Branding + Design Agency
Artfully designed with a rich, colorful interface and modern online shopping experience for Indian consumers
LOS ANGELES, CA—April 4, 2012—Fahrenheit Studio, a new media branding and design firm, has announced its completion and launch of Indian home goods Web site Zansaar, a new venture funded by Accel Partners and Tiger Capital. Although U.S. firms have long outsourced to India for Web design and development, the home décor retailer’s partnership with the Los Angeles design studio may indicate a future reversal of that trend.
The Fahrenheit Studio team built the Zansaar brand and site from the ground up, designing the shopping experience to be modern and distinctively Indian. The result is a vivid and engaging ecommerce site that is visually rich with color and texture yet maintains a clean, contemporary look and functionality.
‘Zansaar’ is a play on the Hindi word ‘sansaar,’ meaning ‘the world,’ and Zansaar.com lives up to its name. The site design creates a high-end, high-energy brand image while showcasing home goods from India, South Asia and around the globe. Easy-to-use search and sort interfaces allow shoppers to order items including kitchen basics, holiday linens and hard-to-find foodstuffs.
As the Indian economy has rapidly expanded, so has the population’s desire for online shopping venues. Zansaar founders Jawad Ayaz and Vinod Chandran knew they needed a strong brand strategy to take advantage of this growing demand. Despite hailing from a country known for Web and software development, the entrepreneurs believed only a U.S. company could provide the in-depth branding knowledge they needed. Their plan was to launch an Indian Web site on par with the likes of CrateandBarrel.com, and they tapped Fahrenheit Studio for the project.
“India has such an incredibly vibrant culture, but its retail Web sites are often drab and colorless,” said Robert Weitz, Fahrenheit Studio’s co-director. “The Indian Web is still in its infancy, and many Web sites lack cohesive branding and don’t stand out from the crowd. We created an artfully designed site that would appeal to any western audience, but we also gave it a very authentically Indian brand identity. Our goal was to bring the real India to India online.”
As Indian consumers become more sophisticated, Indian companies may increasingly look to U.S. branding and marketing firms for help creating compelling brands—and Zansaar and Fahrenheit Studio are excited to lead the pack.
About Fahrenheit Studio
Fahrenheit Studio is a Los Angeles-based new media design firm founded in 1995 by Robert Weitz and Dylan Tran. The firm specializes in creating living brands for businesses and celebrities. Fahrenheit built its reputation designing high-concept Web sites for music industry clients, including Virgin Records, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, The Rolling Stones and Ben Harper. For more information visit: www.fahrenheit.com.
"It’s impossible to imagine how we could have arrived where we are today without Fahrenheit Studio’s tremendous partnership. They helped create our brand name and identity, oversaw our successful RIA launch, and stayed on as our marketing partners. They’ve been with us every step of the way as we’ve grown our firm’s AUM. We feel extremely fortunate to have them and look forward to many more years of accomplishments!"
—Justin Setzekorn, CFP®, Partner/Wealth Advisor, Octavia Wealth Advisors
"We were lucky enough to hire Bob, Dylan, and the Fahrenheit team as we prepared to transition our business in 2022. There are many unknowns when you hire outsourced teams, and integration can be challenging. Fahrenheit never felt “outsourced” or acted as anyone other than a member of our team. From the very first conversation, they were not only listening, but really hearing and integrating our passion for our clients, purpose and mission into every facet of our brand. As my partner recently reminded me—they took both of our thoughts, perspectives and ideas and created a new voice—one that we could have never identified on our own. If you’re looking for true creative partners, you’ve found them."
—Megan Scott, Chief Vision Officer/Partner, Beacon Bridge Wealth Partners
"After 50 years in business, our brand was fragmented, our RFP process was disorganized and inconsistent, and our website didn't reflect the creativity and innovation we're known for. Fahrenheit Studio helped us rethink our messaging and streamline our RFP/RFQ response materials, which has saved us a lot of time and money. They also redesigned our website from the ground up, creating a powerful, modern online presence with vibrant, fast-loading images, a sophisticated sorting function, and a unique feature called ‘playlists’ that lets us curate articles, projects, and videos by topic and share them with prospects and clients. Since we started working with Fahrenheit, we’ve jumped from #34 to #26 on the Architectural Record list of top architecture firms. The results really speak for themselves."
—Ron Leland, Integrated Communications Director, LPA Inc.
"When we decided to go independent and form Opal Wealth Advisors, we wanted a brand that would come alive—and that our current clients would relate to. Fahrenheit Studio had tremendous expertise in our field, yet made us feel as if we were the only firm in existence. They provided us with a brand that is distinct from all others. We literally started with nothing and they built out every aspect of our new brand. Fahrenheit not only brought our vision to life, they helped us transition 90% of our former AUM. We would recommend them to anyone seeking to create and communicate a unique brand vision that really connects with its audience."
