manish Porwal added, “Brand Clay is the first of many specialized communication solutions that you will now hear from Alchemist. The next quarter for Alchemist is full of preparations for future that will change a bit of the communication landscape. We are excited and so are our clients.”

November 3, 2015
IPL TV ratings continue to fall

MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), following the cricket World Cup, continues to put up a weaker performance compared to its earlier versions.

IPL 4.0 scored an average TVR of 3.84 for the first 59 matches, according to data from Tam Sports (six metros C&S4+). Last time the matches fetched a TVR of 6.36 compared to a rating of 4.66 in the second year and 5.39 in the first season.

The previous season‘s data for the 59 matches, however, includes the semifinals.

In IPL 4.0, the last 10 matches got an average TVR of 3.32. Only two of them crossed a TVR of 4. The highest rating was the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, which got a TVR of 4.42.

Overall, the highest rated match is still the first match which got a TVR of 7.77. It was the only match that touched a TVR of 7. Last year, five matches during the league stage touched a TVR of 7.

According to Alchemist managing director and promoter Manish Porwal, the vanilla reach of the IPL has gone up but people are spending less time on it. They are also coming back to it less often.

“There is fatigue due to the World Cup. The longer duration of the tournament has also affected ratings. There is a limit to the amount of cricket people are willing to watch,” he says.

The addition of two teams has also added to the fragmentation. “Loyalties to some extent are being split. For instance, all of Maharashtra used to watch the Mumbai Indians. Now with Pune coming in, some people in Maharashtra have an interest in that team. The good news, however, is that the drop has not been as bad as was expected,” says Porwal.

May 18, 2011
Alchemist launches Delhi (NCR) chapter, Nandini Bhupat to helm

MUMBAI: Alchemist, the talent solutions company led by former Percept Talent Management CEO Manish Porwal, launched its Delhi (NCR) office last week with communications expert Nandini Bhupat as its lead.

Alchemist provides solutions to Media, Marketing and Agencies, in the field of human resources – both corporate and entertainment.

“Gurgaon is the new Nariman point and NCR is the new Mumbai” says Porwal. “Delhi is almost 60% of our business in entertainment talent and 33% in the corporate vertical. We have been looking hard for our Delhi lead and I am glad it is Nandini. She comes with a rich experience in Marketing, Marketing Services and Media – all three being our playground, and I am sure she would help grow our strong positioning, up north”

Nandini is an ideas and people’s person, with 13 years of experience as a marketing and marketing services professional. She started her career as an advertising professional with stints at FCB Ulka and then Rediffusion DY&R handling brands like Colgate, TCS, Birla White, Holiday Inn etc. After that, she switched to media with BCCL’s Private Treaties. She then added to her multi-dimensional experience as the business development head at First Advantage, a Fortune 100 company.

Talking about the movement Nandini commented,“In the world where a lot of marketing services companies are losing respect with their clients either being arm-chair thinkers or too operational, Alchemist is a whiff of fresh air. In this era of co-creation, I am happy that I have joined a solutions company as against a services company that has either little say or doesn’t do what it says. I look forward to adding glitz through celebrity engagements and substance through our search and training offering.”

March 11, 2011