Tag: Mehul Gupta

  • SoCheers celebrates 11 years of digital creativity and growth

    SoCheers celebrates 11 years of digital creativity and growth

    Mumbai: SoCheers, a leading independent digital-first creative agency in India, celebrates 11 years of creating many award-winning campaigns for major brands across various sectors while building an agency on a people-first culture. Founded in 2013 by Mehul Gupta and Siddharth Devnani, the agency has carved a niche for itself in the ever-evolving digital advertising landscape & is regarded as one of the top digital-first agencies to work within India.

    Keeping true to its core philosophy of digital-first creative thinking, SoCheers has over the last year developed key innovative campaigns for brands across industries like Amazon miniTV, Croma, boAt, BGMI, The Belgian Waffle Co, Havmor Ice-creams, Yes Bank, Reliance General Insurance to name a few. Having been ahead of the curve & incorporating new trends and technologies like 3D videos, CGIs, generative AI (Gen AI) to stay relevant in the ever-changing digital landscape, these advancements have helped deliver exceptional results for their clients & helped the agency bag multiple awards across the industry for campaigns in social, digital and even experiential categories.

    Building on the entertainment expertise they have built over the last few years, they’ve expanded into industries like BFSI, FMCG, and Alco-bevs, adding multiple brands from these sectors to their clientele mix. Their client base has grown by 2.7 times over the last three years, with profitability increasing by five times for the same period.

    On the embankment of a new decade, SoCheers has focused on building & growing the team who are the key people behind creating impactful campaigns. With an emphasis on continuous learning, a mindful and supportive work environment in an agency business that is rigorous, their 225 plus member team (team size has grown by 20 per cent YoY) across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi & Ahmedabad continues to thrive.

    Commenting on the 11th anniversary, SoCheers co-founder & CEO Mehul Gupta said, “It has been an incredible journey. We started SoCheers with a passion to build brands with creative storytelling and a belief in the power of ‘digital’ to connect with the audiences in meaningful ways. I’m humbled to see how we’ve grown, the amazing talent we’ve attracted, and the impact we’ve made on our clients’ businesses.”

    As SoCheers embarks on its next chapter, the agency has its sights set on national expansion & an overall growth in revenue to 30 per cent in the next FY.

    SoCheers co-founder & director Siddharth Devnani said, “Running a digital agency has been so dynamic, we’ve had to reinvent ourselves every year. This keeps us on our toes & we love the adrenaline that comes with blending long-term strategic thinking with creative digital avenues to brand storytelling for brands to achieve their marketing objectives and deeply connect with their audiences. I’m excited about where the next decade takes us.”

    Mehul further stated, “Our ambitions extend beyond commercial success. We are passionate about using creativity for social good and creating a positive impact not just by raising awareness but inspiring positive change.”

    SoCheers’ eleventh anniversary marks a significant milestone, but it’s merely the beginning of a new chapter. With a talented team, an unwavering commitment to creativity, and a focus on social impact, SoCheers is poised to make an even bigger mark on the digital advertising landscape in the years to come.

  • Weekend Unwind with: Mehul Gupta, co-founder & CEO SoCheers

    Weekend Unwind with: Mehul Gupta, co-founder & CEO SoCheers

    In this week’s ‘Weekend Unwind’ series where we get to know the person behind the title a little better through a fun lens, we have on the hot seat SoCheers co-founder & CEO Mehul Gupta.

    According to Gupta, his entrepreneurial journey started way back in school, when he used his music sensibilities and sold it in the form of mixtapes & mix-MP3s for his school. At 19, he chose to create socheers.com, a homegrown social networking platform for fellow classmates. While that website didn’t last for very long, the brand ‘SoCheers’ did- taking birth as a digital-first marketing & advertising agency in 2013. 

    In his current role, Gupta manages the operations of the agency while strategically consulting with brands to build their digital and offline stories. Having won several accolades, such as Impact 30 under 30 2019, 100 Smartest Digital Marketing Leaders, and 100 Most Influential Global Youth Marketing, at a young age, he believes he’s just starting his journey.

    So without further ado, here goes…

    Your mantra for Life

    Take it as it comes, but don’t forget to enjoy each moment of the process.

    A Book you are currently reading / plan to read

    I recently finished reading ‘Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty,’ and next up on my list is ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.’ I like how these books talk about life and they’re just a fun change of pace from the stuff I regularly read about advertising & marketing and other work-related topics.

    Your Fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic

    Fitness is as important as eating food-that’s my mantra. It does require discipline, but once in place, it’ll help you tremendously stay on track. The lockdown got me into doing yoga and meditation regularly, and I’d suggest the same to anyone who wants to take their health seriously, both body and mind.

    Your comfort food

    Khichdi!

    When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going

    The universe has your back and everything is eventually going to turn around in your favour.

    Your guilty pleasure

    Playing ‘Call of Duty’.

    When was the last time you tried something new?

    I like keeping things fun and am quite experimentative. I recently tried practising guided meditation.

