Sajan Raj Kurup’s 14-year journey at Creativland Asia

Creativeland Asia (CLA) is an Indian advertising agency. But its Founder and Creative Chairman, Sajan Raj Kurup would rather call it a creative agency. Since CLA’s inception in 2007, Kurup has aimed to provide a platform for creative people to come up with design solutions for their clients. The company’s activities range from advertising, brand management, design, film production, digital media, and event management. It is often considered as one of India’s top advertising agencies with several multinational clients like Audi, Cafe Coffee Day, Godrej, Kalpataru, Mercedes, The Indian Express, Taj, Pizza Hut, and  Parle Agro just to name a few. With over a decade’s worth of experience and an inspirational story, CLA has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Here is a recap of the ups and downs, CLA has gone through over the years. 

In 2007, after working as a Creative Director for several ad agencies, Sajan Raj Kurup decided to start his own venture. Creativeland Asia was born at a dining table in Kurup’s living room alongside four other people. Kurup believed in creativity over everything else. He was a non-compromising dreamer who wasn’t afraid to break the norms of this industry, norms like pitch fees. Kurup states that CLA never participates in free pitches as they are only interested if the agency has paid a fee for the effort. “If we win the pitch, the fee gets adjusted against our remuneration. And if for any reason we don't win the business, the pitch fee comes to us as a rejection fee and compensates us for the time spent.” Kurup quotes. As they’ve grown and expanded, CLA has moved from advertising to film production, design, digital media, and even brand incubation. Kurup didn’t want CLA to be focused on one task and rather be a “creative culture”. 

CLA has served many iconic brands over the years but notable among them is Parle Agro. Parle Agro is an Indian beverage brand and CLA handled the creative mandate for their brands Frooti, Appy Fizz, Hippo, Bailey, and Cafe Cuba. Running several famous ad campaigns for all their products, CLA clocked in about 18-19% of their revenue from Parle alone. A massive decision for Kurup then to end their partnership in 2015.  Parle Agro’s chief marketing officer Nadia Chauhan is in fact married to Sajan Kurup. Both husband and wife state that the split was a mutual decision to separate their personal life from their professional one and Kurup was quoted saying “Sometimes you have to make tough decisions and put personal life above business.” 

Losing Parle Agro surely was a big hit for the company but it didn’t keep Kurup down and over the years CLA bagged brands like Audi, Mercedes, Pizza Hut, and Kalpataru. Kurup doesn’t think that Parle defined his career, rather a stepping stone for the company. “I didn't start Creativeland to become a force to reckon with or to become the largest or the biggest. Be it creating a flier for Café Coffee Day or a poster for Medimix to creating an integrated campaign for Audi, all of them, have marked a turning point in CLA's growth trajectory.” 

In 2017, a decade after starting CLA, Kurup launched Ventureland Asia. Ventureland is an investment firm that funds, partners, and guides the marketing efforts of budding entrepreneurs and businesses. Backed by the experience at Creativeland of branding and design, Ventureland aims to provide a platform for entrepreneurs to achieve success. "The kind of segments Ventureland Asia will be looking to invest in would be infrastructure, lifestyle, retail for marquee and design-tech driven concepts, innovation for bridge rounds. But both will be B2C-focused. We may take the majority in marquee fund but obviously not in bridge” 

Creativeland Asia also has a student arm, youngcreative.org. It offers guidance and motivation to up-and-coming talent in the industry alongside scholarships and promotion for their work. Kurup believes it’s more than a responsibility to share experiences and knowledge with the people trying to get their foot in the door.  

From a starry-eyed hot-blooded upstart creative enthusiast to a wide-eyed optimist, Sajan Raj Kurup has brought CLA from his dining table to set up in three different cities, with over a decade of learning to take into the future, Kurup and CLA are ready to springboard into a world of new possibilities.