Pitch August Issue - Top 50 Brands 2019 by Adsert Web Solutions

` 100

Volume 13 | Issue 07 | August 2019

TOP 50 BRANDS

2019

FEATURE

Cause The Marketing

BRAND CONNECT

An AD Icon- The Amul Girl

INTERVIEW

Gareth Flood Shell Lubricants India

#PitchCMO

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For Partnerships, Please Contact: Runa Sinha (Chief Revenue Officer): +91 9810497903 | runa.sinha@exchange4media.com Ashish Kudalkar (GM West-Sales & BD): +91 9820541742 | ashish.kudalkar@exchange4media.com Sneha Walke (VP Special Projects & South Head): +91 9845541143 | sneha@exchange4media.com Ashima Mehra (Regional Manager - Sales): +91 9899571579 | ashima.mehra@exchange4media.com COMMUNITY PARTNER

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COVER STORY

AUGUST 2019

PITCH’S TOP 50 BRANDS 2019 Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Annurag Batra Director Amit Agnihotri Director Nawal Ahuja EDITORIAL TEAM

Correspondents Anam Khan Sanstuti Nath Contributor Simran Sabherwal DESIGN TEAM

Art Director

Shivaji Sengupta

Senior Graphic Designer

Joby Mathew

Photographers Ashish Chawla (Mumbai) Suresh Gola (Noida) Cover Design

Shivaji Sengupta

AD SALES Runa Sinha (National Business Head) runa.sinha@exchange4media.com - 9810497903

CELEBRATING INDIA’S

TOP BRANDS To celebrate brands and their marketing initiatives, Pitch unveils the exchange4media Pitch Top 50 Brands 2019, to recognize the achievements of the top five brands across 10 categories

Sneha Walke (VP Special Projects & South Head) sneha@exchange4media.com - 9845541143 Ashish Kudalkar (Regional Manager West - Sales & Business Development) ashish.kudalkar@exchange4media.com - 9820541742

0FFICES

NEW DELHI: B-47, Ground Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi -110 024

FEATURE

INDIA CEMENTS ADDRESSES DEPLETING GROUNDWATER ISSUE WITH ‘COROMANDEL CARES’ CAMPAIGN

NOIDA: B-20, I-Floor, Sector-57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Phone: (0120) 4007700 Mumbai: 301, Kakad Bhavan, 3rd Floor, 11th Street, Bandra (W), Mumbai - 400 050 Phone: (022) 2640 3303/09/14/16 Bengaluru: # 18, 3rd B Cross, Domlur II Stage, Bangalore 560071 CIRCULATION/DISTRIBUTION

Vinod Sharma (Delhi) - 9999447209 vinod@exchange4media.com Anandan Nair (Mumbai) - 9819445200 anair@exchange4media.com On News-stands ` 100/www.pitchonnet.com Printed and published by Annurag Batra on behalf of Adsert Web Solutions Pvt Ltd B-20, I-Floor, Sector-57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301 Printed at All Time Offset Printers, F-406, Sector-63 Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201 307 An exchange4media Publication

4 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

As part of the initiative, the company will reach out to individuals building independent homes and provide them seed balls for growing trees in their new homes INTERVIEW

OUR PRODUCT

IS THE HERO

Rahul Agarwal, CEO, Organic Harvest

FEATURE

MARKETING THE CAUSE

Socially conscious consumers are increasingly looking to associate with brands that show a commitment towards a social cause they believe in and reflect their beliefs. We explore how cause-related marketing campaigns help in building the brand trust and reinforcing the brand story.

FEATURE

BRAND CONNECT

AN AD ICON:

THE AMUL GIRL

The Amul girl is one of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest running ad campaigns, probably the only ad campaign in the country with an unchanged theme and style since it was first unveiled.

URBANCLAP:

BUILDING A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Raghav Chandra, Co-Founder, UrbanClap tells us how the company caused a disruption in the marketplace, providing a seamless experience to its customers, creating micro-entrepreneurs and more.

