Setting a yardstick for brand building
Anishkaa Gehani runs a marketing consultancy in Dubai
Evolution and innovation are key to staying relevant today. Businesses need to evolve constantly and embrace new trends. What’s worked in the past does not work today simply because the market is transitioning every day. The ease of adaptability to the fast-paced environment dictates a lot of success, says Anishkaa Gehani, managing director, Yardstick Marketing.
Yardstick is an integrated marketing consultancy that delivers accountable, effective and thought-provoking marketing campaigns. “We offer a 360° approach to marketing — integrating the right social media marketing, public relations, advertising, digital marketing and event management strategy for every client onboard. Our key personnel boasts of numerous years in senior public relations and journalistic roles in the Middle East and around the world,” says Anishkaa.
The company claims to have handled global and local brands, covered the biggest stories and have the ear of decision makers and media heavyweights as well as the vital ‘beat’ reporters.
So, what makes Yardstick different? Anishkaa explains: “Yardstick takes a multi-channel approach, broadening reach and energising every investment. The brand combines the structure and discipline of management consultancy with the incisiveness and creativity of the best journalistic practices. We work effectively with bloggers and influencers globally and ensure they are included in all marketing communication campaigns.”
Anishkaa — a mother of two — worked for an agency for nine years. “I always wanted to do things differently. For me, it was always about creating value for the clients we work with. We have a flexible approach towards marketing consultancy. As a consultant, I’ve always felt responsible to not only propose the right strategy but also to ensure the business is reaching its goals by deploying the right mix of marketing tactics. Yardstick was a product of my passion for great marketing and communications. Six years after I first set it up, we’re reaching for newer heights and making progress I could have only dreamed of when I first conceptualised this,” she said.
Innovation and exclusivity is of supreme importance to Yardstick. “We strive to stay ahead of the dynamic changing trends and swiftly adapt to new technology. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are currently dominating the markets and we are exploring and integrating these in our current campaigns. Our long-term goals for expansion are for a design unit based in Mumbai, India, that will work mainly with digital strategy and content generation, and a sister unit for public relations and digital marketing in the UK. Our connection with agencies through our networks in London as well as our roots in India have given us
the edge towards this expansion,” said Anishkaa.
The post-graduate from Middlesex University recalls how she started Yardstick when her daughter was three months old and her son was six. With young children who needed attention and a fledgling business that required patient care, she admits it was challenging to make the best of both worlds. “I have an excellent support system
in my family that allowed me to pursue my dreams. Everything is possible if you have the right mindset and if you are prepared to give it your 100 per cent.”
Anishkaa said she wakes up at 5am, gets to work by 7am and works until 5pm. “I ensure I drop my kids to school and am home for them in the evenings. Priorities need to be set right and there needs to be clarity in what’s important versus what’s urgent. As a mother and an entrepreneur, these are questions that unfold with situations everyday. However, the more clarity one has with priorities, decisions always become easy,” said the devoted home maker.
Anishkaa believes in the saying “If it’s not challenging you, it’s not changing you.” We all need to audit what stage of business we are in, and find ways to make things better for our clients, employees and stakeholders, she added.
“A question I ask myself as a woman in business is, ‘How can I make it better for women in the industry’? Vision boards and goal setting sets the right foundation and lays down the roadmap, but it needs to be backed up with massive determined action. And so, having a short-term, mid-term and long-term plans always helps with staying focused and moving in the right direction. I have always been an avid reader and love to learn. It excites me to learn new skills and it’s always helped me create dynamic systems with roots from everything I have learned and seen.”
Priorities need to be set right and there needs to be clarity in what’s important versus what’s urgent Anishkaa Gehani, managing director, Yardstick Marketing