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Think WhyNot Films (TWN-F) is one of the leading audio-visual story-tellers in India. In just few years, the company has charted out a unique path. BE’s Aritra Mitra spoke to Saurabh Sharma, Co-founder and CEO, Think WhyNot Films (TWN-F). 

Q) Please take us through your deliverables?

A) Nowadays, people possessing a smartphone and some knowledge of editing softwares claim to be the experts of this domain. Unfortunately, the end results are disastrous. At TWN-F, we constantly thrive to help our clients to reach out to their target audience by producing engaging and eloquent audio-visual contents. We deliver the full gamut of video production and post-production services with the help of our in-house talent as well as key partnerships with specialist service providers. This includes everything from visualising, storyboarding, scriptwriting and directing a brand or product video to seeding a business strategy and creating viral videos. We create content for internal as well as external audience.We have been pushing the boundaries of what is being done in India across the business communication arena.

Q) Are celebrity endorsements entering the realm of corporate, internal and external marketing communications? Why?

A) Yes. There has been a meteoric rise in celebrity endorsements over the last couple of years. However, the interesting trend here is that celebrity endorsements are no longer limited to mere ATL (Above The Line) advertisements. They are now percolating across the line and are being used in pull as well as push strategies. Ideally, a celebrity endorser is seen as credible in terms of expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability or attractiveness. As a result, we have begun to see that celebrity endorsements can arouse public awareness for social causes like cleanliness, the need for contribution to disaster stricken areas and others.

Q) Which are the sectors that are leading in corporate film making and how has video production impacted these industries?

A) All the sectors which require a constant connect with its consumers and saw exponential growth with the rise in economy require a lot of corporate audio-visual content. The leading ones have been banking, life insurance, digital payment channels and few FMCG product categories. In addition, large manpower driven industries such as pharmacy and petroleum also use audio-visual content that is more tactical in nature.

Q) Please compare the TVC (Television Commercial) market with the corporate market?

A) They are like strings of the same guitar, forming the same tune but meant for specific purposes. The TVC market aims at wooing the consumer with an innovative concept when the opportune moment arises. Usually one has to plan in such a way that the same consumer gets to see the same TVC as many times as possible. The external consumer based corporate communication market focuses on the here and now, often to tell a tale for a short moment and then refresh the same a quarter later. On the digital medium, it hardly receives budgets for amplifying its reach. For corporate communication aimed at an internal audience, one needs to see things from a totally different angle. Purposes can range from perspective correction to motivation, recruitment, training and other corporate functions.

Q) How did the idea of starting this company occur and what were the challenges in the beginning?

A) At the age of 20, I realised that I do not want to follow the old-fashioned path of studying for the next six years and then get a job like most of my friends. Straying away from the traditional path, I joined the TWN-F as its youngest founding member. We started out as an online content portal and I have been fortunate enough to be a part of Think Why Not’s journey of becoming an integrated communications specialist. My love for content, especially audio-video and films, led me to set up TWN-F (formerly Twist Studio) as a separate specialised unit that creates communication solutions for businesses. We were lucky to have great clients to begin our journey, which now spans over a decade. With our focus on creating impressionable quality videos, mapped to the business and target audience needs, we have built up an armoury of collaterals that we can now proudly showcase.