GUEST COLUMN

A FUTURE OUTLOOK OF MARKETING IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY VARUNJHA,

INTERVIEW

REVVING UP ON GROWTH Gareth Flood,

Head of Marketing, Shell Lubricants India

CMO AND HEAD OF DEMAND BUSINESS ZOOMCAR

ACROSS THE GLOBE

GADGETS

APP STORE RAPIDFIRE

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 5

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

CELEBRATING INDIA’S TOP BRANDS T

DR. ANNURAG BATRA Chairman & Editor-in-Chief abatra@exchange4media.com @anuragbatrayo www.facebook.com/anuragbatrayo

6 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

he digital revolution in the last two decades has led to a sea change in the way consumers and brands interact, with communication between the two no longer being a one-way street. These changes have led to brands seeking to standout and communicate to consumers in a cluttered environment across multiple platforms. In this process, some brands succeed to stand out in the clutter. Celebrating these brands and their marketing initiatives, Pitch unveils its annual list, the Pitch Top 50 Brands 2019, to recognize the achievements of the top five brands across 10 categories. In our cover story, brands tell us what differentiates them from the rest and how they have managed to strike a chord with the Indian consumer. Speaking of brands, one brand that is loved by generations of Indians is Amul so much so that Amul’s mascot – the Amul moppet, is probably one of the most recognised brand images in India. While Amul is a cooperative at its core, the company has diversified from just milk to a variety including chocolates, ice-cream, mithai and even lactose free milk. RS Sodhi, Managing Director at GCMMF (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) Ltd, talks to us about Amul’s recent entry into the juice segment and explains why the company focuses on the Indian palate and flavour profile. While the Indian auto industry has hit a bump in the road, lubricant supplier Shell Lubricants is confident of growth. Gareth Flood, Head of Marketing, Shell Lubricants India, tells us why India is such an important market for the company, its tie up with motorcycle major, Honda, targeting not just the B2B consumer but also the end consumer. Also in the issue, organic personal care brand Organic Harvest has made it its mission to educate consumers on the benefits of going organic. Organic Harvest is currently available in 6,000 outlets and plans to increase the presence to 15,000 outlets in India within one year. And, it’s not just India as the company has now set its sights on the international market as well. Rahul Agarwal, CEO, Organic Harvest tells us more. Identifying a need-gap in the home services segment, launching a start-up and then changing the consumer behaviour is not an easy task. And that’s what UrbanClap did when it changed the way people shopped for home services online. The company revolutionised this segment and today, booking for services - such as beauty and spa treatment, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance repair, painting etc – takes just a couple of minutes on your mobile phone. Raghav Chandra, Co-Founder, UrbanClap tells us how the company caused a disruption in the marketplace, providing a seamless experience to its customers, creating microentrepreneurs and more Though the water crisis in Chennai has captured national attention, a recent report by The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas says that India is in the list of “extremely high” water-stressed countries. Addressing this issue is India Cements that has launched the ‘Coromandel Cares’ campaign drawing attention to the depleting groundwater issue. As part of the initiative, the company will reach out to individuals building independent homes and provide them seed balls for growing trees in their new homes. Rakesh Singh, Executive President, The India Cements Ltd, tells us more

T W I T T E R AT I

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 7

ACROSS THE GLOBE

GLOBAL MARKETING NEWS Uber appoints Thomas Ranese as VP Global Marketing

ber has named Thomas Ranese as Vice-President of Global Marketing, as per media reports. Ranese, currently Vice President, Global Hardware Marketing at Google, will reportedly join Uber next month. He will be responsible for marketing the company’s products and businesses internationally, heading its brand, creative, research and regional marketing teams. At Uber, Ranese will report into Jill Hazelbaker, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs. The hire is part of Uber’s overhaul of its marketing department, after July’s mass layoffs. Uber laid off a third of its marketing staff, close to 400

employees, globally from its marketing team, in July. This move comes on the back of concerns about slowing growth, even as the taxi- haling company looked to cut costs and streamline operations two months after its initial public offering. The layoffs come a month after Uber’s chief marketing officer Rebecca Messina stepped down. The company had combined its marketing, public relations and policy teams under senior vice president of communications and public policy Jill Hazelbaker. Media reports have said that about 5% employees in India have been affected, while globally the layoffs will reduce Uber’s headcount by 1.6%.

