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The Noida Firm Telling Indian SMBs to Stop Buying Marketing and Start Buying Outcomes

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Prime Signal has managed over ₹84 crore in ad spend across 260 brands and 22 cities. Its founders argue the Indian growth agency model is broken — and that the fix is refusing to take a retainer without a roadmap.

There is a particular conversation that repeats itself in Indian small-business boardrooms, and Manpreet Singh has heard it several hundred times.

A founder has been spending on advertising for two years. The dashboard is full. Impressions are up. The agency sends a monthly deck with a lot of green arrows. And yet nobody in the room can answer the only question the promoter actually cares about: did any of this make us money?

“Most Indian SMBs are not under-marketed,” says Singh, co-founder of Prime Signal, the Noida-headquartered growth firm. “They are over-serviced and under-diagnosed. Someone sold them nine channels before anyone bothered to look at their unit economics.”

Prime Signal, which operates out of Sector 121 in Noida and has been in the market since 2016, has built its entire commercial proposition around that complaint. The firm describes itself as a “full-stack growth partner” — marketing, finance, operations and brand run as a single system rather than as separate vendor relationships. By its own published figures, it has managed more than ₹84 crore in advertising spend, generated over 8 lakh leads, and served 260 brands across 22 Indian cities and ten industries. It carries an average client rating of 4.8 out of 5.

The refusal that became a business model

The most unusual thing about Prime Signal is not what it sells. It is what it declines to sell.

“No retainer without a roadmap” is written into the firm’s operating principles, and co-founder Abhinav Prakash treats it as non-negotiable. Before any campaign goes live, the firm runs what it calls a diagnosis: an audit of every channel, a review of the client’s numbers, and direct interviews with the client’s own customers.

“An agency that starts spending your money in week one has told you something important about itself,” Prakash says. “It has told you the media budget is its product. Ours isn’t. Our product is the decision about where the money should go — and sometimes that decision is that you should spend less.”

Prakash’s insistence on this sequencing is not accidental. His background is in finance and compliance rather than creative, and Prime Signal is one of the few Indian growth firms that runs a compliance-and-finance service line alongside performance marketing. The logic is that a business with broken margins does not have a marketing problem, and pouring paid media on top of it accelerates the loss rather than the growth.

The engagement itself runs on a four-step, ninety-day structure the firm calls Diagnose, Design, Deploy, Compound. The design step happens in a single working session with the client’s leadership, and both sides sign the resulting plan. First results are contracted to appear within thirty days. The final phase is explicitly about making the agency less necessary — systemising what worked and training the client’s internal team to run it.

“We are trying to build something the client can eventually operate without us,” Singh says. “That is a strange thing for an agency to say out loud. It is also the only version of this business I am interested in running.”

Nine signals, one system

Prime Signal organises its work into nine service lines it refers to as signals: lead generation, performance marketing, discovery marketing covering SEO, AEO and GEO, content marketing, retention marketing, conversion rate optimisation, authority marketing, proximity or local marketing, and compliance and finance.

The breadth is deliberate and, the founders concede, commercially inconvenient. It is easier to sell one thing well than nine things together.

“The reason we do it anyway is attribution,” Prakash says. “If your ads are with one vendor, your email with another and your website with a third, nobody owns the number. Everybody owns a slice of the number. That is how a company can spend for three years and never find out what worked.”

The client roster reflects the range. On the consumer side the firm has worked with nutrition and wellness brands including GoodMonk and Wellbeing Nutrition, and with fashion and lifestyle labels such as RDKLU, Deepa Gurnani and fine jewellery house Renu Oberoi. In pet nutrition it counts Pawpeye, the vet-formulated dog and cat food brand. Its industrial and B2B work includes Ester Industries and manufacturing clients such as Vijay Plastics, where the challenge is less about brand awareness and more about generating qualified enquiries in a narrow buyer universe.

