Building A Brand From Scratch: Our Experience With MPL: Sai Srinivas, Co-founder & CEO, MPL

Summary

In this insightful summit discussion, Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO of Mobile Premier League (MPL), shares the journey of building a gaming brand from scratch and discusses the rapid growth of the gaming sector during challenging times. Anurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Business World, explores consumer landscape trends, the potential of microtransactions, and the importance of brand love in business. Sai highlights MPL's strategic partnerships and the impact of emotional branding, emphasizing the need for businesses to adapt to the digital economy and focus on customer engagement for long-term success.

Takeaways

• 🎮 The gaming sector is experiencing significant growth, with the potential for continued expansion in the consumer landscape over the next 6-12 months.
• 📈 The Indian gaming market is growing rapidly, with an estimated 450 million to 560 million gamers, and is expected to double in size over the next five to six years.
• 🏆 Mobile Premier League (MPL) has successfully built a strong brand identity, leveraging the popularity of gaming and esports to create brand love among enthusiasts.
• 🚀 The success of MPL's IPO, with an 84x subscription rate, reflects the growing consumer shift towards digital platforms and the potential of gaming companies.
• 💡 The importance of gamification in various sectors, such as personal investing, healthcare, and education, is highlighted as a key trend for business growth.
• 🌐 India's digital infrastructure, including affordable internet connectivity and payment mechanisms, has been crucial in accelerating the adoption of digital services during the pandemic.
• 📱 The potential for growth in the digital market is massive, with the total addressable market for digital products expected to expand significantly, driven by an increase in paying customers.
• 🤝 Brand partnerships within gaming, such as incorporating brand avatars in popular games or sponsoring large-scale tournaments, are effective ways to create brand love and engagement.
• 🏅 MPL's strategic decision to focus on emotional messaging and brand ambassadors, like Virat Kohli, has been instrumental in building a strong brand affinity and visibility.
• 💼 The mindset shift towards microtransactions is essential for businesses in India to capitalize on the large consumer base and the prevalence of small-value transactions.
• 🕶️ For entrepreneurs and business leaders, staying open to new ideas and maintaining the flexibility to explore and innovate is crucial for success in the evolving digital economy.

Q & A

What is the significance of the keynote address at the summit?

The keynote address at the summit is significant as it discusses the growth and future of the gaming brand MBL, which was launched in 2018 and has since become popular among gaming enthusiasts.

How has the gaming sector been affected during the tough times mentioned in the script?

The gaming sector has seen growth during these tough times, as more people are turning to digital entertainment. The script suggests that gaming companies are experiencing growth as consumers shift to digital platforms.

What was the outcome of the IPO mentioned in the script?

The IPO mentioned in the script was highly successful, with it being oversubscribed by 84 times, indicating a strong investor interest in the company going public.

What consumer trends are expected in the digital landscape over the next 6-12 months according to the script?

The script suggests that consumer trends will continue to shift towards digital platforms, with gaming and other digital products expected to see massive expansion in their total addressable market and paying customer base.

What is the current size of the gaming market in India, and what is its growth rate?

According to the script, the gaming market in India is already very large and growing at a rate of 40 percent or more, with an estimated 450 million to 560 million gamers.

How can gaming be used as a marketing tool to create brand love?

Gaming can be used as a marketing tool by integrating brand partnerships within games, such as brand avatars, or by sponsoring large-scale tournaments that engage a large number of players, thus creating a connection with the brand.

What is the impact of the pandemic on digital infrastructure and consumer behavior in India?

The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital services in India due to lockdowns and societal constraints, leading to a rapid increase in digital infrastructure and consumer shift towards digital consumption.

What is the potential for growth in the number of paying internet customers in India?

The script suggests that there is a significant potential for growth in the number of paying internet customers in India, which is currently around 50 million and could easily grow to about 100 million.

What is the role of microtransactions in the business models of digital companies in India?

Microtransactions play a crucial role in the business models of digital companies in India, as the country is characterized by a large number of small transactions from many consumers rather than fewer large transactions.

