Tanisha Fagwani and Nikhil Jain of Stonks Studios on finding its niche as a new-age agency

Two years ago, a couple of young internet users, namely – Manoj Mehta, MaseehUr Rahman, Tanisha Fagwani and Nikhil Jain, wanted to break away from the typical ‘agency culture’ and find a fun way of making content that not only served the brand’s purpose but also added value for their audiences. Thus came the idea of Stonks Studios.

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As an agency that essentially produces content for brands on social media, the founders chose a popular meme template – Stonks, which means ‘sky-rocketing growth’, as the face of the agency. 

“We wanted it to be smart, gen-z and other adjectives but mainly for it to sound cool to a 15-year-old as well as a 50-year-old,” Nikhil Jain, co-founder of Stonks Studios, told Social Samosa.

Jain said that during the founding stages, one of their early clients posed a question  – ‘What reason are you giving them [audience] to follow a brand page?’. This stayed with the founders, and the core values of the agency were formed:

1. Why should a brand be boring on the internet? 
2. Content creators who put their heart and soul into creating things deserve the world. And why shouldn’t they?

One month into launching the agency, it bagged its first client – Swiggy in November 2021 and gave the brand a social media revamp. The founders said since then, Swiggy has witnessed a 35% growth in followers.

The following year, Stonks bagged more clients and gave them their social media voices. Google India was onboarded in July 2022, followed by IMDb.com in September 2022 and lastly, YouTube Creators India joined in 2023. 

The latest milestone in Stonks Studios’ journey came when the agency shifted its work to an office space in Mumbai.

Content creation and content creators make the most of Stonks Studios’ daily operations. Hence, they understand the unique economy that these creators operate in, said Tanisha Fagwani, Co-founder of Stonks Studios. 

She said, “One of our fundamental commitments is to truly listen. We hold space for creators to share their experiences, challenges, and aspirations.”

Talking about the agency’s work culture, Fagwani pointed out, “Our approach isn't a checklist of practices; it's a philosophy built on respect recognition. We believe that by putting our creators first, we not only retain talent but cultivate an environment where innovation flourishes.”

The agency has a 48% female workforce, with 35% of them in leadership roles. 

Overcoming the challenges

As a young agency in the highly competitive A&M industry in India, Stonks Studios’ initial obstacle was to differentiate itself from the big guns. Early on, the agency recognized its strengths and decided to be laser-focused on it. 

Fagwani said, “Unlike many, we made the deliberate choice not to be a 360-degree agency. Instead, our focus has always been on delivering exceptional quality for our clients, surpassing mere deliverables.” 

Embracing trends and topicalities became the core business drivers for the agency. It focuses on the ever-evolving ecosystem that is the Indian social media. 

“We take pride in our ability to say no when necessary, ensuring that we maintain the highest standards for our work,” said Fagwani. 

Few of their notable works include a quick banter on X (ex-twitter) with SRK and Swiggy. 

hum hain swiggy se, bhej dein kya??? 🥰 https://t.co/iMFJcYksKU

— Swiggy (@Swiggy) June 12, 2023

And an interactive reel during SRK’s Jawaan’s release on Google India. 

Jawan ko Google par bhi dhoondh lo aur theatres mein bhi! it’s so much fun….to see the bandages when I don’t have to tie them on my face!!!#JawanOnGoogle https://t.co/iHAQYYgxAN

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) September 8, 2023

How do they create?

Stonks Studios is an agency that believes in staying ahead of the curve by embracing trends, topicality, and the ever-evolving aspects of the Indian digital realm. 

“We operate in a constant state of adaptation and improvement, creating a continuous loop of innovation,” said Fagwani.  

In the run to becoming relatable and resonating with today’s audience, often brands and agencies forget the basics of human insights. Fagwani said that most of Stonks Studios’ work stems from simple human insights and emotions. 

 To reach this stage, the agency asks itself some important questions: 

• Is it interactive? 
• How strong is the insight? 
• Is collaboration and extension with other brands and creators possible? 
• Is this meeting all the brand objectives? 
• Will I personally share or view it when it comes to my feed? 
• Is this original? 
• We view our work as creators as well as the audience. 

Memes to be the future

Nikhil Jain believes that this is just the start of content creation. He said, “Political parties and government officials have started making memes. In the next 30 years, we may find memes and tweet screenshots in History books.” 

Apart from the wave of content creation, the Indian A&M landscape has seen multiple other changes. The recent one being the emergence of AI and the digitification of everything. 

“We believe that technology and creativity go hand-in-hand. Previously, the sky was the limit, but with AI, the sky is just a launchpad and we don’t know where it will take us,” said Jain. 

“We view innovation not as a hurdle but as a continuous trek,” said Fagwani. 

Moving ahead as an organization, Stonks Studios wants to solve boredom on the internet for brands to coexist with other meme pages.  

Jain concluded, “We want to become a unit that can exponentially scale brands by growing their engagement, retention and loyalty using social media platforms and creators.”