‘Branding King’ Meghendra’s career story
His branding career has involved many such companies, whose product brands have been able to stay in mind with his creative work.
It is said that every person has some kind of talent. But, it is difficult to find multiple talents in one person. Similarly, Meghendra Prakash Giri is rich in many talents. Industry, business and corporate circles know him as the ‘Branding King’. His branding career has involved many such companies, whose product brands have been able to stay in mind with his creative work. It is because of the magical creations he uses for branding that the brand he works for reaches the pinnacle of success.
So Meghendra started his career in marketing. Through marketing and sales, he excelled in branding. Meghendra is now remembered in the corporate sector of Nepal as branding.
Many may not know – he is a lyricist, singer, musician, actor, model, lecturer, ad producer, even director. He has composed songs, sung, acted and even composed music. In the program organized by BBC Nepali Service in Nepalgunj in 2052 BS, he sang a modern song of ‘Bijai Nadeu Yo Mutuma Phool Tipda Kanda Banera …’. The program was also broadcast on BBC Television. His journey towards music dates back to that time. He has also written two other songs.
Many have created the concept of advertising. Have created ads. He has also done modeling and acting. Have taught college. He has even acted as a judge in some national level competitions. That is, all these talents and skillful deeds are a handful of forms – Meghendra.
“I am proud to be an all-in-one,” he said.
Whether working in the field of marketing or branding, he is rich in all-in-one talents such as composing songs, singing, composing music, writing advertisements, directing or acting and dancing.
Using all these talents and experience, he can give good results to the company. Therefore, even the companies that quit working in the past are still getting offers to return to work with better service facilities, he says.
Ideas can come at any time
He believes that people who work in branding should be able to work independently in order to establish any brand. At home, in the bedroom, in the bathroom, on the street or in the office, the brain can create new concepts or new things, he says. “I wrote some of the company’s slogans, songs and similar creations at home even when I woke up at 12 o’clock at night,” he says.
This may not be possible just by tying in a time frame and within the perimeter of the office. He believes that management should also give freedom to those who work in branding and be able to think with an independent mind.
“If you want to change your brand, keep your eyes and side to your target audience,” he says. That is, what does my target customer want? What do you think? What does he eat? What does it cost? How do you walk? What does he say? What is his income level? I must know the answers to the questions. I need to be able to read my customer’s attitude. ‘
He recalls, “It was the third year of Kantipur Television broadcasting. To celebrate the second anniversary, a promotional ad had to be made in the print version. Everyone was asked to design the ad. I also decided to make it. I took a photo of a 2-year-old boy wearing no clothes in green. After the boy walked two steps and reached the third step, I designed a photo of him holding a globe with both hands outstretched towards the sky. And in the same design, I wrote the slogan line, ‘Sweet memories of yesterday, six fantasies of tomorrow’. Among the many ad agencies, the promotional ad I made was chosen from among the ad creators. Then many such creations were made. I went to many places in Nepal and many countries including Malaysia and Thailand to promote Kantipur Television. ‘
It is because of the magical creations he uses for branding that the brand he works for reaches the pinnacle of success.
He started his creative branding career here. While working in Kantipur, he branded the products of Pashupati Paints, Chachan Group, Bird Mobile and other companies. After that, he decided to leave Kantipur TV and work in a bank.
He started his MA in Economics at Tribhuvan University in 2010 to start his banking career. After passing, he joined NIC Asia Bank. He started working in the banking sector from the media. But, he also got a branding job there. He then worked on a branding plan for ‘Water, Land and Sky’ and established the bank’s brand. They did it all over the country at the site. The water was branded at the Talabarahi temple in Pokhara. And, branded NIC Asia Bank on planes in the sky.
Meghendra, through NIC Asia Bank, set a ‘trend’ in branding of Nepal’s banking sector at that time. Since then, following his work, many other banks have expanded their branding. He got offers from many other companies for branding. He joined Nepal Life Insurance. He is currently doing branding work at Nepal Life Insurance. That too in a completely different and new style. The company known as NLIC has now become Nepal Life due to the branding of his leadership.
Different style of brand establishment
Due to the Corona epidemic in 2077 BS, people could not gather. The government urged the people not to play Deusi Bhailo even if the lockdown. He made up his mind to enjoy listening to Deusi songs at home and to compose Tihar songs for the good wishes of Nepal Life. He then composed the lyrics of the Tihar song.
Through the festival song of ‘Jhilimili Batti Bali Rangaidiyun Hai Sara Nepal’, all the work was done to arouse people’s interest in life insurance, to promote the brand of Nepal Life and to wish them a happy Tihar. Giri has done the lyrics, music composition, voice, concept and acting of the song.
