As martech undergoes rapid evolution, the industry’s capacity to adapt is being rigorously tested. Google’s new move which allows users to switch one or off third-party cookies has left many brands in a quandary. While generative AI holds the promise of enhanced personalisation and efficiency, its integration with existing systems often falls short, which reveals a gap between innovation and practical application. In a conversation with BrandWagon Online, Sowmya Iyer, CEO and co-founder, DViO, talks about the company’s strategic adaptation to evolving martech trends, AI integration, and global expansion and industry challenges, among others. (Edited Excerpts)
What is the size of the business you manage – in terms of gross revenue? Can you please provide details on how the company operation is spread?
We manage media worth approximately Rs 150-200 crore. However, we may only be able to take some of the exposure on ourselves. So, it averages around Rs 100 crore. Of this, around Rs 40 crore of business comes from India, and the rest from the Middle East and other countries. Regarding the split, the UAE contributes about 35%, Doha around 12%, and Saudi Arabia accounts for the rest. We also have single-digit revenue coming in from Malaysia and Australia. We’ve recently launched in Australia this year so you won’t see figures from previous years. We’ve also entered Africa this year, specifically Kenya, where we’ve launched our marketing services and AI consulting and implementation business.
Let me give you a quick overview of how our business is structured. When I started about 15 years ago, we were a digital-first marketing company, but technology and creativity were always at the core of what we did. Today, we are a marketing tech and AI solutions company.
We officially launched in 2011, and by 2015, we were growing rapidly as an independent agency. In 2015, we expanded into the UAE, which scaled quickly. In 2019, we entered Doha, and by 2021, we expanded into Saudi Arabia. We entered Southeast Asia in 2019, but it took time to penetrate due to the presence of Chinese competitors, which created a pricing disadvantage compared to the UAE market.
As we grew, we started actively investing in ad tech and martech companies. Today, we have about 18 companies in our incubator, an initiative that started seven or eight years ago. The idea was to recruit some of the smartest startups and tech companies with direct relevance to our core business.
One of these companies, for example, has 1,600 writers on its platform, allowing us to create content at scale. Another company personalises videos, creating real-time customised videos for CRM systems, such as those used by travel or financial marketing companies. Another incubated company focuses on data and AI, particularly in applying analytics for marketing and CDP platforms.
We also incubated a company in machine learning and AI. Initially, we focused on marketing applications of AI, particularly chatbots. But with the rise of generative AI, we saw more opportunities. This led to the development of our AI-powered marketing co-pilot, which streamlines the marketing process and reduces time spent on campaigns by 30-40%.
So, on one side, we have DViO Digital, our marketing company, and on the other, we have DViO One, our AI marketing co-pilot project.
Our generative AI work led to the creation of DViO Leap, which focuses on AI consulting and implementation for business efficiency. For instance, we’re working with one of the largest edible oil manufacturing companies in Kenya, a $200 million business, to unlock six percent efficiency through AI. This is our digital transformation service.
Lastly, we have the DViO Academy, which aims to train and recruit talent in areas like digital marketing, AI, machine learning, and analytics.
These four initiatives — DViO Digital, DViO One, DViO Leap, and DViO Academy — make up Group DViO. They operate across our key markets: India, the UAE, Doha, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and other regions like the US, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Given Google’s recent announcement allowing users to control cookies instead of full deprecation, how do you think this will impact investments in the Madtech industry? Do you foresee startups, especially those you’re incubating, struggling to raise funds, particularly in India, where enterprises may be slower to invest?
Decentralisation is inevitable. As we move from Web2 to Web3 marketing, all systems will become decentralised. Content will be held individually by people, not on singular servers. There’s no stopping decentralisation. In this era where cookies are privately held and no longer shared due to GDPR rules and privacy concerns, most solutions will become permission-based. First-party data and permission-based systems will be key, and this is where the significance of large language models (LLMs) will come into play.
As an organisation, I want to understand my customers better. I have legacy data spanning many years, showing what my customers have purchased. However, I haven’t been able to fully leverage this data until now. With generative AI, which brings human-like complex thinking, we’re finally able to read and make sense of the big data we’ve always had. Previously, even though machine learning was used, it didn’t fully unlock the value of this data.
With generative AI, we can now use data more effectively. This data is specific to my organisation, and my customers have already given me permission to use it. I’m not relying on third-party data anymore, and because of this, technologies will pivot toward building intelligence within the enterprise ecosystem. Think of it like a sandbox: within this ecosystem, the data is being leveraged in the smartest way possible. When you have your own customer and organisational data, you can do a lot with it.
