Why these Indian startups are naming their office spaces after The Beatles and Roger Federer

For startups looking to inspire their employees and foster a strong sense of company culture, room themes and nomenclature can be one way of setting the tone in the workplace.

While the mega-complexes of Apple and Google sit at one end of the workplace spectrum, innovative decor and themes are certainly not the sole province of big business.

Companies large and small can tap into the benefits of savvy nomenclature which is designed to reflect and support the values of a business.

As reported by Quartz, it is a trend many Indian internet companies are taking seriously.

Among these companies is online retailer Flipkart, which describes its office, featuring a large digital map of India projecting a real-time feed of orders being placed across the country, as being “designed to drive innovation”.

At the Flipkart office, there’s a William Shakespeare room, spaces named after Isaac Newton and Andy Warhol, and even an area dedicated to The Beatles.

“The new office building has 11 floors, each with a unique character of its own,” Flipkart stated upon the opening of the office.

“From science to sports and fashion to music, each floor is designed and inspired by human greatness in various fields.”

Myntra, an online retailer owned by Flipkart, has rooms named after fashion designers, including Coco Chanel and Gucci, sporting legends like Roger Federer, and Hollywood stars, including Alfred Hitchcock and Jack Nicholson.

At private aerospace startup Team Indus, space missions prevail, with rooms named after the Voyager and Pathfinder missions, along with inspirational words such as “Aspire” and “Believe”.

“Everyone who works at Team Indus was a space nerd while growing up, so these names keep the magic alive for them,” marketing head Sheelika Ravishankar told Quartz.

“Many a time, when we have visitors, they request to be photographed with the doors carrying these names.”

The benefits of workplace themes may well be multifold, from fostering company culture to attracting new talent.

Suresh Bhagavatula from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, told Quartz, “rituals and routines can play a role in developing an organisational culture by creating narratives within the firm”.

“Some talent may join startups because of these rituals and routines.”

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