Beyond The Creative Brief

By: Ven Krishna Moorthy, FOUNDER & CHIEF BRAND OFFICER, ELEGANS

For Ven Krishnamoorthy, creativity began not with a sketchbook, a design brief or a marketing campaign, but with watching his father communicate. As a child, Krish- namoorthy was struck by his father’s ability to articulate complex or difficult ideas simply and diplomatically. The experience left him with an enduring curiosity—not just about what people communicate, but about how they communicate it. That distinction would eventually become central to his professional journey. Today, as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Elegans, Krishnamoorthy views creativity as something far broader than artistic expression. For him, it is the ability to make an idea noticed, understood or felt differently. It is a philosophy that sits at the heart of Elegans, the creative business he founded in 2014 and which has since evolved from a personal-branding venture into a broader busi- ness and corporate branding firm.

An avid watch enthusiast, Krishnamoorthy finds another expres- sion of creativity in watchmaking. “At its most fundamental level, every watch tells time. Yet craftsmanship, heritage, design and storytelling can create vastly different perceptions of value,” he observes. For him, it illustrates how creativity and brand equity influence not just what people value beyond a product’s functional- ity. His own understanding of creativity evolved while building El- egans — from focusing on creative deliverables to understanding the commercial outcomes they create. “Creativity that doesn’t create or capture value has only done half the job,” he says. Today, he believes the role of a creative business is to understand a client’s ambitions and translate them into meaningful business outcomes.

The journey to Elegans was itself an unexpected one. Krish- namoorthy’s academic background is in engineering, with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the discipline. He subsequently spent the early part of his career in the corporate world. The seed for what would eventually become Elegans was planted during a corporate meeting in Milan. While there, he overheard a conversa- tion about appraisals, promotions and the corporate bell curve. The discussion prompted a question that stayed with him: in an organisation full of capable people, why do some people’s contri- butions become more visible than others? Was doing good work enough? Or did the ability to understand and communicate one’s value matter too? That question pushed him towards marketing, branding and communication. He pursued training and certifica- tions, read extensively and built practical experience in the field. In 2014, Elegans was born, initially focused on personal branding. The proposition was straightforward: help individuals understand what makes them distinctive and communicate that more effectively. But entrepreneurs and founders soon began asking Krishnamoorthy whether the same thinking could be applied to their businesses. That demand gradually moved Elegans into business and corporate branding, bringing more talent into the organisation and shaping its current model.

Elegans today operates as a business in both India and the UK, reflecting Krishnamoorthy’s own long association with both mar- kets. The firm has worked with clients across six countries and is increasingly interested in helping businesses navigate movement between markets—whether Indian companies looking outward or international companies looking towards India. That cross-border experience has reinforced one of Krishnamoorthy’s beliefs: brands cannot simply be transplanted from one market to another. The next stage of the journey could take Elegans deeper into international markets, with the GCC among the regions it is exploring and Dubai a potential base.