How did MBL's campaign with Virat Kohli as the brand ambassador contribute to brand love?

MBL's campaign with Virat Kohli focused on emotional messaging and the spirit of winning and competing, which created significant brand love and visibility, even though it did not immediately impact transaction volumes.

What mindset change is necessary for businesses to succeed in the new digital economy?

A necessary mindset change for businesses in the new digital economy is to design their business models around microtransactions and to focus on acquiring a large number of customers willing to pay small amounts for services.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Gaming Brand Growth and Consumer Shift to Digital

The first paragraph introduces the topic of the keynote address at a summit, focusing on the growth of the gaming brand MBL, launched in 2018. It highlights the brand's journey and success, as discussed by Mr. Sai, the co-founder and CEO of Mobile Premier League, and Dr. Anrag Batra, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of BW Business World. The discussion emphasizes the rapid growth of the gaming sector, especially during challenging times, and the importance of gamification in various industries. The gaming market's potential is underscored, with India having a large number of gamers and the market expected to double in the next five to six years.

05:00

📈 Infrastructure and Expansion of Digital Markets

The second paragraph delves into the infrastructure that has been built in India to support massive digital consumption, including the availability of mobile devices, cheap internet connectivity, and payment mechanisms. The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital services, shortening the learning curve for consumers. This has led to a significant expansion of the addressable market for digital products, with gaming being a key beneficiary. The potential for growth in the number of paying customers is highlighted, suggesting a massive opportunity for digital companies.

10:01

🤝 Leveraging Gaming for Brand Love and Marketing

In the third paragraph, the conversation shifts to the use of gaming as a marketing tool to create brand love. The potential for brands to partner with games through in-game content, avatars, and large-scale tournaments is discussed. The example of how traditional brands like Pepsi and Red Bull have entered the esports ecosystem through sponsorships is given. The importance of aligning brand messaging with gaming to foster a deep connection with consumers is emphasized.

15:02

🏆 Case Studies on Brand Affinity and ROI in Gaming

The fourth paragraph presents a case study of Mobile Premier League's (MPL) successful branding strategy, particularly its campaign featuring Virat as a brand ambassador during the IPL. The campaign's focus on emotional messaging rather than transactional messaging is highlighted as a counterintuitive but effective approach to building brand love and visibility. The long-term benefits of this strategy are discussed, despite the initial lack of direct transactional impact.

20:03

💡 The Role of Brand Love in Business Valuations

The fifth paragraph discusses the high valuations of D2C brands and consumer tech companies, attributing them to the large market size and growth potential in India. The conversation explores the balance between creating brand love and focusing on transactions, suggesting that while valuations may seem high, they are in line with market expectations and the potential for growth as the number of paying customers increases.

25:04

🌐 Embracing Microtransactions for Business Growth

In the sixth paragraph, the mindset change necessary for businesses to succeed in the digital economy is identified as designing around microtransactions. The importance of adapting to the Indian market's preference for small transactions from a large number of consumers is emphasized. The gaming industry's potential to become more mainstream across different tiers of cities in India is discussed, suggesting that this will further increase the relevance of microtransactions.

🕶️ Unlearning and Staying Open to New Ideas

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of unlearning old strategies and staying open to new ideas for entrepreneurs and business leaders. The speaker shares personal insights on the need to delegate responsibilities to free up time for exploration and innovation. The concept of 'reverse mentoring' is introduced, where learning from younger generations can provide fresh perspectives and insights into current trends, such as gaming.

Keywords

💡Keynote Address

A keynote address is a speech or presentation that sets the tone for a larger event, often delivered by a prominent figure. In the context of this video, the keynote address is about building a brand from scratch, specifically focusing on the gaming brand MBL, which was launched in 2018.

💡Gaming Enthusiasts

Gaming enthusiasts are individuals who have a strong interest and passion for video games. The script mentions that the keynote speaker is addressing a summit where gaming enthusiasts are part of the audience, indicating the target demographic for the brand being discussed.

