Interview with Mr. Shiraz Khan, Founder / CEO, Spicetree Design Agency
Tell us something about yourself? How did you start your startup or business?
I come from a very humble background with very little to boast about but still very proud of everything when I look back to. I have always had an unquenchable thirst for creativity, to be surrounded by more of it, and indulge it in the best way possible. Another one of my
insatiable desires is to know everything there is to know about making the best impact
through my work for the sake of ensuring growth through my creativity. Prior to what I am
doing now, I spent years in the marketing division of a venture in the education industry.
Thereafter, I moved on to managing teams that were responsible for growth. After realizing
my penchant for creativity and innovative thinking, I decided to blend my skills with science and analytics to ensure growth for all. That’s how I embarked on the entrepreneurial journey and Spicetree Design Agency (SDA) was born on the 6th of June 2004. SDA offers a holistic range of digital marketing, branding, design, and web solutions that help brands to communicate, engage and grow. We have led many a brands to progressive paths by taking their clients to the path of purchase with our effective communication and marketing skills.
What are your expectations regarding your company or business?
SDA’s goal has always been and will be “GROWTH FOR ALL, ABOVE ALL.” Whether it is
clients, team or our associates, we always strive to add value and in turn see growth for all
our stakeholders. Our team has like-minded experts who constantly keep looking at
innovative ways to communicate most effectively. Each day brings something new to the
table, something that keeps everyone at SDA alive and kicking. We are not just a digital agency, but rather a partner to our clients. Apart from just communication, we also focus on observing its impact on the campaign performance. This helps us to understand the consumer behaviour better and create even better solutions going forward. Our core philosophy is obtaining ‘factual creativity’ by creating the perfect blend of creative thought and scientific analytics. The general perception is that these two things are poles apart and create an anomaly. However, our utmost emphasis is on offering practicality through creativity in a unique and previously undiscovered manner. This approach has been instrumental in creating an image for our clients that makes them distinct in their own domains.
What do you want to say to today’s women?
Women have always been entrepreneurs and changemakers – whether it be at home or in
the outside world. They are multitaskers and possess the ability to excel at anything they do. My advice to them would be to stop at nothing, understand their capabilities, not consider
themselves as any less, ask pertinent questions, and seek inspiration to drive motivation. I follow the saying ‘Be a game changer, the world is already full of players’ actively and also
live by it.
What are your strengths?
At SDA, our clients TG comes first which ultimately leads to growth and value for those we
work with. We are more like consultants and participate in our client’s business as required
apart from our primary scope of effective communication. We are highly focused and our
core emphasis is on giving the client’s TG a superior experience. The concept of customer
delight has not yet been fully explored by the digital marketing arena. Through our
unorthodox mixture of creativity with analytics, we strive to deliver that WOW factor
consistently.
During this covid scenario how you handled your business?
We have been able to buck the trend of COVID and SDA has only grown during this period.
We have even expanded to the US markets. Within India, we are now present in Chennai
and Bangalore as well. Apart from this, we have also added more clients and expanded our
service offerings. Thus, 2020 and 2021 have been good in terms of progress for SDA.
In the next 5yrs where do you see yourself?
Whether it’s a year from now or five or even ten, we would like to be the best version of
ourselves to be able to maximise growth for all.
What do you expect from this budget?
The pandemic has created havoc but at the same time shown us some reality. So, with this
in mind I believe the budget will be in flavor of development and upliftment of all. It will
concentrate on improving the economy as a whole and empower the people to be a part of
the same.
