Vijay Chattha

Founder / CEO

VSC
San Francisco

“In a pandemic, downturn, and civil rights movement, brands have realized they play a bigger role in society that spans everything from safety to moral compass. It's not just about dollars and cents, it's about leadership and culture evolution in a time when own government institutions often fail to match the moment.”

Vijay Chattha is a pioneer on cultivating strategic and creative approaches to brand building as an investor and marketing partner. He founded VSC, which is focused on "explosive growth companies that do amazing things in almost any vertical" — and has an innovative approach that connects information, like sales data and audience sentiment to make notable impact.

Where is the most urgent need for innovation within the PR/communications industry?
A further evolution from text-based communication to multimedia communication such as digital video.

How would you describe the communications/PR industry's level of innovation compared to other marketing disciplines? Lagging the others

How have the events of 2020 impacted the the industry's innovation? More innovative. In a pandemic, downturn, and civil rights movement, brands have realized they play a bigger role in society that spans everything from safety to moral compass. It's not just about dollars and cents, it's about leadership and culture evolution in a time when own government institutions often fail to match the moment.

Where is the PR industry's greatest opportunity for taking the lead on innovation? Creative ideas

What is the ideal working scenario for innovation? A hybrid approach. We all know that productivity can happen remotely so I hope we continue to see workplace norms stay flexible to account for working parents and the ability to work in more affordable communities.

Has 2020 changed the way you define/approach innovation? How? I don't think it's changed the way we approach innovation but certainly has forced us all to think more creatively and solve more problems coming at us from more parts of society from healthcare to civil rights.

What is the most innovative comms/marketing initiative you've seen this year?
NASCAR removing the confederate flag. Not innovative, but certainly risky and way overdue.

What is the most important lesson you've learned this year? Gratitude. While it's easy to look around and find problems, it's a blessing to collaborate with passionate and intelligent humans...and get paid to do it!

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider innovative.
In 2007 when the iPhone came out, we wanted to drive awareness for a new comms division we created to help app developers generate publicity called AppLaunchPR. As a way to drum up interest, we created our own app called iPot, a marijuana dispensary locator. The Wall Street Journal wrote about it and led to a ton of client inquiries.

Any habit/activity that you have added to your life during Covid-19 that you hope to carry with you when the pandemic subsides? Connecting with old friends using the Houseparty app. I've virtually hung out with more old buddies during Covid than before. A pre-Covid routine was busy with kids' school activities and work events, Now we're all at home and can find time chat without the long goodbyes.

How can the PR industry make real progress in diversity, inclusion and equity? What is the biggest roadblock standing in the way? We need to create more acceleration programs all the way down to high-school and into college to build larger pools of talent and then give these students paid work experience. We need to bring hundreds of thousands of talented young minds into our industry at earlier stages than previously thought.

What are you thinking about most these days?
How to unify a country that been torn about my politics and race.

Bold prediction for 2021
Live music concerts come back at record levels. The next Woodstock or Burning Man is formed for a post-COVID era.