How Supari Studios aims to become an end-to-end content shop for brands

Seven-year-old digital content creator Supari Studios, which recently entered into a strategic partnership with Joseph George’s Tilt Brand Solutions, aims to be an end-to-end content solution provider, working across platforms, for brands. The partnership has helped the content creator to expand its capabilities from content strategy to brand strategy.

Akshat Gupt

Akshat Gupt, who co-founded the boutique online video studio with his brother Advait Gupt, told BuzzInContent.com that Supari was an expert in content creation while Tilt had the digital force and strong capabilities in creative and brand strategy. “We partnered because we thought that would be a good amalgamation of the old and the new,” he said.

With the growing need of involving a creative agency for brands’ content strategy who could understand the brand and its TG in a more comprehensive manner, it was a well-timed partnership for Supari Studios. “It is better for a brand if they could get a unified solution in one set-up. Today, we do everything from strategy to creation of the content. The distribution is the last piece of the puzzle, which we have not cracked. But once that happens, we will offer end-to-end solutions,” Gupt said.

Speaking about the renewed focus of Supari Studios, Gupt said, “The focus would be to scale up the content studio model for Supari. Brands have started to realise that they need to be very agile when it comes to creating content. They need to have a large volume of content to connect with the audience. For example, Red Bull can’t just keep talking about energy drinks. They need to have content hub as the territory, which lies between the intersection of the consumers’ and the brand’s interests.”

“It is not about high production quality but the stories that consumers can relate to, and are true and integral. That is our goal—to meet all forms of content and video length,” he added.

Often brands are seen on the face of content, which weakens the purpose of an entire initiative. Even as it is incumbent upon brands not to push their agenda on the content up to an extent that the content becomes a piece of advertisement, Gupt has his share of advice for brands.

“You need to have a brand manager or a brand that is willing to put content, which doesn't have your product there at all. Brands really go wrong when they try to show their product or force an agenda in that. If you have 10 or 15 seconds to get somebody on board and you are concentrating on pushing your product or your agenda, you are going to lose and the audience will be able to understand it is an advertisement.”

One of the big-ticket branded content pieces from Supari was the documentary titled 'Gully Life: The Story of Divine', that premiered on the Discovery Network on July 1, followed by Red Bull TV and Divine's YouTube channel. It is an in-depth biographical documentary on India’s leading rapper, Vivian Fernandes aka Divine, who is often credited for putting India’s hip-hop scene on the global map. The documentary showcases Divine’s unique rags-to-riches journey and rise to fame, through a lens that we’ve never seen before, aiming to inspire the next generation of artists along the way.

It took 15 months to complete the shooting for the documentary. Speaking about the brand’s connect with the content, Gupt said, “It is the intent with which the documentary was made. If the intent is to push the brand’s agenda, it gets messed up. Our whole agenda was to push the story. Brands are becoming content producers but not necessarily to push the brand, which I see as an evolving landscape.”

Last year, Supari Studios did a three-part series documentary titled ‘Doppelgangers’ for Red Bull. It won the Webby Award #OscarsOfTheInternet. Besides Red Bull’s latest Divine piece, the content creator has been doing a couple of promotional content in the advertising space. Supari Studios also has an animation arm called PostOffice, which handles 3D and 2D animations.

Talking about the virtual reality (VR) capabilities within Supari Studios which brands are more tempted to explore, Gupt said, “We are testing Oculus as well, and trying to make an experience using VR. There are brands like GoPro using VR very well.”