That’s how companies will pivot, in my opinion. Most are aware of this shift and will focus on use cases that make data useful within the organisation, making enterprise data more valuable.
To what extent have you built a first-party data ecosystem for your clients? Considering many agencies manage client accounts, do you have access to their entire database, or is it fragmented across different sources?
Typically, what we do is, let’s take an example of any FMCG client we’re working with. Many of these clients have legacy data, past data, and new data that comes in as we run their marketing campaigns. Often, these companies don’t have a data strategy in place. When we talk about data strategy, you’re dealing with various kinds of data—distributor data, customer data, and data that sits in their ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning systems). And if there are multiple brands within a group ecosystem, you also have data scattered across the group.
If they don’t have a data strategy, we propose to build one for them. In doing so, we gain permission to access their data. From there, we can apply it to marketing use cases. For instance, we can analyse customer buying history or preferences to deliver the most relevant information to customers through marketing efforts.
This approach also helps when designing consumer journeys. If you know the consumer journey is relevant to the person you’re targeting, and you’ve categorised that person into a specific profile or cohort, the marketing becomes much more effective.
What unique strengths or value propositions do you offer when competing with larger advertising agencies or platforms? What is your USP?
I don’t think we have a single competitor because of our multi-stack approach. The biggest advantage we bring to the table is that we position ourselves as a growth solutions provider. We don’t enter a business just offering digital marketing or social media services. Instead, we analyse the business holistically, like a consulting company with implementation arms.
We assess the business’s current situation and recommend interventions across three cohorts: creative solutions, tech solutions, and growth solutions. For growth solutions, we focus on data strategy, data understanding, data analytics, and leveraging AI across all these functions. Ultimately, we promise our clients that they’re partnering with a company at the edge of innovation, helping them grow 10x, and we take full responsibility for their growth. It’s not just social media or digital marketing—we take an integrated approach to growth, acting as a consulting firm with the power to implement.
What are the plans for the next two years?
So, over the next two years, I see us continuing our multi-market growth. We have a huge advantage as a challenger agency for any network agency. As an independent agency, we’re already in multiple markets, with a stronghold in certain areas, and we’re expanding into new markets to establish ourselves further. We’ll be entering Africa, while the Middle East is already established. The US will be our next big market, and we’ll also strengthen our presence in Australia, where we already have some key groups. Additionally, we’ll revise our strategy for entering Southeast Asia, particularly with our SaaS enterprise products.
Looking beyond two years, in the next five years, I see us becoming an Indian marketing and consulting enterprise with a global outreach. This would create a comfort zone for Indian businesses looking to expand into other markets, as they would prefer working with us. A case in point is Lloyd, which launched in the UAE and chose to work with us despite having options with larger network agencies. Similarly, Symphony Aircoolers works with us in India and Australia, among other markets.
I believe the next decade will be the era of Indian brands and businesses with global outreach, and we are perfectly aligned to take Indian brands overseas. Our multi-market growth will continue, our AI consulting and implementation practice will expand, and I’m very optimistic about our academy, especially in terms of outreach. The consulting and implementation on the marketing side will also grow.
In terms of fundraising, whether we raise PE funds or pursue an IPO, these conversations might be a bit early, but at the pace we’re growing, it seems like an eventuality in the next three to five years. Currently, the organisation has no PE funding, and it’s 100% owned by me, with all growth being funded by the company’s profits.
Are there any specific challenges you are currently facing in the Indian market?
The main challenge we face in the Indian market is the complexity of technology-powered marketing ecosystems. For effective marketing, seamless integration of data, marketing channels, creative elements, and tech stacks is essential. However, many clients have limited understanding of this integration, and the entry barriers to starting a digital agency are low. As a result, the market sees many new entrants offering basic services, which can devalue the industry and lead to clients receiving less than what is possible today.
The lack of knowledge and education among clients—both mid-level and even some larger clients—about the complexities of the ecosystem causes market disruption. Margins are extremely squeezed because clients often opt for cheaper services from new entrants, which disrupts the existing ecosystem. This short-term disruption forces established agencies to subsidise their services to remain competitive, affecting revenue and profitability.
In contrast, markets like the Middle East and the US have a better understanding of these ecosystems, reducing such challenges.