CEO Insights Magazine

Blooming in sync with the rapidly thriving Indian industries and corporate sector, the corporate communication market is evolving as a promising as well as a lucrative segment for aspiring professionals, investors, and industry stalwarts. An avid player of this sector, Vinod Menon (Managing Director, Corp Comm Studio) has been able to cause some significant ripples across the corporate communication segment of Telangana by the virtue of his brain child Corp Comm Studio. After over 10 years of experience in business media which includes six years of working with The Times of India Group, Vinod decided to start his own venture in the business PR space, leading to the inception of Corp Comm Studio. Focused on PR, the initial years of the business were quite challenging for him and when the desired outcome remained unachieved, he started exploring niche areas in the business communication space. Vinod found business content development and corporate reporting to be interesting, and in 2011, he steered the course of Corp Comm Studio into corporate reporting. Starting with just two clients in the initial year, the organization today works with over 30 clients in India as their annual reporting agency and addresses clients from across various industries including pharma, food processing, engineering, chemicals, banks, finTech, and NBFCs.

Below is an excerpt of Vinod's interview with CEO Insights.

As an investor communication agency, how is CorpComm Studiocurrently positioned in the market? What strategy do you follow to understand the pain points of your clients?
Today we provide annual, integrated, and sustainability reporting services. In recent times we have also expanded our reporting capabilities in digital formats. In reporting, apart from the globally available reporting formats, we also

develop various formats for reporting performance, risk, and ESG. We are the only agency in India that provides annual report bench marking services. We also provide IR services through our associate companies.

The majority of the listed companies in India needto be educated on the importance and scope of corporate reporting. At Corp Comm, our key strategy is to engage and educate our clients

How would you describe your role in tackling the challenges posed by the pandemic?As the MD of Corp Comm Studio, how do you plan to apply your experience in this domain to take the company one step ahead?
The impact of the pandemic on our sector i.e.corporate reporting has been minimal. However, while developing the reporting content, the challenge was to convince customers to disclose the short term andlong term impact of the pandemic on their operations. We are the first annual report agency probably the only agency to develop an exclusive COVIDimpact reporting frame work. Many of our clients did adopt this format in FY20 as well as in FY21 to report the COVID impact and mitigation. Owing to my 10 years of experience in corporate reporting, my priority is to keep learning and to develop a leadership team to make the company agile. Apart from bettering the talent pool within the company, we are also in the process of training MBA final year students on the basics of Investor Relations. We are working with a few leading management schools in Hyderabad.

Share the major milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction both as an individual and an entrepreneur?
As an individual, I started my career as an Industrial Consumable Salesman. The major milestones were shifting to a B2B communication company and later joining the Times of India. Last but not the least, taking Corp Comm Studio through the challenges in the

initial years and transforming it into a pure play investor communication/annual report agency was a major professional milestone achieved. Today it makes me happy to have a long standing relationship with our clients with a year on year contract renewal of over 90 percent.

Share your insights on the present market opportunities. In accordance with that, what is the future roadmap you have planned for Corp Comm Studio?
In terms of Corporate Governance and dis closures Indian companies are moving ahead. The capital market is abuzz with IPOs, Venture and Debt funding. All of them need strategic communication for creating a favorable perception in the capital market as well as among key stakeholders. With respect to reporting we want to be ahead of time. By 2023, we are aiming to double our client base by increasing our value proposition and expanding our talent base.

What keeps you motivated today as an industry leader?
The way the corporate reporting space is evolving fast inspires me a lot. The demand for transparent and detailed disclosures is increasing from investors, regulators as well as other stakeholders. The environmental social and governance aspects of the reporting have become a prerequisite in investment decision making. There is huge scope for learning and bettering the way investor value proposition is communicated.

Vinod Menon, Managing Director, Corp Comm Studio
Vinod comes with over 25 years of experience in Hardcore Media Marketing, Content and Secondary Research. After his long stint with media houses like The Times of India, he founded Corp Comm Studio in 2005. Since 2010, Corp Comm Studio is actively into Annual Reporting, Corp Comm and Investor Relations.

Hobbies:Reading & Singing
Favorite Cuisine:Spicy Rayalaseema preparations
Favorite Book:/'The Untethered Soul' book by Michael A. Singer
Favorite Travel Destination: Kerala