Dept has announced the opening of its design wing in India, six months after entering the market by acquiring Tekno Point. The design services firm, which is based in Mumbai, wants to specialize in UX/UI and digital product design. The design department comprises six employees and two clients as of the debut. The introduction of Dept’s design division occurred in 2016 with the agency’s acquisition of TamTam, which was rebranded as Dept. Franklin Schamhart, head of design at Dept. and a representative of TamTam, was in the nation to formally announce the launch when he met up with Campaign India to discuss the product. Edited passages:
Can you give us additional information about the team that is in place? Who will serve as the unit commander?
A few of the Tekno Point team’s designers assisted with client support work on our team. We were getting more and more requests for design services when Dimi (Albers, CEO, Dept) asked me if it made sense to open this unit in India in the spring of this year. This presented an opportunity to us. Before deciding to travel to the nation and assemble a team, I spoke with Vishnu (Mohan, partner and chief growth officer, Dept) and Himanshu and Yash Mody (founders of Tekno Point) a few times.
The hiring of a design head who can assist in bringing the design philosophy practiced in Europe and the US to India was my first priority. Sreerag Nath, who joins from Red Baton, was appointed by us to lead the vertical. He was the team’s first actual hire.
Six team members are currently assigned to the unit. What are the plans for growth? If all goes according to plan, we want to hire two more employees in August, bringing our total staff size to approximately 10 by the end of the year. This industry vertical has tremendous potential. If you look at Tekno Point’s client list, you’ll see that we collaborate with some extremely significant companies, including Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj. The initial step is to offer these current clients more of our services. With India First Life, we have already begun working on a significant project for them that entails overhauling the marketing website as well as the customer portal, purchasing experiences, and distributor portals.
How significant is this industry globally?
About 400–450 designers work for our design practice worldwide, primarily at our offices in Europe and the USA. The three main pillars of our portfolio are web design (which is our largest), e-commerce (which concentrates on the customer’s buying journey), and product and immersive design (which extends somewhat to the design of advertising campaign and includes landing pages, microsites, and other things of that nature). We produce apps like Zomato and other similar ones but very little true product design work. Such design work is typically carried out internally in the US and Europe. Large B2B and B2C clientele will be the center of our attention.
Do you anticipate that the majority of your clients in India will come from your current clientele or do you anticipate attracting new ones, particularly in the case of design?
I anticipate that many of them will come from the pool of current Adobe customers. It is quite promising. It’s possible that we’ll have brands that just use design in the future as the field of design develops and gains experience. For the time being, it might only be our existing clientele that wants to use our design services. As clients get more knowledge about this, we are seeing them place a higher importance on design as a vertical and specifically UX. Because of our global experience, clients are open to hearing our tale.
In India, we must be able to provide them with the same caliber of service. We hope to be one of India’s top three options for UX and design. The focal point is that. When will this be accomplished? If we play our cards well, I believe we’ll be in an excellent place in two years. Who are your main rivals, and which three design firms are now in the lead? Depending on who you talk to! We face stiff competition in the UI and UX market from Indian consulting firms like IBM, Deloitte, and Accenture. They cater to quite sizable clientele. India’s largest export after rice is technology, and technology companies work with clients that have enormous potential. However, we wish to compete differently. Numerous organizations, such as Lollypop Design Studio, concentrate on design. The nation is home to both larger network agencies like Media.Monk and smaller ones.
The job for Dept. is distinctive in that we are capable of both design and implementation. We have the potential to excel and compete in that field. Our strong suit is that we can make the design more agile. Clients also appreciate how all the services are incorporated within the business. There are many businesses that provide design services, but they all have different histories. However, we are able to create and carry it out.
Considering all the AI discussion. What effects will this have on this group?
Undoubtedly, AI is disruptive. It’s exciting and alters how we work. The industry will change and advance due to AI. Within our CMS, we (Tekno Point) have developed an application that makes use of AI as an authoring tool. That has already greatly accelerated our process.
Additionally, we use ChatGPT to generate headlines and written copy quickly using mock text. We are using Midjourney to create brand-exclusive graphics for our creatives. A year from now, AI will be able to assist with layout, design, and data insights. For now, it won’t replace design effort. The design must always have a human element, yet AI can handle science quite well. It is difficult to remove design’s layer of personality and character from the equation anytime soon.
How is this different from the design department of an advertising agency?
totally distinct. They have incredible creatives, but that doesn’t mean they have incredible designers. UX/UI designers and communication designers are not the same thing. Their information comes from various sources, and the results are entirely different. You constantly think in terms of advertising if your company or agency has a history in a particular field. Due to the market’s size and growth, everyone is vying for a piece of the action. However, major businesses will choose to collaborate with a performer who has a distinguished past and a stronger track record.
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