    A Life lesson you learnt the hard way

    That force-fitting your solutions to situations or people doesn’t really work out. You need to make peace with this fact and figure out calmer ways of resolving things; it’s far more effective.

    What gets you excited about life?

    I’m always excited about the opportunities and possibilities that every new day brings with it. Along the same lines, meeting new people and learning new things, be it at the office or outside, never fails to excite me.

    What’s on top of your bucket list?

    In the work sphere, creating a campaign that is executed on a global scale tops my bucket list for this year. We’ve had some huge successes recently, and I want to amplify that momentum.

    On the personal front, I have the ambitious goal of travelling to at least six countries by the end of this year.

    If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

    Everything will happen the way it is supposed to. No point in being anxious or worried about something that hasn’t or may not happen.

    An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times

    Playing badminton or cricket, or any sport really.

    What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?

    Being with my family, my daughter, my friends and my teams – my people, basically!

    Your go-to stress buster

    Doing either of these two, somewhat opposite, activities: chilling with friends over a couple of beers or getting pumped up playing cricket or badminton.

    One thing you would most like to change about the world

    I would, maybe, have people put some extra effort into understanding each other and treating everyone with just a little more kindness. When the world comes to terms with the “phenomena” that it’s okay to not be at the centre of it, it’ll become a better place for everyone.

  • SoCheers appoints Yogesh Bhusare as creative group head – design

    SoCheers appoints Yogesh Bhusare as creative group head – design

    MUMBAI: SoCheers, a digital-first marketing and advertising agency based out of Mumbai has announced the appointment of Yogesh Bhusare as its Creative Group Head – Design. Bhusare will lead the talented team of designers at SoCheers and will report into Co-founder & CEO, Mehul Gupta.

    Previously a creative supervisor at FCB Interface, Bhusare has jumped the ranks & has built a credible design profile over the last six years. Before joining SoCheers, he has had interesting stints at mainline agencies like Taproot & Leo Burnett wherein he contributed to clients like The Times of India, SetWet, Jeep, Amazon Fashion, Make in India, STartup India, Airtel, Sula Fest, Mahindra Rise, HPCL, Budweiser, ForeverMark to name a few. He has a keen interest in designing spaces and wall murals, and he’s parallely done a lot of creative projects for brands like Audi, Bajaj, Zostel to name a few. His most iconic project has been the one he did for Audi & designing work for Domestic Airports.

    His creative work has been recognized for his tremendous work by various publications, online & offline, & he was ranked under Top 30 indian illustrators in 2018. At SoCheers he will be working on all the key clients & will be leading the team to being recognized as a creatively-strong agency.

    SoCheers comments Cofounder & CEO Mehul Gupta, ‘’Yogesh is the missing piece to our talented design team at SoCheers. His experience at understanding the creative requirements of a brand & giving out something that works strategically as well as creatively is his key strength. He has synced in perfectly with our culture & with the team & is working towards honing their best skills. We welcome him to our SoCheers Family & look forward to executing some kickass design-first campaigns this year.”

    SoCheers creative group head – design Yogesh Bhusare adds: "I am excited to join SoCheers & the young brilliant minds that encompass my team here. I am looking forward to bringing my mainline experience & utilising this creative approach to digital-first campaigns. My time here has already got me into the deep of things & the growth curve here looks exciting. We are ready to scale up our creative-edge & take SoCheers to a whole new level".

  • Enerzal salutes unsung heroes – soldiers

    Enerzal salutes unsung heroes – soldiers

    MUMBAI: Enerzal, a balanced energy drink, has launched its campaign saluting soldiers who, even on the auspicious Diwali occasion, are protecting India’s borders – A responsibility taken out of passion and love.

    Conceptualised by SoCheers, #ResponsibilityIsAPrivilege – the 1 min 08 sec ad film showcases a day’s journey in the life of a soldier to salute their passion and sacrifices for the love of its country and people. In different scenes, it takes a sneak peek in their life which has been unseen by many. Through a deep-relatable voice-over, the video conveys a message that hard work has no caste and blood possesses no religion; it is the sweat and blood that make these soldiers passionately attentive at the border.

    What the ad wants you to take away is though sweat seems like a salty water, it is the passion of the soldier which sums up as a responsibility taken for the love of the country and its people; Enerzal salutes these soldiers.
    The video ends by two soldiers energising themselves through Enerzal.

    Enerzal marketing head Anang Mohan Basu states: “Enerzal is an ideal hydration choice for broader everyday moments that need a ‘pick me up’ when we sweat, whether it’s getting through a task at work or in between household chores. For this project, we were searching for stories where the sweat is unnoticed, but plays a vital role in making our life better.”

    SoCheers Infotech co-founder and films head Mehul Gupta added, “When the concept was first discussed, we knew we have to keep it real. An extra effort was made to use real voice-overs instead of a professional one to communicate the sincerity which actually lends emotions of the scene to sync with the character’s expressions.”

    The audience will see this campaign across digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.