My work at Eské and Art Should Tempt

Photograph by Sushrut Munje

This practice of documenting my journey has been quite beneficial, since I tend to oversee how fast some months have passed, and how sharp some turns have been – sideways and upwards. From home cleaning to real estate services, onwards to luxury retail and now a comprehensive slow living media company – it has been a journey with a plan, with intent and everything seems to falling in place – delighting me, in the process.

I currently work on two projects – Eské and StoryVise (publications: Art Should Tempt and FitBroo)

My role at Eské

Stepping out of real estate was a decision taken at the right time, in order to focus on what I do best. Eské offered an opportunity to build a brand and an organisation from scratch, a test I welcomed since creation always means new lessons to be learned.

We are one of the largest manufacturing and export houses in the country, working with top international brands all across. Our retail foray is, however, fairly young standing at 5 years only – which is absolute infancy for the sector. In addition to being present on eCommerce marketplaces, we have 9 boutiques spread across Mumbai and northern India.

As the head of marketing, human resources, eCommerce, retail strategy – immediate priorities for me included aligning human resources for a transformational change, understanding and implementing efficient processes and build up the business – the opportunity was extensive and comprehensive, and I’m grateful for the space and encouragement the CEO has constantly provided.

The cheapest way to improve customer acquisition and retention is to identify and optimise all touch points in the customer lifecycle. This way, there is minimal rise in cost and change is affected while performing daily business functions. This requires a change in an organisation’s mindset, and a service philosophy – thus the approach has to be people centric.

Housekeeping is essential – identifying bottlenecks in decision making, doing away with archaic management methods and enforcing changes is essential. Rats leave if their domain is set alight, and an uncompromising stance has to be taken in the most diplomatic manner – the fire has to be in a rat’s mind. Always have people fire themselves. Build alliances, avoid burning bridges unless necessary, pre empt and flank problems to ensure there is a win win. Appeal to everyone’s best self, create a goal bigger than themselves, everyone wants a bit of glory.

Operational efficiency, checkpoints and data management is essential. So is attention to detail on how the brand presents itself online – this may include saying no to a lot of things. Today, the audience subconsciously seeks a purpose behind a purchase, and attention is becoming increasingly expensive. Advertisements are seen through and recognised for what they are, the most incisive method would be to have the audience ‘wanting’ to consume your marketing content. Which means, your content has to be authentic and devoid of blatant sales material. Eské understands this, and has been actively engaging with partners in the community.

My objective is to establish Eské as a dominant brand in the sector we operate in, and build a competent team that continues to assert its dominance in the long run. I’m grateful to have my team members and a managed services partner taking care of the hard work.

My role at StoryVise / Art Should Tempt

StoryVise owns two publications – Art Should Tempt went live a few months back, and FitBroo is still being worked on. As an equity partner on board this organisation, it is a pleasure to work with two brilliant co founders – experts in digital media and all aspects of design.

Art Should Tempt is a slow living magazine and an international community that leads a cultural, entrepreneurial dialogue. Our teams are based across Mumbai, Delhi, New York and Singapore. Our products include online publishing, quarterly print publication, videos, photo stories and podcasts. We feature people and places – through reviews, deep dive interviews and briefings. We bring our community together through invite only gatherings – which include experiences in form of indulgence of senses – gourmet food, handcrafted infusions, whiff of choicest perfumes and free flowing conversations. We discover the details and secrets that one may have missed out in the daily rush of things, and delve deeper in the beauty of a rich life. The Art Should Tempt network offers an extension to your existing social circles, offering beneficial diversity.

It is a door towards quality lifestyle – which includes better food, better dressing, better talking points and fulfilling days. By taking a pause and truly paying attention to the good lives we lead, helps us be happy with what we have and strive to make better choices using the given resources.

My role involves owning how Art Should Tempt presents itself across mediums, and generation of quality content. As an editor and the head of content strategy – I am attempting to fully grasp the ever evolving and ever growing scope of this magnificent kiddo. While my writing skills have gone through a tremendous learning curve, so has the sheer will to visualise and see things through to a grand conclusion – the way the two co founders do it.

Articles

We interview exceptional talent across sectors, and feature exceptional places. If you write and have a desire to interview inspiring individuals (like these folks), review technological advancements, write about food or share travel experiences – do feel free to submit your work for consideration. We welcome suggestions and previously unpublished works – and are open to collaborations as long as they fit into our brand guidelines.

Videography / Photography

We follow a characteristic style of videography and photography. We work with award winning filmmakers and photographers world wide, and are launching multiple opportunities for young talent to be associated with Art Should Tempt. The scope covers products, people, fashion and landscape – this is an opportunity to be associated with the best in business.

Fashion

Our soon to be launched segment on high street fashion is in association with top international stylists and globally established brands. Forecasting fashion trends and photographing them across luscious locales is something we cannot wait to introduce to our audience – we welcome interest from fashion bloggers, stylists and brands.

Podcasts

The only project based exclusively in New York, we talk to cutting edge designers and artists and travellers across 25 podcast episodes. We would be hosting a live one between New York and Mumbai in December, around an immersive photography session – details out soon.

Food / Places

We celebrate human effort and are constantly on the lookout for hidden gems all around us – we welcome travel bloggers wanting to share their stories, to regular video travelogues from all across the world. If you are keen, do feel free to write in and contribute. We have featured BOHO Cafe (Udaipur), Jukaso (Varanasi), The Garrett (New York) – in addition to Rome, Bhutan and Mumbai through travel guides. More features out soon.

In a nutshell

I am happy – my work through two projects is the right blend of business and lifestyle – I get to write, get to meet amazing people, get to visit amazing gigs and exhibitions and have a chance to buckle down on basic management issues with a highly competent team.

Thankfully, the projects are complementary, and learnings are being transferred, network is cross functional. I am quite keen to meet a lot more amazing folks, and to get introduced to stuff I may not have known before. Do help.

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Words:
Sushrut Munje