Start-Up of the Week: creADivity
Nov 24th, 2008 by admin
There is an entire business sector out there often overlooked by analysts, investors and even entrepreneurs. It’s the creative industry (often referred to as the creative economy), which encompasses advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, film, music, design and so on. Across the globe creative services and products are worth an estimated $2.5 trillion, accounting for 4 percent of the world’s economic output. In Europe, for example, the creative industry outperforms the car industry as a whole and in India it tops $15 billion. That’s a lot of bills. And this is precisely why I am so excited to introduce this week’s featured start-up, creADivity. A bit of a tongue twister when first said, creADivity is transforming the very nature of the creative industry – bringing together market participants under a dyamic, growing platform. Manik Kinra shares the details on this one-of-a-kind start-up:
Please tell us about your start-up creADivity. What makes it unique? And how does it fit into the marketplace?
MK: creADivity is a technology-based platform for people who are interested in finding an outlet for their creative energies. Simultaneously, it is a place where organizations, especially small and medium enterprises, can get innovative solutions to their advertising and marketing related problems. creADivity has, within it, a marketplace which brings potential clients in touch with creative enthusiasts such as management and design students, freelancers, professional designers and artists. These creatives can also collaborate among themselves using custom-built professional networking tools made available to them by creADivity.
creADivity is a first of its kind platform to bring enterprises and creatives under the same forum - producing an environment of competitiveness. Unlike other creative/advertising platforms where enterprises and creatives engage into a business relationship based on bidding (pricing) and portfolio based screening, creADivity brings a unique advantage of competitive selection thereby removing any chances of customer dissatisfaction or plagiarism. Also it aims to become an engine for an end-to-end advertising and creative service provider unlike most others who fill in one or two blocks of the entire chain.
What markets are you looking to attract? And how do you make money? Is this a subscription-based service?
MK: To begin with creADivity aims to target SMEs, start-ups and xPOs (BPOs, LPOs, KPOs, etc) in India. The advertising potential for the aforementioned target audiences is around $5.5 million. The revenue stream includes:
- Organizations pay through a subscription model for getting marketing and advertising solutions from the marketplace
- Creatives pay a percentage-based commission to creADivity each time they make a sale. There is no subscription fee for creatives
- creADivity will collaborate with advertising networks to provide online and offline publishers for the ads designed by its creatives. The ad networks will pay creADivity on a commission basis for each ad that goes to them from the platform
- ‘Mental Gymnastics’ – a paid focus group brainstorming service
- Advertising revenue from the Web platform
- Sales of advertising services in emerging media/non-conventional media formats like toilet paper, pizza boxes, tissue papers, parking tickets, embedded SMS ads
What has been the most challenging aspect of launching this business?
MK: creADivity has been in operation since last year [2007] and completed its pilot phase in August 2008. Since then we have been able to attract 150+ creatives from more than ten locations across the globe. We have also been able to acquire our first few clients by creating awareness amongst SMEs. creADivity plans to participate in corporate events like SME conferences to build brand awareness. Opportunities like designing activities for TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008 will help us build credibility amongst the audience and hence help us in client acquisition.
Did you write a business plan? How did you fund the launch of your business? Are you currently seeking investment?
MK: Yes, we did write a business plan. In fact, we have presented the business plan to many VCs and are in the process of finding funding for the venture. A written business plan was the first level screening for the TiE EAP competition also which included approximately 48 start-ups. We were selected as one of the three finalists (top ventures) at the end of the TiE EAP competition.
There hasn’t been a formal launch for the business and creADivity. The TiE Challenge - TiE Summit 2008 is the platform through which we are looking to launch our platform to the masses. We are looking for funding and are in talks with a few venture capitalists. Any help on this front will be appreciated 
What are your long-term plans for creADivity? For you personally? Will you start other businesses?
MK: creADivity’s mission is to replace creativity with creADivity in the English dictionary. 
On a serious note, we are currently looking at targeting on South India and intend to slowly launch our services in other geographies across this particular country. So we are looking to acquire at least ten percent of the advertising market in India in the next five years. Personally, I would like to acquire more and more customers, build an image equivalent to or better than that of Infosys (India) and create beneficial opportunities for others through the creADivity platform.
On starting other businesses, we are, of course, open to new ideas but currently our energies are focused on creADivity. We have two more plans in mind, but those will take a backseat until creADivity replaces creativity.
What advice can you give others looking to start their own businesses?
MK: It might be too early to throw out advice, but the one thing that I have realized is the importance of building relationships - you never know who might come to your rescue when you are in need. Also keep your eyes and ears open, there might be people aspiring for similar goals around you and together you can surely achieve much more than you can individually.
how is creadivity justifying its big aims? it looks like an interface between creatives and organizations, so how will it acquire the advertising market?
Great little blog you’ve got here - keep up the good work. Patch.
@ Siddharth - creADivity is an interface between creatives and organization and brings both of them to the same platform. The fact that we would help organization route their advertising and creative needs through creADivity and hence use creADivity instead of using internal advertising staff or conventional advertising agencies will help us acquire the advertising market.
Pls. let me know if that answers your query or not.
[...] Interview with Founding Partner, creADivity. Read more [...]
what future and career prospects as a creative can i look at, in creadivity? will it help provide for regular income? same as a regular job in a regular advertising agency with assured returns?
Siddhath,
We do plan to have a few creatives on our rolls and hence they would get regular income much like an agency.
But even otherwise, the engagement model is slightly different and hence you would have opportunities to earn more than your regular job, if your designs/pitches are liked by the clients.