💡Brand Building

Brand building refers to the process of creating a unique identity and image for a product or company in the minds of consumers. The video's theme revolves around the experience of building the MBL brand from the ground up, highlighting the strategies and insights involved in this process.

💡Consumer Shift

A consumer shift denotes a change in consumer behavior or preferences. The script discusses a significant consumer shift towards digital platforms, which has been accelerated by the pandemic and has implications for the growth of digital businesses like MBL.

💡Digital Infrastructure

Digital infrastructure encompasses the technological systems and services that enable digital interactions and transactions. The script highlights the importance of having a robust digital infrastructure, such as mobile devices, data connectivity, and payment systems, which has facilitated the rapid adoption of digital services in India.

💡Gamification

Gamification is the application of game design elements and principles in non-game contexts to engage users and drive user interaction. The speaker suggests that gamification will play a crucial role in creating growth across various sectors, not just in traditional gaming.

💡Paying Customers

Paying customers are individuals who make purchases or pay for services. The script discusses the potential for growth in the number of paying customers online, which is a key factor in the valuation and growth potential of digital businesses.

💡Brand Love

Brand love refers to a deep emotional connection between consumers and a brand, often leading to loyalty and advocacy. The video explores how gaming can be used as a marketing tool to foster brand love, as opposed to merely focusing on transactional relationships.

💡Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the support of an event, organization, or individual, usually in the form of funding or resources. The script mentions that brands can create brand love through sponsorship of large-scale gaming tournaments, drawing parallels to traditional sports sponsorships.

💡Market Multiples

Market multiples are ratios used to value a company, often comparing its market capitalization to a metric such as revenue or earnings. The script discusses high market multiples being given to companies in the digital space, reflecting their growth potential.

💡Microtransactions

Microtransactions are small, incremental payments for digital goods or services. The speaker suggests that designing business models around microtransactions is crucial for success in the Indian market, given the large user base and the potential for widespread adoption.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching, and running a new business, which typically involves risk-taking and innovation. The script touches on the mindset changes needed for entrepreneurship in the new digital economy, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and creativity.

Highlights

Keynote address by Mr. Sai Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO of Mobile Premier League, on building a brand from scratch.

Discussion on the growth of the gaming sector and its resilience during tough times, with gaming companies experiencing growth.

IPO success stories and the consumer shift towards digital platforms, especially in gaming.

Projections of the gaming market's growth, with India having a large number of gamers and potential for significant expansion.

The importance of gamification in various sectors, including personal investing, healthcare, and education.

Infrastructure development in India facilitating massive digital consumption, including devices, data, and payment mechanisms.

Accelerated adoption of digital services due to the pandemic and its impact on the consumer landscape.

Opportunities for brands to use gaming as a marketing tool to create brand love and enhance customer relationships.

Case studies on the impact of brand ambassadors and emotional branding campaigns in building brand love.

The potential for large-scale tournaments as a platform for brands to connect with a vast audience.

D2C brands and the shift from free-to-air models to pay models in content tech businesses.

The role of valuations in the context of high-growth potential in the digital economy.

Insights into successful digital brands that have effectively incorporated brand love into their business models.

The importance of micro-transactions as a business model in India's digital economy.

The future of gaming in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and the potential for local team competitions.

The need for business leaders to unlearn and adapt to the new digital and virtual economy.

The role of free time in allowing for creativity and innovation, as well as the importance of being open to new ideas.

