Media

Exclusive: Shubha Madhukar of The Information Company:
Content needs human experience and understanding

In an exclusive interaction with Mediabrief, Shubha Madhukar, Managing Director at The Information Company, speaks about the inception and growth of TIC and highlights how it has evolved with the years, retracing its steps from the early days of dial-up modems to Generative AI.

Madhukar speaks about the USPs of The Information Company and discusses some of its early projects and clients. She also underscores the role of inclusion at TIC and addresses the role of AI in today’s digital age.

Tracing the inception and early journey of The Information Company, whose mission is to empower businesses with communication strategies that strengthen their brand and align stakeholders with their brand purpose, Managing Director Shubha Madhukar says, “TIC was established by former journalists—Kiron Kasbekar and Anjali Mathur—who understood business and industry and leveraged the power of the internet to lift corporate brand communication to the next level. They set the foundation for TIC to bring storytelling skills to the digital table.

“We started with designing websites and evolved with the changing external environment, she continues, “Today, we offer solutions to the challenges companies face in the areas of leadership communication, employee engagement, thought leadership content, UX design strategy, and website design and development.”

TIC: The ‘Corporate Storyteller’

The Information Company describes itself as a ‘Corporate Storyteller.’ Explaining the rationale behind this, Madhukar says, “If you look back at what we have done over 25 years, the term ‘Corporate Storyteller’ captures it best.”

“We have crafted, polished, and visualized stories about the Tata brand and culture, about Aditya Birla Group's sustainability vision, about Mahindra's Rise, and about Godrej's people culture.

“We have designed and implemented stories for the most diverse of platforms—from websites and intranets to LinkedIn and Yammer, to podcasts and videos, and of course, print and graphic art,” she adds.

Journey of TIC: The early days

Reminiscing about the journey so far and looking back at the early days, Madhukar says, “We have had tremendous fun learning, adopting, and adapting along the way. From the 'ancient' days of HTML and text-only content, we now work on multiple technology platforms, along with Gen AI, Next.js, and dynamic UX/UI.

“And that's interesting because we started telling stories on digital media long before 'storytelling' or 'digital media' became commonplace terms,” she emphasizes.

Not many people know that Tata was The Information Company’s very first project, and it was TIC that redesigned this key Tata site 24 years ago around the pillar of storytelling. “We regularly redesigned and upgraded tata(.com)—telling all the best Tata stories—up until 2018 when TCS took over. We also redesigned adityabirla(.com) in 2003 to reflect the mother brand narrative and ‘Big In Your Life’ positioning,” she adds.

Changing with the times

Speaking about how the times have changed and with it The Information Company, Madhukar says, “The last 25 years have been an amazing journey of change and transformation.”

She continues, “It's hard to believe we have launched websites using dial-up modems! Bandwidth was so low, we had to be highly conscious of file size. Internet speeds were so low, launching a website was an all-night adventure, with each file and folder taking an age to upload.

Remembering those days, she says, “We’d gather around our screens, fueled by endless cups of chai and plates of samosas. It wasn’t just about getting the site live; it was about the shared experiences, unforgettable moments of teamwork, the thrill, and the gratification of a job well done. I also recall the proud feeling when we first developed our own Content Management System (we must be on version 22 by now!).

“About 15 years ago, we introduced web services for tata(.com) and its geography sites (North America, Europe, and South Africa). It was nothing short of revolutionary because we were able to upload a press release on Tata (the global site) and automatically pull it onto the Europe, North America, and Africa sites. Since then, tech has advanced, and what used to take an hour now just takes microseconds,” Madhukar adds.

What sets TIC apart?

Apart from its 25-year legacy, while delving into what sets TIC apart from other communication and content agencies, Madhukar says, “Our expertise in content comes from our understanding of business and communication. We bring out the messaging through stories and connect with stakeholders in the process.”

She continues, “We understand and keep track of the changing search engine algorithms and ensure the content we write is discoverable. We do high-end content based on research and meetings. We can talk to CEOs/MDs to write a thought-leadership article, and we can also talk to beneficiaries of a program in the hinterlands to write an impact story,” she adds.

Outlining its USPs, Madhukar says, “We tell stories to build narratives that change perceptions and build brands.” Elaborating on this, she says, “We have the capabilities to create all types of content for our clients. Whether it's an emailer for a DEI campaign, a video on safety practices, a visual-rich page with micro-interactions on ESG initiatives for the website, or a speech for the MD to be delivered at a CII forum, we have a content-first approach to everything we do, which allows us to create unique communication assets for our clients.”

Staying on top of trends

The Information Company’s ability to stay on top of trends and support its clients with new solutions also gives it an edge. Citing an example, Madhukar says, “We recently created a great impact by using graphic illustrations to make employees aware of SEBI requirements. Or the impact we created by building websites based on UX/UI design strategy. Or the intensive communication campaigns we created for corporate rebranding exercises.

“It is always a consultative approach, rather than mere implementation. It's not 'We have to send five emailers,' instead it's about 'What can drive behavior change and create impact.' Often these lead to discussions that result in better solutions for the communication challenge that needs to be addressed,” she adds.

