MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Kokuyo Camlin is a pioneer in building quality products that are made in India and loved by millions of artists throughout its history of 90 years. With this, Camlin partnered with design and tech firm Bombay Design Centre to build India’s first art and artist platform with content, creativity & commerce at the core.
The platform is built on bespoke technology architecture and a deep understanding of the needs of the art community; it’s a radically fresh approach to an artist ecosystem and a transformative experience at every level.
Launched just a week ago, the community platform is in beta mode and has already seen a 300% jump in time spent on the platform. In the future, the brand aims to also do offline events for the community, bring in 500-700 education videos, and host the iconic Camel Art Foundation Contest with 50 lakh participants on the platform.
Kokuyo Camlin Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Rishi Kakar said, “Kokuyocamlin.com provides a safe place online where artists can connect with artists; on the brand & product side, for the first time in 9 decades, we are bringing together products from a large range of 1000+ art supplies to one single artist platform. The platform will provide clear and expert information about the products and recommend combinations to help the artists improve their work. Our vision with the platform was to have an artist-first approach and make the sales channel secondary. We are proud to have stayed true to our vision. We brought Bombay Design Centre on board as they were the only partner with deep expertise across strategy, design, brand, and technology, all under one roof. With a single partner executing your entire vision and taking care of photography, content & post-launch product management, it was easy, efficient, and a delight for us to make this mammoth dream happen.”
Commenting on the work, Bombay Design Centre Founder & CEO Ankur Rander said, “As one of the few firms in the country specializing in D2C brand experience design, we saw this as a distinctive opportunity for an artists’ community. Every photo, every word, every interaction, and every nuance of the platform is focused on making it a unique artist-centric experience. The experience is so simple and delightful that even kids love it. The backbone of this platform is technology. An example of it is the content management system that is custom-built in-house. It customizes the experience for each product category while ensuring a lightweight front-end experience. This platform is a foundation to Camlin’s D2C journey and will contribute to their growth for years to come.”
Bombay Design Centre Head of Business Siddhesh Pednekar added, “The platform captures user behavior to understand the customer and customize the experience. Our in-house product management team will continue to analyze and manage this platform to introduce new features and experiences.”