Coca-Cola India & South West Asia announces leadership changes

oca-Cola India & South West Asia announced changes to its leadership team. The new structure is designed to enable the India & South West Asia business to be a growth engine for the Coca-Cola Company. To lead this change, Sarvita Sethi has taken over as Vice-President – M&A and New Ventures from her earlier role of Vice President Finance India & South West Asia. Sethi will also continue to lead the M&A priorities for our business in India & South West Asia. In addition, Harsh Bhutani has been appointed as Vice President – Finance (CFO), Coca-Cola India & South West Asia. In his previous role, Bhutani headed the Finance and Business Services verticals for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. as Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer for over three years.

Taco Bell Chief Brand Officer Marisa Thalberg steps down

fter four years with Taco Bell as global chief brand officer, Marisa Thalberg has stepped down from the company marketing responsibilities. She now moves to the parent company Yum Brands as its strategic advisor. The American chain of fast food restaurants is not looking at a CMO to replace her; Thalberg’s work will be divided between Melissa Friebe, SVP of marketing, and Tracee Larocca, SVP of advertising and brand engagement.

8 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

JioSaavn partners with artists to launch ‘Made By’ campaign

HSBC CEO Flint steps down, Noel Quinn is interim CEO

igital music and audio streaming service JioSaavn has launched ‘Made By’, its latest cross-channel marketing campaign. The platform has engaged top global and Indian artists - from The Chainsmokers to Bhuvan Bam-to introduce hyperpersonalization into a new brand marketing initiative. As part of the ‘Made By’ campaign, leading musicians have curated personalised playlists in JioSaavn. With an artist-curated playlist scheduled to launch every week, the platform aims to form a deeper connection between artists and their fans, while enabling listeners to discover new music. JioSaavn is maximizing

the reach of the “Made By” brand campaign through crosschannel linkages, including in-app programming, house ads, Google Ads, and a Facebook collaboration. YouTube videos have already launched featuring artist-curators, along with artist trivia posts, Instagram Story ads, and Twitter amplification. The platform has conducted a Facebook Live video with rapper Badshah and deployed ‘Listen Now’ ads across all top digital channels.

Oppo revamps Global Marketing unit, appoints presidents of Global Sales and Global Marketing.

n a sudden turn of events, British multinational banking and financial services holding company HSBC Holdings Plc announced that John Flint had stepped down as its chief executive after just 18 months in office. The bank stated that the change in the leadership was to address a “challenging global environment”. Flint will be replaced on an interim basis by Noel Quinn, head of global commercial banking. HSBC will also cut around 2% of its workforce - or around 4,000 jobs this year as it seeks to reduce costs.

John Flint

GroupM appoints News Corp’s former MD as Chief Technology and Transformation Officer

Alen Wu

ppo, the Chinese smartphone, maker has revamped its marketing team. The handset maker promoted Alen Wu as the vice president and president of global sales, and Brian Shen as the new vice president and president of global marketing. Both Wu and Shen have been tasked to lead the newly added global sales and

Brian Shen

global marketing business units to drive the company’s development in global markets and better serve the consumers. They will both report to Tony Chen, CEO, Oppo. Wu previously held the position of vice president and president of international relations, while Shen was vice president and president of Mainland China Business.

ameron King, the former News Corp MD of digital revenue has been hired by GroupM for the newly Cameron King created role of Chief Technology and Transformation Officer. King will lead the organization’s proprietary technology businesses Finecast, Xaxis and Plista, various data platforms, along with GroupM’s strategy on technology, digital and data with functional oversight. He will also provide consultancy services on business optimization activities, digital transformation and organizational change management, to the client.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 9

INTERVIEW

OUR PRODUCT

IS THE HERO

Organic has become the buzzword, particularly for the health conscious consumers. However, the knowledge about organic products is still limited to a certain segment and organic personal care brand Organic Harvest has made it its mission to educate consumers on the benefits of going organic. Organic Harvest is currently available in 6,000 outlets and plans to increase the presence to 15,000 outlets in India within one year. And, it’s not just India as the company has now set its sights on the international market as well. Rahul Agarwal, CEO, Organic Harvest tells us more.