Transcripts

ladies and gentlemen as he gave you a

little clue

it's about the keynote address now

of the summit with a keynote address

sure is a brand

that was launched in the year 2018

and is today a loved brand among gaming

enthusiasts

like me talking to us about building a

brand

from scratch our experience with mbl

is co-founder and ceo of mobile premier

league

mr seismic whose action

sports to the masses and taking us on

the journey

is the session shared dr anrag batra

chairman and editor-in-chief for bw

business world

and exchange for media group welcome mr

sai

and dr batra over to you for a very

interesting chat

and i'm waiting to hear all the words

coming from you here we go thank you so

much

uh welcome i hope everyone in your

family and in your extended family of

mpl is fine

i know these are tough times uh i

chatted with you more than uh

two and a half months back so you know

since then gaming

as a sector in gaming's company seem to

be

only growing the only way forward is

growth

so first of all i'd like to ask you uh

one

an ipo has happened which has been super

successful 84 times subscribe

i know uh it's a season of uh

every day there are multiple unicorns

being created

every day a big ipo is being announced

it is in the back because there is a

huge

consumer shift to uh digital plays and

everything

so give us a sense of what you see

happening in the consumer landscape

over the next 6-12 months that we only

kind of started to see green shoots off

but these are trends that will manifest

in a big way

for our viewers just to give you a sense

of the gaming market uh

it's a very big market already it's a

you know it's growing uh

at 40 percent or maybe even more but the

analyst is growing at between

38 to 40 percent and just to give you

india at the last count had

you know there are two estimates

whichever between 450 million

to 560 million

you know gamers and you know real uh

gaming as we call it is demon

the dominant uh growth driver but

all facets of gaming are growing and

really

over the next five to six years these

numbers are likely to be

double and clearly uh we as consumers we

as business owners have to gamify every

aspect of

what we do whether it's personal

investing whether it's

healthcare whether it's education so

gaming also

beyond uh gaming in the pure sense of it

also helping us create growth in other

sectors

so let me bring your mr science to us

and let it give us a perspective

so firstly uh thank you so much anurag

for having me

uh in this event uh really honored to be

here

uh so far so good i mean luckily my

family

my family has been good uh and luckily

uh even at npl uh uh at least in the

first degree they were they were a bunch

of team members who got

who suffered uh uh because of the

pandemic but

uh but yeah i mean so far so good

fingers crossed and i hope that

uh in the next one month things get even

better uh

uh analog that's a very interesting

question that you asked

as to uh as to you know uh

what can we expect in the next six to 12

months or for that matter in the next

two years or three years

see i think what's happened in india was

that

uh india had india over the last three

four years has built

the entire infrastructure needed for

massive digital consumption what i mean

by infrastructure you need three things

right you need a device

that's a mobile phone you need data uh

and thanks to extremely cheap internet

connectivity you have data

most importantly payments right so if

you want to consume anything online

for for it to make money you have to

have the ability

for people to pay using their uh payment

mechanisms right

so in the last three four years this

infrastructure has come into play

right and what happened last year was

when the pandemic struck

uh because of the lockdowns and because

of multiple different constraints

imposed on society

people were in massey forced to consume

or

adopt digital right and two parts to

this right imagine if we did not have

the digital infrastructure ready it

would have been a different question

right people would

people would have gone online but it

would have been a difficult uh it

wouldn't have been as easy as

it is it is today for people to adopt

digital services

but it's it's kind of like meeting of

two hands right like you know there was

this digital infrastructure ready

and in massey people started adopting it

right

now because of that uh because of that

honestly i believe that

uh learning curve which would have

probably taken two three years

has probably happened literally in six

months right the learning curve is

shortened and shortened

very very fast now because of the

learning curve shortening

and this entire in uh you know set of

users coming online

you would see a massive expansion of the

total addressable market for any digital

product

right gaming is just one of the

beneficiary but any digital product will

see massive expansion of spam

right and in terms of paying customers

as well

the head room to grow for almost most

industries be it gaming beat ott etc so

on and so forth i think is at least five

to 10x from where we are today

uh because while the total number of

internet users are around 450 or 500