—Jesse Giordano, Financial Advisor/Principal, Opal Wealth Advisors
"We found Fahrenheit when we were deciding to break away and start our own independent RIA firm. We attended a seminar where one of their website designs was held up as an example of how to do branding right. And they certainly proved to us what a truly talented firm can accomplish. In addition to a new logo, website and marketing materials, they also developed our content and managed our entire social media presence. I would highly recommend Fahrenheit to any organization looking for a responsive team that can deliver stunning results."
—Robert W. Faulkner, Financial Advisor, Principal & CFO, WealthBridge Capital Management
"Our company was growing rapidly and competing with significantly larger firms, but our image was out of date. It didn't reflect our capabilities or the quality of our services. Fahrenheit really listened to us to make sure they understood our wants and needs. Then they helped us completely revamp our brand into something that truly conveyed who we are. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. They were wonderful to work with."
—Scott Kays, CFA®, CFP®, Managing Partner, Kays Financial Advisory Corporation
"We first approached Fahrenheit a year ago, following a period of rapid growth and change, including the acquisition of another company. We recognized that we needed to build strong internal and external brand awareness. Fahrenheit took the time to get to know our business, our employees and our customers. They helped us develop a unified brand message, an exciting new visual identity, and a clear strategy for moving forward. The rebrand has been a huge success across the board—from employees to customers. It's revived our image as a fun, innovative, and user-friendly company. The message we're sending finally matches the way we see ourselves."
—Matt McLellan, President, Evisions, Inc.
"Fahrenheit Studio helped with our investment firm’s brand message and website. They were recommended to us by a friend who noticed our struggles in finding the right marketing agency. We knew we had been steered in the right direction from the first meeting. Fahrenheit was able to quickly fulfill our marketing needs, bringing strong design with compelling and unique content. They were always responsive and frequently went above and beyond what we had asked. We would strongly recommend Fahrenheit in the future."
—Jason Scott, Chief Operating Officer, L&S Advisors
"We turned to Fahrenheit Studio for a modern rebrand of our platform, and to better engage with our user base. Fahrenheit really took the time to understand our managed futures business and what users needed from the services we provided. It was a very thoughtful process to build a lasting brand and user experience, and best of all they did it within our budget. The entire Fahrenheit team was courteous, conscientious, and very enjoyable to work with."
—JonPaul Jonkheer, Executive Vice President, IASG, Inc.
"Fahrenheit's design transformed us from a financial firm into a global brand. We look bigger and work better. Our new web presence now helps drive the other aspects of our business, making our customer interaction more efficient and effective. Importantly, when people reach us, we have more clout."
—JJ Burns, CEO, JJ Burns & Company
"Fahrenheit Studio has really come through for Virgin Records. They consistently hit their deadlines while managing to deliver extremely high-quality, gorgeous artist websites within budget. Bringing Fahrenheit into our online branding process has met with acclaim from both the artists, managers and executive staff at EMI."
—Jesse Kanner, Director of New Media, Virgin Records
"Fahrenheit Studio helped us to formulate a strategy and execute it from soup to nuts. The results were stunning: We grew from $2 billion to $5 billion AUM; newsletter grew from 20,000 to 80,000 readers. We also launched a campaign that brought in 300 accredited investor leads in the first few hours, resulting in more than $35 million in new business."
—Patrick O'Connor, Marketing Director, Navellier & Associates
"Fahrenheit Studio is a pleasure to work with and they have delivered outstanding results for our e-commerce property Zansaar.com. The entire project from concept to delivery was co-ordinated between India and LA and executed flawlessly without a single face to face meeting."
—Jawad Ayaz, CEO, Zansaar.com
"Fahrenheit Studio came up with a complete branding and communications strategy that has helped me expand my online presence, update my image, and connect with my readers in better ways. They did everything from designing the Mauldin logo and building the website to revamping my newsletters. I encourage you to contact them and see what they can do for you."
—John Mauldin, President, Mauldin Companies
"Fahrenheit Studio knows what it takes to build a brand, and helped us achieve remarkable brand equity for Lessonlab in less than 5 years. They did this by constantly working to align our look and feel with our mission. I know of no other design team that can work effectively on such a diversity of projects."
—James Stigler, CEO, Lessonlab, Inc.
"The Fahrenheit team is one of the true treasures of the design world. Their expertise goes well beyond any ordinary firm. With a wide range of skills and expertise they can help their clients with both conceptual and business concepts. From design, to websites, marketing, branding, one would be hard pressed to find one company that would have such a wide range of both skills and talents."
—Eric Garcia, Owner, 48 Windows Music & Mix
"Fahrenheit Studio has invigorated our brand, created an interactive online community, significantly improved the return on investment of our SEO marketing budget, created a qualified lead generation engine to drive our sales efforts, and provided tremendous enhancements to our client retention management."
—Gabriel F. Burczyk, CEO, WrapManager, Inc.