As businesses increasingly compete for attention in crowded digital spaces, we sat down with Varun Veeranna, founder and CEO of Crafting Genius, to discuss the evolving landscape of brand communication, the strategic integration of AI in marketing, and what sets truly effective agencies apart in today’s market.
Q: What inspired you to launch Crafting Genius, and what gap did you see in the market?
A: The inspiration came from witnessing too many small and medium businesses struggle with fragmented marketing efforts. They’d work with freelancers, strategic consultants who often lacked the execution bandwidth due to which they were unable to achieve cohesive brand storytelling, & these efforts often worked against each other.
What I saw missing more than a decade ago was an agency that could seamlessly integrate brand communication with digital execution. We don’t just run campaigns; we build brand narrative ecosystems where we strive to achieve that every touchpoint serves the same strategic story. That’s the foundation of Crafting Genius – we’re brand architects who understand digital marketing well.
Q: How do you define “narrative ecosystems”?
A: A narrative ecosystem is where every piece of communication reinforces and builds upon a central brand story. Traditional marketing often treats each channel as isolated. Our approach ensures that when someone encounters your brand across multiple touchpoints, they experience a cohesive, evolving story that builds trust and recognition. This creates “compound brand equity” – where the whole becomes significantly greater than the sum of its parts.
Q: You’ve been quite vocal about AI integration in digital marketing. What’s your perspective?
A: AI isn’t just a trend – it’s fundamentally reshaping how we serve clients. But I want to be clear: AI is a strategic amplifier, not a replacement for human creativity and insight. We leverage AI to enhance our strategic capabilities – identifying audience behavior patterns that would take weeks to uncover manually, enabling real-time strategy pivots, and creating personalized content at scale while maintaining quality. But the strategic thinking, creative direction, and understanding of cultural nuance remain distinctly human.
Q: Can you share how AI has positively impacted a client’s results?
A: We worked with a cosmetology clinic to improve their lead quality. Their earlier marketing generated volume, but sales conversions were poor. We implemented AI-driven audience analysis that revealed their messaging wasn’t sticking thereby attracting unqualified leads. AI helped us discover how to ensure the content was resonating with prospects who would rather turn into paying customers. We restructured their entire strategy, used AI to optimize messaging for different customer personas, and implemented predictive scoring of the data that was available. The result was a 60% decrease in unqualified leads and a whooping 3X growth in sales revenues within three months.
Q: How do you address concerns about AI making marketing feel less authentic?
A: This is a crucial and a valid concern. The risk is real, but can be mitigated with the right approach. AI should make marketing more human, not the other way around. We use AI to eliminate mundane tasks that prevent our team from focusing on strategy and creativity. We have strict protocols – every AI-generated piece goes through human review and refinement. We use AI as a starting point for ideation, not as a final product. Most importantly, we never use AI to make strategic decisions – only to inform them. The goal is to use technology to amplify human insight, resulting in more personalized, relevant, and ultimately more human marketing experiences.
Q: What’s the biggest mistake businesses make when choosing a marketing agency?
A: Choosing based on tactics rather than strategy. Too many businesses get excited about an agency’s Instagram aesthetic, or lead generation expertise without asking: “Do they understand our business and customers deeply enough to craft the right message?” Another mistake is expecting immediate results without understanding that effective brand building is a compound process. Finally, many don’t invest time in thinking through the process or establish clear success metrics upfront, creating misaligned expectations.
As Benjamin Franklin rightly said “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Q: How do you measure success beyond vanity metrics?
A: We focus on “business-impact metrics” rather than just engagement metrics. What matters is: Are we driving qualified leads? Reducing customer acquisition costs? Aiding in conversions to increase revenues? These are often leading indicators of long-term business success.
Q: What advice would you give businesses looking to elevate their marketing efforts?
A:Start with clarity. Get crystal clear on who you serve, what unique value you provide, and what story you want to tell before investing in any tactics. Second, think processes and systems, not campaigns – every marketing initiative should build upon and reinforce your broader brand narrative. Finally, choose partners who ask hard questions about your business, not just your marketing preferences. The goal isn’t just to improve your marketing – it’s to use strategic communication to build a more valuable, more resilient profitable business.
Crafting Genius specializes in integrated brand communication and digital marketing strategies for growth-focused businesses. For more information about their approach to strategic brand building and AI-enabled marketing, visit https://craftinggenius.in/ or contact varun[at]craftinggenius[dot]in.
