In a fiercely competitive business Priya Chopra stays ahead of the competition and maintains an impressive client list of international brands

You can usually measure the success of a marketing business by examining the company’s client list. Founded by Montrealer Priya Chopra, 1Milk2Sugars Communications has achieved immense success since the young entrepreneur launched the company in 2012. A partial list of clients includes well known international brands such as: L’Oréal, Pfizer, Nivea, Red Bull, Centrum, Grey Goose, Henkel, Marriott, Sotheby’s Welch’s, Yves Rocher and the ubiquitous SKIP The Dishes. Ernst and Young named Priya as Entrepreneur of the Year.

“Most people read or scan 300 feet of information per day.

Our job is to have our clients stand out and not get lost.”

… Priya Chopra

Priya Chopra

In addition to being an accomplished business leader and highly sought-after communications professional, Priya Chopra is trilingual and a proud mother of three.

Today, 1Milk2Sugars is a thriving public relations and communications agency specializing in influencer marketing, social media and media relations; with offices in Montreal and Toronto. The Toronto office opened in the company’s second year. 1mik2sugars is currently laying the groundwork for a New York City office.  Maintaining an impressive pace of attracting new business, Priya’s company has grown by 200% in just the past two years.

1Milk2Sugars practices their own branding with the same discipline and sense of fun that they bring to their clients. Throughout their website and company vocabulary, the coffee branding is a consistent thread.

“I graduated from Concordia’s John Molson School of Business with a specialty in Marketing. That led to a good opportunity with L’Oréal in their public relations department.” Priya adds; “The Public Relations business is more taxing than when we opened just eight years ago. More is expected or our professionals by our clients – which is actually a compliment. Bigger and longer term contracts require a close relationship between our staff and our clients’ personnel.”

“Our clients appreciate the customized service that we provide. We develop a fresh strategy and action plan based on the client’s objectives.”

The closeness of the client-agency relationship requires a consistent staffing level by Priya’s company, and she recognizes that ‘talent retention’ is an important aspect of her company’s success. “Our people are highly engaged; and we also look for ‘The Sugar Factor’ when hiring. You either have it or you don’t. We’ve learned that having a positive attitude is important to being successful in this business.”

Opening the Toronto office was an important step for the young company.  1Milk2Sugars is one of Montreal’s few boutique agencies to penetrate the national media hub of Toronto. During that same period, Priya helmed the creation of 1Milk2Sugars’ social media division, giving her team first-mover advantage in the now-critical digital space.

The agency has been recognized with numerous industry accolades, including a CPRS Ace Award for outstanding brand development and a PR Daily Award for Best Content Marketing and Brand Journalism. In 2020, the Growth List named 1Milk2Sugars one of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies.

Priya saw a business and social opportunity when she recognized that most brands were under-represented by visible minorities in their commercials, online post and print ads. In 2019, she launched Double Shot, a talent management company that represents visible minorities (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour – BIPOC). “Double Shot is complementary to our other work, and enables us to provide work for the artists on our roster. At the same time, we are bringing an opportunity to our clients to have their brands represented in diverse communities where they were previously under-represented.”

“When hiring, we look for the Sugar Factor,

that special something in a candidate’s personality”

Continuing, Priya adds; “We’re going to take this further with an annual conference on Diversity and Inclusion and arrange internships for qualified people of visible minorities.” Priya notes that the company donates a portion of its net proceeds to charities.

During our conversation, Priya discusses the challenge of information overload and the importance of ‘influencers’. “If you measure the length of online posts, most people read or visually scan 300 feet of information per day. That’s the height of the Empire State Building! By having influencers, marketers can cut through that visual overload. The consumer will be more engaged by a post that comes from someone they admire.” This is s digital version of ‘celebrity endorsements’ in more traditional media. In both cases, it works to the marketer’s advantage.

Priya’s professionalism has been recognized by the Forbes Agency Council, Bloomberg Canada, Ernst & Young and the Chamber of Commerce. She was also awarded the PR In Canada, Women in Communications Award in the “Founders” category for both 2018 and 2020.

For more information about 1Milk2Sugars Communications, please visit: www.1milk2sugars.com