Some agencies are born chasing the next viral reel or trending hashtag. TheSmallBigIdea (TSBI) was born from something far simpler. The belief that even so-called ‘boring’ brands deserve breakout storytelling. Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and Co-Founder, has built an agency that takes mutual funds, pharma companies and other compliance-heavy categories, and makes them interesting enough for someone to stop mid-scroll.
It starts with a question he never skips in a client briefing. If you stopped thinking like a marketer and just behaved like a regular user, what kind of pages would you follow? “It’s very unlikely they will name their own brand, a pharma company, or something overtly commercial. And that’s exactly the point,” Pillai said. “The user is not a marketer. The user is there to relax, scroll, and have a good time. So, if your brand page turns into a noticeboard, it’s going to be a problem.”
Then comes the follow-up, the one that shapes everything TSBI does. What’s the main objective of your page, to inform or to build a community? If it’s the former, Pillai said a noticeboard-style page with sale updates and announcements will do. But if it’s the latter, you have to treat your page “more like a dating site.” You wouldn’t lead with “I have a 3BHK.” You’d talk about your interests, your dreams, even your insecurities. That’s what makes people connect.
For him, the job of an agency isn’t just selling or storytelling, it’s somewhere in between. He explains it as a Venn diagram.
One circle is about grabbing attention, telling an impactful story, doing something visually surprising, or sparking curiosity. The other circle is about context, what’s important about your brand that you want people to remember. “My single-minded objective is to keep the brand top of mind. When you’re building brands through storytelling, the goal is recall. And that takes a constant balance between attention-grabbing creativity and brand relevance.”
He’s quick to dismantle the myth that Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets lag behind urban India. “Some of India’s best rappers are coming from smaller towns. Many of the top IIT graduates come from there. These are highly skilled, highly aware audiences.” He compares it to a theatre: smaller towns are the gallery seats, loud, energetic, driving culture. Metros are the recliners, comfortable, but mostly watching. And for many in those towns, the mobile phone wasn’t just their first connected device, it was their first screen. “Excite Tier 2, Tier 3 for frenzy and volume and indulge Tier 1 for premium.”
Even in highly regulated spaces like BFSI or pharma, Pillai sees possibilities. “I don’t call it rigidity, it’s reality. Advertising’s job is to operate within those boundaries while still engaging people.” And engagement, for him, begins with emotion, even in serious categories.
“If all our choices were practical, we’d all have six-pack abs,” he joked. The breakfast you choose is emotional, just like the investments you make. Which is why he believes in “wetting the pitch” first, opening people up emotionally before delivering the product message.
It’s the same thinking that lets him bridge the gap between data and empathy. “A like, a share, a comment, those are emotional reactions. If you see data as just cells in an Excel sheet, it feels cold. But if you see it as a reflection of how people feel, it becomes an ally.”
AI might be changing the way content is made, but Pillai is firm about where the real magic lies. “The story will always be human. AI will eliminate a lot of average work. Only the top 1 percent of truly creative, insight-driven work will stand out, and that will still come from humans.”
If you strip away the jargon, his definition of TSBI’s strength is simple: agility. “Our ideas are agile, our insights are agile, and our execution is agile. We move fast, adapt quickly, and still maintain high quality.” Their formula for rewriting the communication rulebook? (Brand truth + Audience truth) × Cultural relevance. What’s real about the brand, plus what’s true about the audience, multiplied by how it fits into the cultural conversation today.
TSBI has already turned financial products into storytelling platforms. The next challenge Pillai wants to take on is public policy, not just election campaigns, but communicating government initiatives and infrastructure projects in ways that actually connect. “Politics impacts everyone, and shaping understanding and participation is incredibly powerful. That’s the kind of work that can really move people and create long-term impact.”
Spend some time with Pillai and you realise his approach isn’t about making brands louder, it’s about making them more human. He’ll tell you if your Facebook page is boring, he’ll push you to find your cultural sweet spot, and he’ll make sure your content feels like a conversation people actually want to have. That’s TSBI’s small big idea in action.