The results the firm publishes are stated in the client’s own operating terms rather than in agency metrics. A Delhi streetwear label moved from 420 to 1,950 monthly orders across five months. A Bengaluru food and beverage brand took monthly D2C revenue from ₹4 lakh to ₹22 lakh while lifting return on ad spend from 2.1x to 5.3x. A Delhi dermatology clinic went from 45 to 210 monthly bookings as cost per lead fell from ₹1,850 to ₹620. A Coimbatore CNC manufacturer went from 11 to 64 inbound calls a week.

“Nobody takes impressions to their board,” Singh says. “They take orders, bookings and margin. So those are the only numbers we agree to be measured on.”

The 10,000 number

The firm’s stated mission is to help 10,000 businesses achieve what it calls sustainable, scalable growth by 2030 — a figure that is roughly forty times its current client count and which the founders acknowledge cannot be reached by adding headcount.

“You cannot service 10,000 companies the way we service 260,” Prakash says. “The only route is productising the diagnosis — making the first ninety days repeatable enough that it works without either of us in the room. That is the actual engineering problem in front of us.”

Prime Signal currently serves clients across 22 Indian cities and in four markets beyond India: the UAE, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

Whether the firm reaches its 2030 target is an open question. But its founders have picked an uncomfortable position to defend in a sector that rarely volunteers one — that the honest answer to a growth brief is sometimes that the client is not ready to grow yet.

“We lose deals over that,” Singh says. “We would rather lose the deal than the client.”

Website https://share.google/6ZawWS7cV70NZgFJ4

Founders Linkedin Bios:

Manpreet Singh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manpreet-singh-project-manager/

Abhinav Prakash: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caabhinav-prakash/

Prime Signal is headquartered at Sector 121, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. More at primesignal.in.

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The Chew Is Changing: How FIVE Wellness Is Building a New Category Around Functional Gum

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What if the next generation of wellness products didn’t come in a bottle, capsule or powder—but in a piece of chewing gum?

For generations, chewing gum has been one of the simplest products people carry. It fits into a pocket, requires no preparation and has become part of everyday routines—from after meals and during travel to work, study and social occasions.

Traditionally, however, the category has largely been associated with flavour and freshness.

FIVE Wellness is looking at the format differently.

Founded by Rhythm Sehgal, Vipul Kohli and Prateek Mehra, FIVE Wellness is developing functional chewing gums designed around different everyday moments, bringing together convenience, portability and functionality in a familiar format.

The idea is straightforward: take something people already understand and create more possibilities around it.

Rethinking the Everyday Chew

Today’s consumers increasingly value products that fit naturally into busy routines.

Bottles, powders, capsules and prepared drinks all have their place, but they can also require additional space, preparation or planning.

Chewing gum offers something different.

It is compact, portable and familiar.

For FIVE Wellness, these characteristics form the foundation of its approach to functional products.

The brand’s range currently includes HYDR, POWR and FRSHR, each built around a different proposition.

HYDR: A New Format for Electrolytes

Electrolyte products have traditionally been associated with drinks, powders and other prepared formats.

HYDR explores another possibility: delivering electrolytes through chewing gum.

The focus is on convenience and portability. There is no bottle to carry, powder to mix or shaker to clean.

Whether it is placed in a gym bag, travel pouch, backpack or desk drawer, HYDR is designed around a simple idea: functionality in a format that can go almost anywhere.

POWR: Energy, Reimagined

Energy products are another familiar part of modern consumer culture.

FIVE Wellness’ POWR takes a different approach to the format, combining caffeine, L-theanine and taurine in chewing gum.

Instead of another can or bottle, POWR puts its proposition into something considerably smaller.

The concept is deliberately uncomplicated:

No can. No bottle. No preparation. Just a chew.

FRSHR: Freshness, Reimagined

With FRSHR, FIVE Wellness returns to one of chewing gum’s most familiar associations: freshness.

Designed around an everyday fresh-mouth experience, FRSHR builds on a behaviour consumers already know.

After a meal. During travel. Between meetings. Whenever a fresh-mouth experience fits the moment.

There is no new ritual to learn.

Open. Chew. Move on.

More Than Gum

The bigger idea behind FIVE Wellness isn’t simply chewing gum.

It is format innovation.

The brand is exploring chewing gum as a platform for functional products, with different formulations designed around different everyday occasions.

