Curry Nation’s Priti Nair and Nagessh Pannaswami on building a culture-led agency

As India’s advertising landscape becomes increasingly consolidated under legacy networks, a small cohort of independent agencies continues to chart their own course. One such agency is Curry Nation. Now in its 14th year, the firm was co-founded by Nagessh Pannaswami and Priti Nair with an intent to build a practice driven by cultural relevance and emotional truth, rather than scale alone.

Curry Nation’s trajectory, described by its founders as “equal parts madness and magic,” began with a decision to engage with sectors largely avoided by other agencies. Early on, the team gravitated towards brand-commodity businesses, categories often considered uninspiring or low-interest.

“That space challenged us,” says Pannaswami, “but it also validated our belief that every brand has a soul.” The agency’s debut campaign for 18 Again, which got it global attention, proved that even niche or unfamiliar categories could yield high-impact communication if treated with insight and conviction.

Over the years, Curry Nation has grown into what Pannaswami calls a “fiercely independent” entity, working with both legacy brands undergoing transformation and newer companies seeking their brand voice.

While much of the industry chases larger or legacy clients, Curry Nation has maintained a deliberate focus on smaller, owner-led brands and sectors typically seen as commodities. According to Nair, this positioning was less a compromise and more a strategic decision rooted in the belief that such businesses stand to benefit most from long-term brand-building.

The agency has developed relationships across a range of categories, including FMCG, real estate, personal care, and baking solutions, working with brands such as Abbott, Eva Deodorants, BKT Tires, Good Home by TTK Healthcare, and JAIHIND.

“We co-own business problems, not just campaigns,” Pannaswami explains. With that mindset, the founders intend to foster long-term relationships and trust.

The agency’s creative output is guided by values it describes as empathy, cultural curiosity, and audacity. Rather than chasing novelty, the team aims to uncover what Nair describes as “what’s true, what’s unspoken, and what’s worth fighting for.”

An example of this approach can be seen in its campaign for Eva Deodorants, which avoided traditional fragrance clichés in favour of a narrative that was relatable for adolescents navigating early independence. Another instance is its work for KisanKonnect, a farm-to-home produce brand. Rather than focusing on the transactional aspects of the category, the agency positioned it as a farmer-led movement, a shift that, according to Pannaswami, led to more trust and adoption, despite the absence of a media spend.

Nair notes, “Creativity today is less about cleverness and more about consequence. Originality must serve a purpose.”

Moreover, she believes that creativity now means orchestrating experiences across formats and timelines.

Steady growth, not hyper-scaling

Consistently evolving has translated to growth. When asked about year-on-year growth, the founders highlight responsible expansion over rapid scale. “We’ve grown responsibly, not just rapidly,” says Pannaswami. Since the pandemic, the agency has seen steady progress, recording approximately 18-20% year-on-year growth. Last year, it added around 7-8 new clients to its portfolio.

The agency has built an operational model that relies on small, senior teams capable of cross-functional delivery. 

“We’ve also expanded into strategic consulting, brand transformation workshops, and most recently, integrated storytelling formats across digital, audio-visual, and experiential,” he continues. 

The founders view growth as staying in tune with client needs and the evolving cultural landscape.

Crafting culturally relevant campaigns wouldn’t be possible without the people who shape them. Talent remains a key priority for the agency, particularly in an industry marked by frequent attrition. Curry Nation’s hiring process emphasises perspective over portfolios. “We don’t hire for portfolios, we hire for point of view. People who are curious, restless, and hungry to create something that didn’t exist yesterday,” says Nair.

The agency maintains a flat organisational structure where junior team members are given early ownership. Creative reviews are designed to push the work, not reinforce hierarchy. This setup, they say, has shaped a distinct creative voice, one that is human, sharp, and never formulaic.

In terms of business viability, the agency prefers a diversified portfolio of clients over dependence on one large account. “Anchor clients bring stability, but also dependency risk,” notes Pannaswami. 

Its financial structure includes a mix of strategic retainers, short-term creative projects, and consulting engagements, an approach designed to balance creative bandwidth, cash flow, and team energy.

Technology, AI, and the future of creative work

On the topic of artificial intelligence, both founders maintain a balanced view. AI is currently being used internally for research, expanding idea territories, and concept testing, but the team remains cautious about over-reliance.

“AI is a co-pilot, not the captain,” Nair says. While AI may assist with scale and speed, emotional depth and cultural specificity still require human intuition. The challenge ahead, as Pannaswami frames it, is for creative heads to act as “provocateurs and pattern breakers”, identifying blind spots and surfacing ideas that emerge from lived experience rather than trained data.

Looking ahead, Curry Nation aims to formalise its niche positioning further. The founders describe their long-term goal as becoming the go-to agency for commodity brands in India, a segment they believe remains underserved and full of creative opportunity.

To support this vision, the agency plans to scale proprietary tools such as its ‘UNLIMIT Workshop’ and C2B Framework, deepen partnerships with mid-market brands, and benchmark its work against international standards.

In a sector increasingly driven by consolidation and automation, Curry Nation aims to stay independent while still scaling cultural and business relevance. Whether the market will continue to make space for such agencies remains to be seen, but for now, the agency continues to bet on craft and conviction