Richard Mechaly

In the presence of nature; that’s where I get my batteries charged. One hour in the forest and I’m good to go for the rest of the day as co-founder and brand strategist @ Provoke Agency. We design and build amazing story-driven digital experiences for you and your company. 

My role is to help you clarify your company’s branding message and convert that to tangible results. Influenced by the storybranding methodology, I work with you to design a specific sales strategy and digital marketing campaign. I help:

Identify your target client → engage the client → 
guide that client to sales conversion

The key? 

I stay focused on the target client; their desires, their concerns. Maintaining empathy while building trust and exhibiting expertise, I propose a plan that leads to action and results. No matter whether it is LinkedIn messages, Web copy, or any manifestations, I keep the process short. simple. clear.

Innovative and open to new ideas/change, I am decisive and straightforward in execution. Utilizing high-powered technology to scrape the web for lead generation and implementing tools to convert those leads to sales, I actively initiate the latest, most effective methods to increase conversion rates for you.

Hands-on, I am there with you throughout the process, giving clear, direct feedback. Reach out. Get in touch. Let me provoke you, turn your story into success.


Owner

As Co-founder/Brand Strategist @ Provoke.Agency, I help companies clarify their branding message, converting it to tangible results. Influenced by the storybranding method
ology, I help:

Identify your target client → engage the client → 
guide that client to sales conversion

Innovative and open to new ideas/change, I am decisive and straightforward in execution. Utilizing high-powered technology to scrape the web for lead generation and implementing tools to convert those leads to sales, I am hands-on, there with you throughout the process.

At Provoke.Agency, we design and build amazing story-driven digital experiences for you and your company. With an eye on medium-sized to large companies, our mission is to provoke digital growth and generate new opportunities for your brand! 

We create:
**B2B and B2C Strategic storytelling for the purposes of increasing sales
**B2B lead generation campaigns via email and linkedin 
**Killer converting websites for ecommerce

Facilitating your business growth through proven digital strategies, precision lead generation, websites and creative social media, we convert individualized marketing campaigns to tangible results.




Wolfzhowl Strategic Instigation

Brand Strategy Consultancy:

•	Partnered over 60 brands across 18 categories across India, ASEAN, MENA+
•	35% profits year on year for a decade+.
•	Partnered 20 Advertising & Digital Agencies across geographies.
•	7 bespoke tools developed in-house and deployed across brands.
•	Crafted a human behaviour led data-first framework which uses Own Data and Earned Data informed by culture and human behaviour to arrive at insights for identification of personas, sales strategy, media strategy and communication plan. This framework has been successfully deployed by brands like ICICI Bank, MSD Pharma etc.

Select Accomplishments: https://tinyurl.com/49dvwtjx

•Crafted a Social Behaviour Change Program and led the Research-Strategy-Creative & content development to help Tata Trusts & NITI Aayog drive the Jal Jeevan Mission initiative of mobilising the rural and tribal communities and delivering safe water via taps to 250k households, across 10 states of India. 
•Drove upsell and cross-sell strategy via Persona Led Performance Marketing for ICICI Bank for their 24 million owned database. Data + Insights led segmentation, helped cross-map products to the segment led personas and stimulus deployed across owned media to drive conversions. Over 84,000 millennials (a traditionally resistant audience) took fixed deposits with an average ticket size of INR 100,000, due to this strategic intervention.
•Crafted the Brand Purpose for Bikaji,  which led to 13.85% CAGR in sales volume, 6.10% CAGR in profits after tax and 5.25% increase in earnings per share. 
•Increased the market share for a Physician Prescribed drug Abbott Thyronorm for thyroid management by 51% through crafting a creative device called Thyroweight
•Breaking the cultural hold and creating counterculture to further the brand purpose for Heinz Kecap ABC Soy Sauce Indonesia using a proprietary tool, Hypnosis Model which led to an increase of 10% in market share.

Founder - Chief Of Brand & Consumer Strategy - WolfzHowl

Common Wealth -Team (A McCann Erickson and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners initiative)

Leading strategy for a multi-cultural hub and handling human sensitivities across geographies.

A first of it's kind initiative, with Mumbai as the APAC hub. Serving brand GM - Chevrolet globally, along with peer-hubs in Detroit, Sao Paulo and Milan.

http://www.commonwealth-team.com

Executive Strategy Planning Director -APAC

Leo Burnett Singapore

Independently handling key regional brands, helping specific country planning teams with key brands and heading special projects and new business pitches.

Successfully drove strategy & client relationships for regional brands like MSIG ASEAN, Great Eastern Life (ASEAN), Asia Rooms (Singapore & Malaysia).

Led strategy for Dutch Lady - Vietnam by guiding the Leo Burnett Team at Vietnam.

Special Projects: Black Berry (APAC), Samsung(Malaysia), HP(APAC), Tide (P&G - India) etc;

New Business Pitches (Led & assisted on pitches successfully): IKEA (Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand), Asia Rooms (Singapore & Malaysia), Great Eastern Life (Asean), MSIG (Asean), Cornetto Digital (Unilever - Singapore), Norton anti-virus etc;

Regional Director Strategy

TBWA India

Norm hunting &amp; disrupting (beyond just advertising).

New Business Development (NBD): IDFC Mutual Funds (a strategy only pitch - in a 7 agency full creative pitch), Sangam Suitings (a strategy only pitch - in a 3 agency full creative pitch).

Head of Disruption Practice India & Head of Strategic Planning - Mumbai

Contract Advertising - Mumbai

Head of Strategy Function Experience.