HYDR. POWR. FRSHR.

Different propositions. One familiar format.

That approach also reflects a broader shift in how consumers think about wellness. Products are increasingly expected to be convenient, portable and easy to integrate into everyday life.

FIVE Wellness is building around that expectation.

A Pocket-Sized Vision

The brand’s ambition isn’t to complicate wellness. It is to make functional products easier to carry and easier to incorporate into real life.

That philosophy extends to its identity as well. FIVE Wellness aims to occupy the space where wellness meets convenience, design and contemporary culture.

The next evolution of functional products may not necessarily mean bigger bottles, larger tubs or more complicated routines.

It could mean something much smaller.

Something familiar.

Something that fits in your pocket.

Sometimes, the future of functional wellness might simply be a chew.

About FIVE Wellness

FIVE Wellness is an Indian functional chewing gum brand founded by Rhythm Sehgal, Vipul Kohli and Prateek Mehra. Its current range includes HYDR, POWR and FRSHR, bringing different functional propositions into a convenient chewing-gum format.

Website: www.myfivewellness.com

Instagram: @myfivewellness

Email:contact@myfivewellness.com

Chew@myfivewellness

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“One Day You’ll Be a Big Name”: Chunky Panday’s Heartfelt Praise Becomes Veeir Chaudary’s Biggest Moment of the Award Night

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New Delhi: It was an evening filled with glamour, appreciation and memorable moments for actor and producer Veeir Chaudary, who recently attended a prestigious award ceremony and received an award from Bollywood actor Chunky Panday. However, what made the evening particularly special was not just the award, but the words of encouragement Veeir received from the veteran actor.

During the event, Chunky Panday appreciated Veeir Chaudary for his work and encouraged him to continue working with the same dedication. While praising his journey, Chunky told him, “You’re doing good work. One day you’ll make a very big name.” For Veeir, hearing these words from an established Bollywood personality became one of the most memorable moments of the evening.

Veeir, who has been associated with films, web series and music projects, was visibly happy with the appreciation. He described his interaction with Chunky Panday as a wonderful experience and said that the actor came across as extremely cheerful, friendly and warm-hearted.

The award ceremony also witnessed several fan moments involving Veeir Chaudary. Throughout the evening, a number of fans approached him to click photographs. The excitement among the audience and the requests for pictures added another special dimension to the event.

Interestingly, one light-hearted incident at the venue also grabbed attention. When Veeir Chaudary entered the venue accompanied by his security guards, some people initially mistook his arrival for that of Chunky Panday. As soon as they saw Veeir walking in with his guards, several people stood up, thinking that the Bollywood star had arrived. The amusing misunderstanding created a fun moment and became one of the memorable incidents of the evening.

For Veeir, the combination of receiving an award, meeting fans and getting personal appreciation from Chunky Panday made the night particularly meaningful. The encouragement from Chunky was especially significant as Veeir continues to build his career as an actor and producer while developing new projects in entertainment.

Veeir also expressed his gratitude towards the organisers for recognising his work and giving him the opportunity to be part of the celebration. He believes that appreciation from audiences and industry personalities motivates artists to work harder and explore new creative opportunities.

The evening reflected the growing attention around Veeir Chaudary, with fans not only recognising him but also showing enthusiasm to meet and interact with him. The combination of fan love and industry appreciation made the event a memorable chapter in his professional journey.

For Veeir Chaudary, the biggest takeaway from the night was perhaps Chunky Panday’s encouraging message. “One day you’ll be a big name” was more than just a compliment—it became a powerful motivation to continue pursuing bigger dreams.

With his focus on films, web series and music, Veeir is now looking ahead to his upcoming projects. If the response at the award night is any indication, his journey is attracting increasing attention, both from audiences and within the entertainment fraternity.

An award, a room full of fans, an unforgettable interaction with Chunky Panday and words that Veeir will remember for years—the evening certainly turned into a night to cherish.

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Kamathipura at a Crossroads: Dhaval Pitale Documents a Neighbourhood Facing Extinction

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India is one of the most diverse countries in the world, home to countless religions, languages, cultures and communities. But when we look closely at our cities, we often find smaller neighbourhoods where these identities have lived together for generations.