million the total number of paying

internet customers or people who pay on

the internet are roughly around 50

million and that number will very easily

grow to about 100 million right

and that is a huge opportunity for

practically every single brand

to to adopt right which is the reason

why

uh which is the reason why uh for any

digital company

that's uh uh you know that's on the

horizon today in our ecosystem

uh the uh the you know the upside or the

amount of available growth

is is is massive so it's a fantastic

opportunity

fantastic uh clearly um let me

ask you uh within gaming uh

of course there is uh as you talked

about paying subscribers for everything

and that's the shift that's happening in

the content tech business that i'm in

uh where we're trying to move to a pay

model so traditionally media has been a

free to air

and aided by advertiser but that's a

long term shift and you know

look at new york times washington post

again you want to invest in content and

you talked about

two things that all the last few years

we've invested in

you know broadband we've invested in

digital access

and kovit then has been kind of a main

accelerator for that

because we are forced to stay at home so

we're using digital access for

everything

whether it's a conference that we're

doing or education or content

but i want to ask you from a marketer

standpoint

uh what are the opportunities to exploit

gaming as a marketing

tool to create brand love so for example

the simplest question is

if my daughter loves a certain ice cream

brand

uh she goes back to that ice cream brand

irrespective of whether they advertise

on

uh you know but the fact is if we were

able to use gaming to be able to

enhance the relationships to do

messaging give us how it can be done

sure so i think uh there are multiple

ways in which you can advertise with uh

advertising gaming right uh on the top

of it uh

on the top of it there have been

multiple associations that have been

done

in the us where where brands have

launched

special content within the games like

for example

if there is uh if there is a really

really popular racing game

then you see then you see brand

partnerships where you see brand avatars

for example if there's a movie being

released and uh then actors from that

movie are launched as avatars in the

game

uh and so on and so forth so that's one

way the other really mass way of

of creating incredible brand love

through games is by hosting large scale

tournaments like

for example today how does a brand any

brand for that matter say

uh pepsi coke or or britannia or any of

these brands right in the past

how did they create brand love right

they used to sponsor these large uh

cricket tournaments right that used to

happen right back in the

bilateral and triangular series and so

on and so forth it's the same with even

digital games right

uh a brand can um a brand can very

easily sponsor really large tournaments

uh which has hundreds of thousands if

not millions of players participating

and that's a very easy way for a brand

to connect with every single player

who's participating in the tournament

in fact to be honest a lot of brands

already uh a lot of brands already

sponsored digital sports or esports

you see a lot of brands even in india

but even globally for example

mountain dew red bull etc these guys

there are these brands which have

constantly been sponsoring these events

and i

think as gaming becomes more and more

mainstream you will see a lot more entry

of these brands

into the ecosystem

fantastic uh now give us a sense of

one or two case studies within your

knowledge whether it was mpl

or other players where you thought that

the

impact was so deep and the roi was so

huge

that it not only created uh brand

affinity but it created brand love

give me an example sure i think uh

i'll give you an example of uh you know

something that

uh something that we did and it's got

it's got less to do with someone else

doing something with

mpl it's got more to do with what we did

right uh for example

uh we you know mpl was uh we founded mpl

in 2018 right i think

one of the biggest wins that we had as a

brand and one of the biggest things we

did as a brand is

is uh when we signed uh uh you know

virat as our brand ambassador

right and uh in in that was in early

2019 right

and in fact we were one of those in fact

we are the youngest brand even today

to actually launch a full-blown uh brand

campaign on the ipl

and we were the official broadcast

partner as well and we launched this

and and and usually when a company is

that young uh

a company usually relies more on

transactional messaging

saying that hey i'm providing this this

is what you get why don't you

why don't you come and transact with me

we actually took a very counterintuitive

stance there right and we went with a

very emotional messaging right we

we we got with we we shot an ad with

virat

we went online on ipl and we our entire

campaign was

about hiro banknator and player right so

it was more about uh

you know the whole spirit of winning the

whole spirit of competing right

it's a very counterintuitive campaign uh

and and honestly that that

