Gin-gle All The Way In 2018, when Shetty thought of launching Salud, he had an epiphany that there is a need for Ready to Drink (RTDs) to enter the market
By Saptak Bardhan •
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Creativity wasn't Ajay Shetty's initial approach but during his first venture with Myra Wines, he realized that creativity is important too. In 2018, when Shetty thought of launching Salud, he had an epiphany that there is a need for Ready to Drink (RTDs) to enter the market. India was having a Gin Renaissance and studying how the trends were evolving brought about the idea of Gin and Tonic together in a bottle, making it highly convenient, easy to drink and incredibly flavourful at the same time.
"Understanding and examining the requirements of the locale and the daily affairs, is how you incept the design of your approach and what you want to communicate out there," said Ajay Shetty, founder-director, Salud. He believes that by tracking the demand of the products and observing what works and what does not, one can notice the trend and needs of the customer base. On the other hand, the repetitive orders provides a clear picture. Says Shetty, "I feel it is essential for both the factors to have the brand's attention. Creativity is what would help bring attention and boost your business. At the same time business is about what you are selling, where the quality of it is essential and complimenting creativity ensures the attention of your target audience. Merging them together will give you a result where a consumer initially would be enticed with the creativity and then gain confidence in the quality of what the brand provides."
On scaling, Shetty says "The most important point to remember to understand is making sure your brand is available at as many locations as possible. Preparing a strategic plan at the point of sale and ensuring manpower to make sure that the target width of distribution is met. At last you need to provide a constant supply chain, where most brands could lose a whole customer base."
Salud is available in four states in India: Karnataka, Goa, Delhi and Chandigarh, respectively. Registrations for another four states are in the pipeline. The company is expanding to another 11 countries in three continents: Africa, South East Asia and Europe, respectively.
For the sixth edition of Entrepreneur's Creative Inc, we recognize 25 creative artists and brand builders selected on the basis of qualitative analysis and consideration from industry leaders and Entrepreneur India Editors, who reviewed hundreds of nominations – under the cultural economy. The people featured in the ensuing pages are the champions of the value of design excellence. How some of these creators are using design to address some of society's most pressing problems showcases their potential for the future. Our ambition with this issue is to explore what role design and creativity play to make a better world.