By Sanstuti Nath What’s your business model? How do you market your product? When we started Organic Harvest six years back, the idea of organic was new for Indian consumers. For them, everything was ‘Green’ and that included herbal, natural, organic, ayurvedic, etc. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the green products, as our products were way ahead of the available products. We first started with one-onone interactions with consumers. We placed our beauty advisors in stores with high footfall, who would explain to the consumer about the difference between organic and the other green products and then introduce Organic Harvest to them. Then gradually, we took the route of online media and used influencers, bloggers, other digital marketing tools, social media, etc. to inform consumers about all things organic.

Some of the players are using celebrities as brand endorsers to make their presence felt. Do you plan to do the same in near future? I do not see that happening any time soon. We, at Organic Harvest, believe that our product is the hero. It is true that having a celebrity face brings in a lot of recognition, but we believe that somehow it also dilutes the concept. We want the product or the concept to do all the talking. We will continue using social media and digital marketing tools to promote our product, rather than bring in a celebrity. We do a lot of innovative marketing as well, especially when it comes to engaging one-on-one with consumers.

What’s your take on influencer marketing? We believe that influencer marketing is the current trend. Millennials believe in influencers more than in mainstream celebrities as influencers are approachable to the audience, and therefore more believable. We

10 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

believe that social media and influencer marketing really works well for a brand like ours, which have lots of things to talk about.

What is your media mix like? Our vision is to be a ‘digital first’ brand. When we say digital first, it means that all our communication to the consumer is first focussed on the digital medium first, and then the traditional medium. Within digital, we use multiple platforms, like social media, influencers, affiliates, artificial intelligence, and other digital marketing automation tools. Currently, we are in the process of developing an app, which will read the customer’s face and identify the problems with their skin. The app will then suggest products that are suitable for the customer. This AI tool will help us increase our consumer interactions from two million to 20 million. Besides, the app and the facial recognition tool, we have also invested in a chatbot. We offer free beauty consultancy to all our consumers. At the moment, it is done manually but we plan to automate it. Anyone who wants a beauty consultation can just come to our website and chat with the bot.

The Indian market is cluttered with organic beauty products. What differentiates your brand? The real differentiator for organic

IT IS TRUE THAT HAVING A

CELEBRITY FACE BRINGS IN A LOT OF RECOGNITION, BUT WE BELIEVE THAT SOMEHOW IT ALSO DILUTES THE

CONCEPT

products is the certification. The other green products, like herbal, natural, or ayurvedic, don’t have any certification per se. There is always an iota of doubt whether these products actually use any herbal or natural extract. However, to call a product organic, you need to have a certification. Globally, there are three renowned organizations Ecocert, OneCert and Nutriorg - that certify organic products. All our products are certified by Ecocert, which is the largest organisation of its kind in the world that certifies more than 50% of all organic products. Our certification is the biggest differentiator. The process of getting a certification is very rigorous and every step of the manufacturing process is audited as per Ecocert guidelines, including procurement, raw material, packing material, factory, storage, and warehouse.

Organic Harvest is a big proponent of sustainable marketing. Can you tell us more about this? The concept of organic is directly related to sustainability. We don’t use any harsh chemicals, or pesticides in the cultivation of the plants from which extract our products. Our marketing campaign #FixWithSix is an effort in the sustainable direction. Marketing is also a sustained effort as we need to keep communicating our message to the consumer on a continuous and sustained basis. Looking ahead, we will continue to do the same as brand recall remains high only when the consumer is engaged continuously. These days the consumer is bombarded with so much content but their attention span has become very short. As a brand you need to make your presence felt and marketing has to be a sustained effort.