created a significant amount of brand

love right that completely made the

brand more visible yes did it

it did not directly create a lot of

transaction impact within the next

two weeks or three weeks or one month

but i mean

it's probably one of the best long term

investments that we've done

in our brand that we can ever think of

right i think that's one of the

uh that's one of the things that i can

tell you that's one of the experiences

that i've had with

participating with a a large-scale

tournament

right so be so similarly you know when a

brand participates with any

extremely watched event or a tournament

right

uh the point that you were saying right

at the beginning of this event right

around around

brand love right uh it can't

it's a very delicate balance how much

you make it about love and how much you

make it about transactional but

i think at least for an hour in our case

making it about

love is always both ways

yes yes yes yes absolutely absolutely so

so at least an artist uh uh you know

that was

uh there was there was a very very good

call that we made wherein we

we we went ahead and we started with an

emotional message first

and then built on top of it yeah

fantastic example and you know uh all

the d2c brands which are

consumer tech brands that have been

great in the last few years

have realized that they also need to

apart from providing the service

the product that they do they also need

to

uh build a deeper relationship through

communication

through brand building and it is hard to

see

they're seeing long term and building

that value through communication through

brand endorsements you talked let me

also

now ask you uh while we're talking a

brand love and we'll stick to it

but what do you think of the evaluations

of the d2c brands the consumer tech

brands

and you know while there is no question

that are valuable

and they will only grow as businesses

the evaluations seem out of whack

uh what do you have to say i think

see the thing is every valuation uh

it's like this right you know the

valuation is a very funny metric it's

between the company and the person who's

decided to pay the value that they said

they would

i think everyone's in everyone's valuing

the companies

the way the way they are because of the

market which we just spoke about

uh you know uh just the shared size of

the market under

is so large that which is the reason why

you're seeing 20 x

25 x 30 x multiples that people are

getting on revenue right

uh i mean if you look if you take any

public market comps or 30 x revenue

multiple uh is is quite crazy

right in india in india in private

markets they're getting 50 x or 60 x

multiples right so

on on in on the revenues i think

the reason why these kind of high

valuations are there is because of the

head room to grow

right uh pretty much any sector you take

education

gaming ott the head room to grow in this

country is

so large so large but

but these valuations will only be

realized and will be realized if

that expansion and paying capacity also

happens right which i told you right

they're 500 million customers

uh but they're only 50 million not

paying customers 50 to 60 million right

now the valuation will be realized and

in fact it will be even more highly

valued when this 50 million becomes 120

130 million which i'm sure it will

which is the reason why to be honest

some cases the valuation might be crazy

but

more often than not i think the

valuation is in line with

the way the market's shaping up

fantastic

i agree with you that it's you know also

the markets always

capture the future now so to say so it's

a reflection of there's no question

that these brands and companies will

grow so there's tremendous value it's

only

about you know whether the value

multiple is right or not

and you rightly said clearly investors

know a bit about the future

and so do entrepreneurs and so it's

between that now let me

shift in your own career

which are the digital brands outside

gaming

that uh and i'm talking about digital

brand businesses that have been created

in the last 10 years

which are primarily digital like

like a flip card primarily

which are the brands that you've seen

who have really taken the concept of

brand love

and weaved it in the way they do

business not in their

communication i think uh

i mean flipkart is a brilliant example

to be honest right i mean uh you

i think anyone who who anything anyone

whenever you say flipkart i think the

first thing that comes to your mind is

this

is that ad where they had kids talking

on on television like that's now that's

that's a beautiful way of

communicating what your brand is trying

to say to uh

uh to to to everyone right so i think

flipkart is a great example in india i

think uh

another great example that that used to

do this job that used to do this very

very well is myntra i think

myntra really put forward that entire

philosophy of fashion and fashion

commerce in a way

in a very good way i think i think some

of the new age brands are nika and nika

yeah i mean these are some of the brands

i can think of but globally if i were to

think of

uh you know globally if i were to think

of some brands then uh

definitely uh you know