Handling a team of 8 planners in annual Brand Game-Plan generation with consumer at the core, Strategic Way forward for brands in conjunction with the individual brand teams & account management teams, Communication development, Blue Sky generation, knowledge bank creation etc;

Current Brands: TATA Indicom, HSBC - India (all SBUs), Cadbury (Eclairs portfolio, Celebrations portfolio, Bytes, Halls, Clorets, Bubbaloo & developmental projects), DNA publications, Shoppers Stop & Home Stop & portfolio (Mothercare, Brio etc;), Aegon Religare Insurance, Asian Paints (Tractor, Royale & Royale Play), Siti (WLL) Portfolio - (a strategy only pitch - in a 3 agency full creative pitch), Disney Channel & portfolio of channels, Disney Baby etc;

 New Business Development: Cadbury Bytes, (WLL) Siti, TATA Indicom, UTV(I), HSBC Investsmart

Head of Strategic Planning

Diageo India Pvt Ltd

Helped kick-start the CPR division for the first time in India. Brought consumer behaviour change led marketing science to a marketing organisation which had alcohol category vetrans.

Country planner for all brands (White spirits, Rums & Scotches).

Incharge of annual game plan generation, consumer insights which drive growth, Strategic way forward for brands, Communication generation, Shoppers Insights and Brand Tracking Study.

Manager Consumer Planning & Research

Contract Advertising

Strategic Planner involved with Brand Communication development & Annual Brand Plan Generation - along with Client Marketing Teams and Account Management teams.

Key Brands handled:

Shoppers Stop
Cadbury Bilkul
Cadbury Celebrations
HSBC Assets & Liabilities
Toon Disney & Jetix Channels

Design Sutra (Developed Strategic Stimulus Design)

Supervisor - Strategic Planning

Ambience Publicis Pvt. Ltd.

Account Manager handling Marico as the Client.

Launched Parachute Advansed After Shower Hair Cream

Launched Parachute Therapy

Re-positioned Parachute Jasmine

& worked on developmental projects

Account Manager - Ambience Marico

Network Advertising

Handled accounts like Thomas Cook, HDFC Home Loans, Launched Sykz Hair &amp; Skin Clinic - apart from helping out on various other brands.

Learnt my ops there.

Shall always remember Network for the thought of "Six senses of Holiday" that had germinated in my mind.

Account Executive

DMA Branding

A project manager, handling a team of 6 designers - primarily responsible for understanding client's strategic design needs and translating them into creative briefs for the creative team to produce cutting edge stimulus that elicits the desired response from the targetted consumer.

Finer details: Strategy development, Client servicing, project cost & time estimation, internal & external coordination.

Key Brands handled: Lakme, Pepsodent, Lux (India & International), Dr. Morepen, Dabur Real & Real Activ fruit juices, Fair & Lovely (Fun stations - an internal project on designing fun environments).

Special projects of note:

Lakme Isis - a premium range to accentuate the brand's transformation from Green flame to colour cosmetics. The first & perhaps the last time colour black was introduced into the pallette of Lakme. The brief & the creative output (Lead by: Kalpita Bose) were featured in an international design black book.

Pepsodent harmonization: An understanding of Pepsodent India, Indonesia, Vietnam (P/S) and China (Zhonghua) to fascilitate a design led brand harmonization strategy.

Etc;

Note: Shall always remember this place for the first seeds of 6 senses of design as stimulus model, that i later developed.

Project Lead

I am a growth & P&L management partner with strategy skills harvested via being an entrepreneur driving WolfzHowl and by being part of ManComm Teams across agencies I have worked in.

Beliefs:
Strategic Orchestration: “Brand leadership needs diversity of expertise”. I have diverse skill sets across traditional & new age marketing. From ‘Purpose Craft’ to product portfolio strategy to design & identity creation, to data & digital strategy, internal communications, Digital & Social strategy, and performance marketing, I help brands drive growth across their business value chain via the right mix of the traditional & the new.

Tempered Strategy: “Data is not the destination”. I craft strategy via insights tempered with data and guided by culture and human behaviour. With this as the focus, I have successfully devised ROI driven strategic solutions for brands by analysing their consumer data across owned, earned, and paid media platforms and adding deep culture and psychological understanding to it. My clients were able to use these enriched insights to deploy them across traditional & digital platforms & channels with efficacy. 
“Social is not just about platforms” Decoding category semiotics Vs Platform semiotics, Brand assets Vs Competition, platform user insights Vs consumer life insights is the proven approach to bring ROI & marketing effectiveness to social and digital media marketing.

Collaborative Leadership: “Leading is learning & bespoke empathy”
I Lead a team of experts from diverse backgrounds to success, including data scientists, digital marketers, traditional researchers, anthropologists, design thinkers, creative and communication specialists across departments, cultures, and geographies. 

Strategy Skills:

Brand Core: #Brand Purpose / #BrandPositioning, #BrandArchitecture & #BrandIdentity, Product Portfolio & Innovation Strategy, Brand Culture – Internal embedding, Consumer Research etc.

Traditional: Advertising, PR, Shopper Marketing, Design & Packaging, Internal Communications, Sales Force & Distributor Engagement etc.

Post Digital: Data Decoding & Design for strategic outcomes, Data led consumer segmentation & in-sighting, social media marketing across community management, platform insights, content strategy, Strategic ORM, User Journeys, Brand Neutral Platform Strategy etc.

Organisations Worked in: WolfzHowl, Common Wealth, Leo Burnett – Singapore, TBWA India, Contract (JWT – WPP), Diageo India, Ambience Publicis, Network, DMA.

taplio

The Battle

Richard Mechaly

Kalyan Ram Challapalli

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