What are your expansion plans? We have already established ourselves in Nepal, UAE, including Dubai. In the next three months, we are expanding to Qatar and Saudi Arabia and eventually we aim to cover the entire Middle East. At the moment, we send our products to United States through a third party collaborator. Soon, we plan to do it on our own through e-commerce platforms such as

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 11

TECHNOLOGY INTERVIEW

Amazon and eBay. Once we establish ourselves on the digital platform, in terms of sales, then we will look into physical retail.

How does being in a market like Dubai, which is a popular tourist destination, help your brand tap other potential markets? Being present in a market, like Dubai, opens a lot of opportunities for us, especially to the African market and some of the European countries. Staying alive in a showcase market, like Dubai, is a conscious decision that we have taken. It is a cost exorbitant market but it definitely helps us as it opens up the other markets. The European market would fall in the last leg of our expansion. We plan to first capture Middle East, then Africa and US simultaneously, and then the European and Southeast Asian countries.

How much do you spend on marketing and how much are you planning to spend in the next one year? Currently we spend Rs 15 -18 crore a year on marketing; this number includes the expenditure on manual marketing as well. This year, we plan to increase our

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marketing budget to Rs 25 - 30 crore. Marketing is the only way to capture consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share of mind and establish our brand. We want consumers to think about Organic Harvest as their first choice when they think about organic personal care products.

What is your target audience? The top six metros and the Tier I cities are our target markets. Himalaya Herbal Healthcare took the concept of herbal to the masses and we want to do the same in the organic space. Currently, we are not planning to target the masses immediately. We want to remain in the middle of a pyramid, for some time, and target the substantial masses. We believe that if we are able to cater to the top six metros and the Tier I cities we will be to sustain ourselves. Then, as we move along and the awareness about organic increases, we will expand our market accordingly. We are aware that it will take some time. We are ready to

WE WANT

CONSUMERS TO THINK ABOUT ORGANIC HARVEST AS THEIR FIRST CHOICE WHEN THEY THINK ABOUT ORGANIC

PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS.

take it slow as long we continue to grow. In the first year of our operations, we reached out to only 100,000 consumers, today, we reach out to more than 2 million consumers. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the way we have progressed and in the next three years, we want to reach out to more than 10 million consumers. As we engage with more consumers, we will automatically start catering to even the rural markets as well. Not immediately, but in the next 10-15 years it definitely will.

The global organic personal care market is expected to grow in next five years. How are you planning to make the best of this booming market space? As a company Organic Harvest is in a very sweet spot. Currently, we are the largest organic personal care company in India, and we want to become the largest in the world. We have reached a stage where we have sufficient reach in terms of distribution, as well as consumers. The journey has just started. The time has come for us to actively communicate with the consumers, which we have not done till now. You will see a lot of activities, happening in the near future, from our side. We have set the platform in the last six years, we have engaged with at least 2 million consumers and explained to them the real benefit of organic and what differentiates organic from the rest. Now, this number will increase ten times, and in a very short span of time.

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GADGETS

WONDERS OF GADGETS SAMSUNG LAUNCHES GALAXY A80 IN INDIA WITH ROTATING TRIPE CAMERA AND 8GB RAM

SONY UNVEILS MASTER A9G 4K HDR OLED TV SERIES IN INDIA

amsung India refreshed its Galaxy A series with Galaxy A80 with the world’s first rotating triple camera, priced at Rs 47,990. The Galaxy A80 has a 3,700 mAh battery and features Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Octa-Core chipset, which is the Snapdragon 730 processor tuned towards gaming. The smartphone also comes with Samsung Pay. Galaxy A80 has the world’s first rotating triple camera with 48 Megapixels. It allows quality images and videos to be captured on both front and rear cameras. The device comes with the company’s new 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED “Infinity Display”. Coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard memory, it runs Samsung’s own One UI interface on top of Android Pie OS.