definitely some i mean it's it's for me

it put me on a stand here but let me

let me actually globally i think some of

the brands that do it very very well i

mean tesla for sure like if you see

every communication that they put out

it's very much in line with

it's very much in line with their brand

philosophy and how they how they view

uh uh what you call how they view it uh

uh

uh and uh yeah i mean these are some of

the brands i think uh

uh but some of the new age brands in

india are also doing a really really

good job right i think

uh and i'd count ourselves a little bit

in that category or some of the new age

friends but

some of the flipkart nika myntra

internationally tesla

then uh yeah i mean uh these are these

are some of the brands that come to your

mind

which i've done which have done it very

well thank you so much

again if i talk to you three years from

now one year from now two years from now

and we are talking of a

fish cmo summit if it was a bw disrupt

forum i would talk to you about

entrepreneurship

it was a bw gaming world i would talk to

you about gaming but

i'm restricting myself to the narrow

brand building leading to this

business is being created what do you

think consumers

say about mpl when you do your dipsticks

when you see their comments when they

look at the brand

mpl what is the kind of words objective

attributes uh you find

i think uh the uh virat is obviously one

large thing

you know like you know that the word

cloud is a huge match right uh

can't that's that's how it's one big

thing that people always say the second

thing is

uh the second thing is they talk about

some of our top games they always talk

about tournaments

uh mpl in tournaments uh is something

that that they always talk about

they also talk about how they can

compete in games

or tournaments of of chess or karen or

pool

and how they can i mean how they've how

they've

won these tournaments and they talk

about winning a lot in terms of winning

and some

so coming first coming second coming

third and a lot of these guys

a lot of these folks have have actually

shown how good they are at these games

uh apart from that they also talk about

some of our

uh some of our marquee games like uh

fantasy pool karen

uh yeah so these are these are some of

the things that they uh that they talk

about

but fundamentally they talk about uh

games they they

always they talk about games like they

look at your game mpl

in fact even when we post on instagram

the first question that people always

say is that

they always put up they always put

questions when is this game coming on

mpl when is this game coming

on empty it's almost like the way the

way the way the way we portrayed mpl

and the way our users see mpl is mpl is

almost like uh

almost like uh you know how do i put a

uh a multiplex and they're always

waiting for the next movie that shows up

at the multiplex so it's always that

big blockbuster yeah yeah so that's

because again

in the times of despair times the fact

that we're spending time

human connect uh has been cut because

we're not meeting people face to face

clearly entertainment gaming uh

clearly kick people uh

in some way they give it some joy i may

use that word

some level of engagement some level of

fulfillment so clearly

the tools for realizing a higher

potential if i may say

i want to ask you my two last questions

one a business question and one uh

personal question my business question

is uh

say again um when you see it

the business community at large leaders

at large

and the way they look at the future what

are the things you

think they've got right because you're

gonna talk about consumers brand

businesses

if you don't see the mega trends if you

don't see the shifts if you don't see

what's coming in the future right uh of

course digital and virtual and

e-commerce

that's a train that's left the station

and it's only going to

get you a new station but tell us what

are the mindset changes that you

think are needed to be able to deal with

this new digital economy this virtual

economy

uh that we are still missing as leaders

sure i think i think one very big

mindset change that needs to happen

for companies in india in any sector for

them to

grow really big in india is you got to

design your business model around micro

transactions

you've got to figure out a way to take

one rupee or two rupees or five rupees

from

50 million folks rather than pivoting a

business model on taking say

uh 10 000 rupees from a small set of

folks right

uh that that that mindset change is

something that's very very important

because

india is a country of microtransactions

in taking a rupee or five from a lot of

different people for your services is a

much better business

uh and a much better value proposition i

think that mindset change needs to

happen

for a lot of businesses that come from

physical to digital

the the thought process of thinking that

you know

a sale for one rupee or two rupees might

not come naturally

here because anything physically that's

sold is is usually at least 40 rupees or

50 rupees 100 rupees or so on and so

forth right

but yeah yeah so digital requirements

and saturization

