Closing down Media Redefined – Why? and What’s next?

Earlier this month, we declared Media Redefined as closed. This post is for those of you who’ve asked me – Why? and What’s next?

What started as a gig in college with 2 friends I made on Twitter, one would have never thought we’d come this far. From bringing on new business on board and delivering value, working with our favorite brands across domains, hiring & nurturing some of the best talent in the social media space, making friends, and having so much fun – it was a magical and challenging journey for almost 4 years at Media Redefined.

All good things come to an end.

I am grateful to a lot of people (I can’t even mention all of them here), but they all know it. Of course, Gaurav and Honey deserve a special mention.

Starting the business out of a garage and bunking college to mark my attendance at work, was not so funny. Deciding to let go of the job offer I secured at the college campus placement to become a businessman gives you a high. On that note, if you’re a student and if you are getting carried away by this post, you should read this post.

So, why did we decide to close it?

1. I stopped seeing longevity in the business. We were clocking similar revenues for the last 2 years and it did not seem to change for good in the near future. The cost of entry to this business was getting lower every year and the ticket value going down. We failed to innovate. Or let’s just say, our innovation didn’t really come out that well.
2. In India, social media continues to be just the icing on the cake when it comes to marketing, which I was always interested in. There are more talks about integrated social media acts than actual substance – both with brands and agencies.
3. I wasn’t convinced that I want to be doing something that’s getting monotonous and more often than not, executes in a silo. Integrated marketing, social web innovation, influencer relations, etc. continue to be buzzwords and only a few brands believe wholeheartedly in them. Most brands are afraid to ‘be’ social. Instead, they spend money to ‘do’ social media.
4. For many, it’s just about publishing content on social networks and sharing weekly / monthly reports on engagement. It’s challenging for a social media agency to showcase the power of social media across all functions – marketing, sales, customer service, segmentation, influencer relations, etc.
5. We were strong at technology and measurement. That’s when we decided to build a social media analytics product. We released it internally and used it with our clients for quite some time. However, we couldn’t launch it for the public yet. Bandwidth, conviction, focus – all of it. For us, it became difficult to ensure profitability in a services business and alongside, ship a product.

What’s next?

I’ve been enjoying unemployment for nearly a month, while speaking with people who’re in the product space to understand the kind of role I would want to take up, next.

This was more like rejuvenation before I get into a new role. I am hopeful that it would be as interesting and challenging enough to keep me happy.

No matter what, I would miss all the fun and learning I had at Media Redefined.

For those of you who’re curious about the assets associated with Media Redefined, we were contacted by a few buyers to buy the name and assets associated with Media Redefined. We decided to go ahead with an offer from a known internet entrepreneur in the U.S. who prefers not to be named as of now. Media Redefined and some of the associated digital assets are now sold. Most physical assets were either given away or retained by us for our personal use.

Update: After exploring & evaluating a few opportunities, I’ve decided to join Zoho.com as a Product Marketing Manager. I’ll be helping a team build a social product and shall be telecommuting from Delhi.