Integrity plays a key role at TIC

Apart from TIC’s understanding of business and communication, staying on top of trends, and supporting its clients, integrity plays a key role in its operations. “We are ethical in all that we do, and it shows up in all aspects of our work, ranging from ensuring copyrights in the assets we use, to maintaining the confidentiality of content, to transparency in billing, to payments to our partners.

“In essence, we always put our clients first,” she reiterates. “And in turn, they trust us to be there for whatever they need us for. This, coupled with excellence, is what has helped us retain long-standing partnerships—with some now running into 20+ years with certain clients.”

Overcoming challenges

“We have had to face and overcome some huge challenges, but we are still here and stronger even,” responds Madhukar when asked about the hurdles TIC encountered and navigated.

“The one that actually shook us,” Madhukar says, “was a fire in 2013 that gutted our office completely. Computers, servers, workstations—all turned to ash.”

What saved TIC was its practice of daily off-site data backups. So despite the fact that they had no office, their teams could work remotely. Their clients were not affected even for a day. Important websites such as Tata and Aditya Birla continued to be managed without a hitch. For several months, they operated from a makeshift office.

“The working conditions weren't the best, but the spirit of the team was always high. We actually emerged stronger from the incident,” Madhukar adds.

Learning from experiences

Madhukar also explains how they learned from this experience and how it helped them during the lockdown period, “This experience was useful when the pandemic hit. We were able to adapt quickly to ensure that remote working stayed efficient. Even working from home, the teams always followed our values, taking care to protect the interests of clients.

“If you recall,” she says “this was the time companies needed to focus on engaging their remote employees, keeping employees safe with Covid measures, etc. Employee and leadership communication became critical and we saw an unprecedented surge in work. Team TIC, despite the many challenges that the pandemic presented, delivered ethically and consistently.

“I think we created some 2,000 pieces of Covid-related content. Interestingly, this was also the time when we worked on key projects such as content creation to celebrate '75 years of Mahindra'. The stories that would otherwise have been written based on meetings were all done on Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet,” Madhukar adds.

TIC’s clients and special projects

Moving the conversation from The Information Company (TIC) to some of its clients and how TIC and its work made them stand out, Madhukar comments, “In 2012, Tata Sons asked us to develop an intranet that would be a connector for all Tata companies. It was a huge project. We wanted the best possible intranet experience, so we decided to go all-in on the latest technology.

“We knew we didn’t have all the skills in-house. Our commitment to customer satisfaction and excellence led us to invest in our team’s technical expertise. As a result, we were able to create TataWorld, a state-of-the-art intranet that remains the mother of all intranets with its features even today,” she adds.

More recently, The Information Company designed and developed the site for NIIT University. Speaking on this project, Madhukar says, “It was a challenge as it had to meet the expectations of very diverse audiences—young students, parents, prospective faculty.  With our proven 5D UX strategy, we were able to understand the needs and expectations of our target audience. Mapping their journeys, crafting detailed personas, and developing the information architecture enabled us to design a website that is both informative and delivers an engaging experience to all visitors.”

“Another interesting project,” Madhukar says, “has been an intensive leadership communication project at IndiaFirst Life Insurance. We worked closely with the IndiaFirst team to create a large set of articles and blogs, written for their senior leaders.”

On the topic of interesting projects, Madhukar adds, “We are proud of the video Haath Uthana Zaroori Hai that we conceptualized, scripted, and created for the Aditya Birla Group on the occasion of International Women's Day.”

A runaway success, the video draws attention to the hesitancy that women sometimes experience in speaking up in workplace situations and encourages women to raise their hand without inhibitions and speak up.

“There have been several projects that will stand out in our collective memory; among them are crafting the Vision-Mission-Values for DMart Foundation and designing and producing Horizons—a print and digital magazine that showcases the impact of Tata Trusts' initiatives,” she remarks.

Leveraging AI

Addressing the topic of AI in today’s digital age, Madhukar notes, “AI has become a part of our life. We are already leveraging AI tools for efficiency and productivity and, at the same time, exploring how to integrate it more and more into our offerings.

“Our writers find that it helps to overcome the blank page syndrome, but beyond that, AI stops delivering value. AI can produce volumes of good-looking content, but factual accuracy is a huge concern, as is creativity.

“Our experience is that content needs human experience and understanding. We create content with unique tonality for our clients, and AI cannot do that as yet,” she points out.

“AI has found its way into other areas too,” she says. “We are leveraging AI for UX studies, our Content Management System is AI-enabled, and so are our websites. AI is helping us reduce timelines, and this benefit is shared with our clients.”

TIC exemplifies inclusion

Drawing close to the end of this insightful interaction, Madhukar reiterates, “TIC exemplifies inclusion.” Elaborating on this thought, she says, “Right now, we have an all-women management team, and 50% of the board and 65% of the team are women. TIC is a rare agency that is blind to gender or sexual identities, race, religion, or caste. Inclusion is a core value for us, and we ensure a level playing ground for all.”

She adds, “As an organization, we prioritize human connections and open communication. It's a very flat organization, where even the junior-most person can approach a CXO for help.”

As a parting thought to ponder over, she states, “Everyone understands that we are in it together. It is all about all hands lifting each other. This reflects in the work we do and our relationships with clients.”

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