you know what happened to shampoos three

decades back or that i used one uh

yes yes exactly exactly

exactly you are saying we have to think

in terms of micro payment yes everything

so in that sense you see right now

gaming at least to me

from the numbers i see is a very urban

phenomena

so when it becomes an even bigger rural

phenomena

or a tier 2 tier 3 tier three phenomena

which it is already but even bigger uh

possibly what you're talking about will

become even more important

i'll tell you i'll tell you how big it

will be right and i'll pay this i'll

play this out very well right

i think there's gonna be a point in

india where you will start seeing kanpur

compete with nagpur competing with uh

uh gopal etc in multiple tournaments

right where there's a nagpur team kanpur

team etc so and so forth right

that level of that level of competitions

will kick in and at that point it

becomes will become very very mainstream

across the board right and and that's

it's going to happen it's just a matter

of time it's getting there

okay my last question to you i like to

go through time

time is our biggest resource and our

most important

what do you do as an entrepreneur

as a business leader as an individual

who wants to make an impact

to reinvent what you're doing at mpl and

to be able to get new ideas inspiration

i think uh the most uh

the most important thing the most

important thing i do is

uh try uh try and take

time to to spend as much time as

possible trying out new products

uh as much time as possible

be keeping myself free to explore new

products like one of the things i do one

of the things that i've learned

in the last one year is the number one

job of a ceo

is to ideally not have any job that's

you you've

you've delegated everything so that you

keep your time to

spend as much as possible on trying new

different products

trying to see what are the other things

that are coming up in the world

what are the different ways you can

engage with your customers

and uh and most importantly

and most importantly you know spending

as much time as possible uh

as much time as possible seeing what the

customers are saying be it on youtube or

be it by

b2 the testimonials and so on and so

forth but keep yourself free i think the

one

the one piece of feedback i give to

anyone and in fact this is something i

learned my first one and one one and a

half year of the company i was a very

different person

try and keep yourself as free as

possible the only time the only way your

brain can actually invite ideas is when

it's free

if your brain is filled with like 50 000

things it's very difficult for you to

get new insights on youtube

i have a double problem when i'm busy

second i don't have a brain

come on i mean you i i mean i can i'll

take that from anyone but you're right

and what you achieve my kids who are

grown up to tell me that i have no

that you have to be free to be able to

notice new things to be able to study

and i i must tell you you know when we

started exchanging media 20 years back

and you know psy we wanted to build a

market place for advertising marketing

media and you know ajit has been a

friend for 20 years

i know he's doing a session immediately

after that

is because and we were able to pivot and

now we are pivoting of course we become

a content company

so even to create new ips new ideas

you need to be free that's when you're

able to give and you know clearly our

business is a creative business and

you know while we are at the heart of

content tech and a content and a media

business

hopefully over the next 12 to 18 months

we'll pivot to become something else

which i don't want to

talk about today but hopefully something

special and really relevant to all the

things

so i agree with you you need to create

time to be able to

get new inspiration you know i think

that's very very important and when your

free time

that's when you're able to get ideas so

and

i keep saying mind is like a parachute

it only works when it's open

wonderful that's i mean i'm taking that

line i'm taking that line

mind is like a parachute it only works

when it's open because and because we

have our own conceived

preconceived notions the strategies may

have worked up to the point

they may not be relevant to what's

happening in the world now so i think

the biggest job for people like me

is to unlearn and i really believe in

the process of reverse mentoring i could

learn things from you because

really what you are doing is very

different my son was a gaming enthusiast

of course i can learn a lot from him he

runs the gaming

youtube channel of gaming awesome

but uh he's a big gaming so when

everyone sleeps in the night

he's just playing games you know because

he's at home and

so clearly uh the world is a very

different place and gaming is mainstream

and i'm sure gaming will gaming

companies like yours

and mpl especially in the way it's uh

kind of built its business and brand

epitomizes brand love so

kudos to you psy and we at exchange for

media and pitch

wish you luck uh all the best look

forward to another conversation

hopefully

soon about entrepreneurship and gaming

uh back to you

guys thank you so much thank you so much

god bless you