Navigating talent management: How Dharma Cornerstone is embracing diverse growth opportunities

CEO Uday Singh Gauri speaks about the growth, diversity, and future prospects of the agency, the role of celebrities versus influencers for brands, and more.

Dharma Cornerstone Agency - an entertainment marketing and talent management agency, has recently marked its third anniversary and is bullish about its growth. The agency is a strategic partnership between Dharma Productions and Cornerstone Brand Consultancy. Shedding light on the agency's remarkable journey, Uday Singh Gauri, CEO of Dharma Cornerstone, states that they are the fastest-growing agency in this business. “We've had a great growth percentage and have grown more than 50% each year.”

Multifaceted outlook

Defining the role of Dharma Cornerstone in today’s marketing and advertising landscape, he emphasises the diversity of opportunities available for artists today. He says that the agency's deep understanding of both artists and brands allows for genuine, symbiotic partnerships rather than forced, transactional arrangements. With Karan Johar at the helm, the agency benefits from the extensive experience of the teams and other HODs, he adds.

According to Gauri, their role in the lives of brands and artists varies at different levels. The agency manages artists, matches them with relevant brands, and helps execute campaigns. “Right from a basic social media post to becoming a brand ambassador, or even having a stake as an investor or co-owner. We make special efforts in getting to know our artists as well as brands. It becomes easier then to go out in the market and connect with them.”

Gauri advocates for actors to have greater involvement in the brands they endorse. “Some of our artists have set equity and have a hybrid version of endorsements where they can also have some skin in the game. We also believe that today we are presented with new revenue streams that can really help an artist create wealth.”

"We've never been into the number game of having a lot of artists; it's about what we can do for them. This philosophy has allowed Dharma Cornerstone to maintain a high standard of service.” He adds that the brand’s requirements vary according to the sectors and their objectives. He adds that they also have production support from Dharma 2.0.

Revenue streams

According to Gauri, while a bigger churn for them comes from endorsements, he feels the scalability in the future will come from new-age media. “The scalability in this industry is going to be driven and dictated by content, new media, and social media influencers because that is where the tsunami is going to go and it’s going to stay.”

Gauri adds that according to the media landscape today, the lines between celebrities and influencers are blurred, but there is still a difference in terms of what they bring to the table for brands. “If you are looking at hardcore target selling, or if you really need numbers to come back, or if you need penetration across segments, then it's an established actor that you should look at. However, if you are looking at tactical influencing or trend-setting, then it should be an influencer.”

He adds that the line is currently sort of blurred in the mid-segment and the new-comer segment because of the social media exposure to influencers and actors today.

The agency represents some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry like Tiger Shroff, Ananya Panday, Janhvi Kapoor, Tripti Dimri, Aditya Roy Kapur, Neha Kakkar, Orry, Sufi Motiwala, Jubin Nautiyal, Neeti Mohan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, and Shanaya Kapoor.

Asked how the agency navigates the increased scrutiny around celebrities and excessive trolling, Gauri says, “I think nobody knows better than us how hardworking an actor/artist is and the amount of hard work they put in. We are all immune to trolling.”

“We do have in-house social media teams. We also sometimes need to clarify certain things, but I think by and large, you really cannot do anything about it. It's not every day that you want to dignify a troll by really giving an answer, but we have a social media team that, when required, puts out the right information and the true information,” he adds.

Future goals

According to Gauri, while a strong base for the agency has been set, the long-term goal is to build IPs. He says they are also focusing on creating international footprints for some artists and brands. “What an Indian actor brings to the table is very unique, and how an Indian consumer dictates and drives global consumption is also unique, so we're looking at those parameters.”