Says – ‘A brand is born, prospers and declines again. It has to be carried out in another way based on human needs, time and thinking. Yes, that’s what creativity is all about. ‘
In 4 days, the festival song got 1 million views. Expressing happiness, Giri says, “It may seem like an advertisement has been added. Publicity is optional for everyone. And, it helps a lot in branding. If you go to the Bhatbhateni department store to buy a Colgate, you can buy 10 other items because no one pressures you to buy one. Seeing the brand gives you confidence. The feeling of need comes automatically. I’d like to buy. Yes, publicity does not tell people to buy the same. However, people buy goods or services out of a sense of necessity. The international company Walmart sells yearly 200 billion worth of goods annually through publicity. It’s a moving example. ”
He said that the company should give freedom to increase publicity and his office Nepal Life has given him complete freedom to create. This has further enhanced his creativity. Even during the current lockdown, they have worked on the song “Savai Milera Ladau”.
The branch manager conference and agent honor program of Nepal Life has been elevated as an honored event according to his concept. “We have been conducting the Agenta Honors program with agents from all over the country through songs and live events to give a glimpse of the IFA Awards,” he said. “It brings the brand to life.”
He also believes that the brand has a life cycle. Says – ‘A brand is born, prospers and declines again. It has to be carried out in another way based on human needs, time and thinking. Yes, that’s what creativity is all about. ‘
Journey from Gulariya to Kathmandu
Meghendra completed his schooling in Gulariya, Bardiya. I passed SLC in 2047 BS and studied ICOM at the local campus. The college taught mathematics, English and other subjects from India. Meghendra, who is weak in mathematics, was refused tuition in mathematics by an Indian teacher.
He recalls, “He refused to teach me tuition, saying we would not teach you.” Then I made a 91-day schedule and began to study hard, searching for the material myself. There was a competition to read most of the night. When the results of the exam came, I topped not only my faculty but all the faculties on campus. Thus, I passed ICOM in the year 2049. After keeping a positive ‘ego’ and doing well only in mathematics, I was able to top because other subjects were good. ‘
In the year 2052 BS, he passed Bcom from Mahendra Multiple Campus, Nepalgunj. Then in 2053, he was admitted MBA in 2053 at Shankardev Campus in Kathmandu. Passed MBA in 2056.
From media to career branding to insurance branding
After completing his college education, from May 2000 to 6 months, he worked in the marketing and circulation of the English magazine Yong Herald. From 2001 to 2004, he worked in Nepal Tobacco (Gorkha Lahari). Meghendra, who worked as a marketing communication officer, marketed Kailash tea.
To increase the visibility in the market, he started a campaign to cook and serve Kailash tea to the customers sitting outside the gate of the newly started department store. After running this branding campaign for a month, customers started choosing Kailash tea. People started buying Kailash tea from the department. Kailash tea started to be sold at the same rate as Muna tea. Since 4 MBA students started working, the sales where he went would be the best. Knowing Nepali, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tharu all the languages also made branding easier.
Whether working in the field of marketing or branding, he is rich in all-in-one talents such as composing songs, singing, composing music, writing advertisements, directing or acting and dancing.
Worked as Asian Paints Area Sales Manager for 5 months from March 2004. From 2004 to 2016, he worked as Assistant Marketing and Communication Manager at Kantipur Television. He had been teaching Integrated Marketing Communication at BBA at Liberty College, Anamnagar for a few years since 2012. From October 2016, he worked at NIC Asia Bank for one and a half years as Deputy Head of Corporate Communications, Branding and CSR. He has been working as the Head of Corporate Communication and Branding in Nepal Life since October 2018. Due to his branding and marketing, Nepal Life Insurance Company was awarded the Best Advertising Campaign Award in 2019 by the Nepal Advertising Association.
He branded Kailash Tea with the slogan ‘Mood Fresh Instantly’. Similarly, Chachan Group made various promos for Trishakti Cement for ‘Generations for Generations’, ‘Happy Colors for Pashupati Paints’, and for Kantipur Television. Nepal Life Insurance’s profile documentary, ‘Many plans, high bonus rates, the interest of all Nepalis to be insured in Nepal Life’, ‘Your efforts to prevent disease, our promise to help in some treatment’ were created. Similarly, for NIC Asia Bank, the tagline ‘Our Prosperity is the Prosperity of the Nation, Let’s Save From Today’ is his creation.
Stating that the practice of giving enough importance to the role of branding has not started in Nepal yet, Meghendra says that new style and creation should be adopted in branding every time. Her goal is to reach new heights by adopting a more innovative style in branding.
