For a change, let’s start this story with the moral first. “If you’re passionate about an idea despite the world opposing it, and you stick with your belief till the end, success is just around the corner.”
That’s the philosophy that defines us at Doodle Collection– a stylish design-led brand for diaries and planners.
I started my career in interior designing at the age of 20, and was extremely well established within 3 years — with my own home accessories store in Juhu. Post marriage, my passion with stationery was ignited. Every international trip we took, we found ourselves spending hours at stationery shops and I kept bringing back things that aren’t available back home. That’s when I realised that there is a huge gap for good looking, well designed diaries in India.
While the gap at the retail consumer level was evident in India, potential is a different story altogether, because there are always divided opinions about it. The staunch opposition came from close advisors, citing digitisation and the dwindling interest in paper diaries. “It’s just a matter of time before you’ll realise and shut down,” they said. But we were convinced that we could innovate something special and carve our niche in this competitive market.
The core human truth was that everyone wants to make a statement and everyone carries diaries to meetings, or for their personal use. Placing our belief completely in this approach, we decided to meet any challenge head on if needed.
Thus began the journey of Doodle Collection, and there was no looking back. The tagline we went with was ‘The Joy of Writing.’ Endless hours were spent researching cover materials, paper qualities, printing and binding techniques and accessories.
Today, we have over 120 different designs aimed at different kinds of audiences – the working executive, the creative artist, the quirky and youthful, the sober and elegant and so on. Our dairies and planners are available at over 140 premium retail outlets like Crossword, Landmark, Starmark, WH Smith, Flemingo and Odyssey and over 26 major e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Fashionara etc. With a customer base of more than 1.5 lakh people, we have sold over 150 thousand units in just 2 years.
Our unique style started getting many corporates interested in us around six months ago. They were all looking for something different and unique for their internal and external stakeholders. That gave birth to Doodle Connect – a division that customizes diaries providing an effective communication platform and unbeatable retention value. We have already crafted unique diaries for Yashraj Films, BookMyShow, Kotak, Dubai Investments, Hsbc, Tata AIA, Johnson Tiles and more.
Yet, this is just the beginning. There is unlimited scope for innovation and creativity. We are introducing 3 exciting new ranges called Coffee, Neon and Exquisite India. Having proved ourselves in India, we are now looking at expanding to USA and Canada, to compete with the existing international players there. With a turnover of over 3 Crores in its second year, we have silenced our critics, but the Doodle journey will continue forever.
Feel free to get in touch with us:
Twitter: @DoodleIndia