One such neighbourhood exists in the heart of Mumbai — Kamathipura.

Once associated with the Kamathis who settled in the area, Kamathipura changed dramatically over the years and eventually became widely known as one of Mumbai’s oldest red-light districts. But the area has always been more than the identity attached to it.

It has been home to families, workers, migrants, traders, sex workers, transgender people and generations of residents who have built their lives within its narrow lanes.

Today, Kamathipura is once again standing at a turning point.

With redevelopment gradually changing the physical landscape of the neighbourhood, an important question remains: what happens to the people, memories and history connected to a place when the place itself begins to disappear?

Filmmaker Dhaval Pitale is attempting to document this transition through an independent documentary on Kamathipura — its past, its present and the uncertain future that lies ahead.

The documentary explores the complicated history of the area while looking at the influence of colonialism, capitalism, migration and urban redevelopment. It also raises difficult questions around trafficking, violence, crime and sex work, while trying to understand how these realities have changed over generations.

Rather than looking at Kamathipura only through the familiar image of a red-light district, the film focuses on the people who have lived there and the social world that has developed around them.

It also looks at the changing nature of sex work itself.

As Kamathipura changes, sex work has not necessarily disappeared. Instead, it has increasingly moved beyond the traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood, taking different forms across Mumbai and its surrounding regions.

This raises another question at the centre of the documentary: if the buildings disappear, does the stigma disappear too?

Dhaval is also closely associated with the Aadhishakti Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Va Navratraotsav Mitra Mandal, a local mandal based in Kamathipura.

The festival brings together residents from different communities, including sex workers and transgender people, who participate alongside other local families and members of the neighbourhood.

For Dhaval, this is an important part of Kamathipura’s identity that rarely finds space in mainstream narratives about the area.

Behind the stories of crime, sex work and stigma is another Kamathipura — one built around community, faith, celebration, coexistence and everyday life.

The documentary attempts to capture both these realities without romanticising the neighbourhood or reducing it to its darker history.

One of the central concerns of the film is what will remain once redevelopment is complete.

Will the name Kamathipura continue to carry the same stigma?

Will the identity of the neighbourhood change completely?

Will the younger generation know what once existed there?

And perhaps most importantly, who will remember the lives and stories that never became part of official history?

Dhaval hopes the documentary can preserve some of those memories before they disappear.

The idea is not simply to make a film about a red-light district, but to create a visual record of a neighbourhood undergoing one of the biggest transformations in its history.

The documentary could eventually serve as a reference for future generations, researchers, sociologists and historians trying to understand Kamathipura beyond the way it has traditionally been portrayed.

Dhaval is also the founder of Aadhya Films, where he works with Associate Director Priyanshi Rathor on different film and creative projects.

For this documentary, the team is also experimenting with emerging AI tools and visual technology.

Artificial intelligence will be used selectively to help recreate certain historical periods and environments that can no longer be filmed today. Combined with research, archival material and real accounts, these visual reconstructions will attempt to give audiences a sense of how Kamathipura may have looked and lived during different periods of its history.

But at its heart, the film remains about people.

About what happens when development reaches a neighbourhood with a complicated past.

About whether removing old buildings can really remove the stigma attached to the people who once lived inside them.

And about whether redevelopment can create a new future without completely erasing what came before.

The documentary ultimately leaves audiences with one deliberate question:

What if Kamathipura’s story had gone differently?

What if, instead of simply disappearing under redevelopment, the neighbourhood had been given a new way of living while still preserving its communities, stories and history?

For Dhaval Pitale, this question is not about holding on to the past for the sake of nostalgia.

It is about asking what Mumbai loses when its neighbourhoods change beyond recognition — and what parts of their history may still be worth saving.

https://www.instagram.com/aadhya.films?stkn=a3pncHVyeTRidXJ5

 Ganadhisha Mumbaicha : https://www.instagram.com/ganadhishamumbaicha?stkn=dGg5cm00MTg1ZnYw

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