ValueLabs - Advertising or Design Agency of the Year

Company: ValueLabs, Hyderabad
Company Description: ValueLabs is a global technology company focused on Product Development, Data Technology, and Digital services. Powered by The Digital Flywheel™, they provide end-to-end solutions in the fields of Customer Experience, Data & Analytics, Product Development, and Automation.
Nomination Category: Creative Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Advertising or Design Agency of the Year

Nomination Title: UXG, ValueLabs

In 2018 June, with the appointment of Kadambari Sahu to head design practice, ValueLabs wanted to expand its offering in Design. The mandate was to build a world-class design team that could act as a competitive advantage to serve clients better and to become a hook to bring in more clients and business as design also drives development business. Within a month, a Design Consulting team was formed with 7 members in July 2018. Kadambari traveled to client locations in Australia, Europe, and North America, conducted customized workshops, and bagged many projects.

From 2019-2021, the team from 7 members increased to 73+. During this time, the team created an impressive portfolio serving more than 80+ clients, working on 100+ projects. The practice has grown by 1043% since 2019.

The insistence on quality and innovation led the team in 2019 to bag India's Best Design in-house studio award. It continued in its winning streak with bagging 125 awards in various categories and disciplines of design. Muse International awards have named it #3 leading design agency of the year 2021.

During 2019, the team had to tackle the biases and perceptions that people had on design. Technology teams and clients often misunderstood Design as making things pretty; with workshops for business, technology, and client's leaders on Design thinking, a change of perception was brought about. Other mass education and awareness techniques like exhibitions of design work, customized workshops, and design evangelism in various formats for employees and clients changed how design could be leveraged in the organization. The team went above and beyond the creative brief and, during the recommendation phase, proactively showcased design strategy over just UI modification which led to the discovery of the capabilities and their effective orchestration to achieve business goals for clients. This awareness made the clients and internal stakeholders understand the business value of design and various offerings and increased trust and reliance on the team. After the spectacular win on almost all projects and validation through 125 awards, user reviews, and business experience with the team, it led to an increase in repeating business and recommendations through clients.

The team has also worked to uplift ValueLabs and its perception. It persisted in changing ValueLabs branding, which had initially met with colossal skepticism and resistance. Kadambari HandsOn worked with her team and top management to drive this change. The result was a go-ahead for massive rebranding after 22 years of the company’s inception. The branding received extraordinarily positive reviews winning the hearts of employees, clients and winning 16 International awards for its branding. The website about page views went up by 400% and echoed the positive sentiment on all social media platforms.

The best practices have continuously evolved by experimenting and building on top of the design strategies and innovations. The learning and documentation of the same are rigorously followed, and Standard high-quality tested processes are now the foundation of all work. Many of these are created here. The team continuously innovates and builds on top of previous innovation, creating a winning attitude and a close community of thinkers, makers, and innovators working collaboratively to impact business and societies positively.

The team is well aware of the ethics and responsibilities that design places and views its work as a responsible one. The purpose and responsibility have also led the team to work continuously on its thoughts and awareness. Kadambari founded Design Inspire that the team organizes as a yearlong design awareness educational drive. The team believes design awareness can play a huge role in creating a positive impact on society and works with great enthusiasm to curate this and make it accessible irrespective of the background of its user. While this started as an unselfish deed to create for the greater good, it has also become a channel that has established ValueLabs as a design-led and leader in design services bringing better visibility and network.

-Winnerof122international awards,ranked #3 as Leading agencyof the year2021byMuse
-Serviced80+clientsby working on100+projects andProof ofvalues,Grew the UX Practice by 1043%,per project growth by 1800 percent as compared to 2019
-Design Inspire Platform:Foundedinternational educationalplatform for designersthat won30+awards inits maiden year.
-Createdand standardizedmethodologies by experimentationacceleratingROIbuilding IP
-Created a Successful international brandingforValueLabswinning 15+awards
-Created a design system to create great UX at scale
-Created an Experiencecenter at ValueLabs head-quarters for engaging clients allowing themto experiencethe latest and innovative work.1500+ footfall.
-CreateduniqueTravellingexhibition forValueLabsinLondonand Las Vegasto show itscutting-edgeinnovationbringing visibility and increased business