ony India launched its flagship smart TV under the Master Series in India. The Master Series A9G 4K HDR OLED TV is available in two screen sizes – 55-inch and 65-inch, priced at Rs 2,69,990 and Rs 3,69,990, respectively. The Master Series is the name given for TVs that deliver the best possible features and performance that Sony can deliver. The TV in Master series offers colour, contrast, and clarity on the same level as a professional-grade monitor. It also uses Sony’s Picture Processor X1 Ultimate and Pixel Contrast Booster for superior picture quality. Other features include HDR support, Dolby Vision support and even a Netflix calibrated mode made especially for Netflix Originals content. For sound, the TV comes with the latest Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology which uses the screen for sound output. Sony also launched the A8G series of Bravia OLED TVs which comes in 55-inch priced at Rs 2,19,900 and 65-inch panel size, priced at Rs 3,19,900, with 4k and HDR. There is acoustic surface audio, Android TV with Google Assistant, voice control, Bluetooth and WiFI connectivity. However, the A8G uses the X1 Extreme picture processor and not X1 Ultimate.

CLAW BRINGS IN SM100 PROFESSIONAL CLOSED BACK STUDIO MONITORING & DL HEADPHONES

onsumer Lifestyle Accessories Worldwide (CLAW) company has launched its SM100 Professional ClosedBack Studio Monitoring & DJ Headphones in India. Priced at Rs 6490, the headphones will have a limited period launch price of Rs 5490 on Amazon. The CLAW SM100 has been constructed for professionals and consumers alike who demand for crisp and accurate sound quality from their headphones. The company claims that the headphone’s design offers comfort to users during long sessions in the studio or while travelling. The headphone structure is designed to maximize portability and ease of use, allowing for one ear monitoring when at the studio or during an event. The headphones come with a 3-meter cable along with a 1.2-meter cable equipped with a microphone and in-line controls. Along with the 3 meter cable; it includes a 1.2 meter cable with a microphone and in-line controls.

14 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

TORETO LAUNCHES SPEAKER WITH ABSOLUTE PROTECTION AGAINST WATER & SHOCK

oreto launched the new line Bluetooth speaker called Boom, in India. Boom comes with IPX5 protection against water and shock. This will let the users enjoy music near pool or in rain. It also supports AUX, TF Card, FM and USB connectivity. The speakers offer close to five

LENOVO UNVEILS NEW YOGA S940, A940 PC SERIES IN INDIA

enovo has brought in another addition to its Yoga series with S940 ultrathin laptop. S940 series is world’s first laptop with Contour Glass for more screen space in a smaller form factor. The glass wraps around its bezels compliments the streamlined design. Lenovo has also incorporated Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithmbased smart features in the new series. It is capable of automatically filter out most

ambient noise and blur out distracting backgrounds during video calls. The flagship Yoga S940 is available at the starting price of Rs 139,990. Lenovo’s new all-in-one PCYoga A940 is tailor-made for content creators and professional architects and engineers. The Windows 10-powered Yoga A940 flaunts a large 27-inch QHD IPS touchscreen display with Dolby Vision. It features a rotating hinge that enables the display to tilt to a comfortable 25-degree drafting mode, for flexibility and stability when drawing, sketching or annotating with a digital pen. The Yoga A940 all-in-one desktop is available at a starting price of Rs 169,990.

PORTRONICS FREEDOM 4: POWER BANK, CLOCK AND LED LAMP, ALL IN ONE

ortronics has launched a multi-functional power bank called Freedom 4, a smart wireless mobile charger that comes with an alarm clock and an LED lamp. The power bank comes with both wired and wireless charging options. For wireless charging power bank is equipped with the Qi Charging option with a maximum distance of up to 8mm and charging efficiency of 73%. For wired charging Type C USB cable can be used. Priced at Rs 2,999, the Freedom 4 claims to feature a rugged body made out of high-quality ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) plastic that guarantees safety from current surge, overvoltage spikes and over-heating. The device is also

hours of playtime with 1,500mAh battery capacity. Bluetooth 5.0 powered speakers have an operational distance of 10 meters and costs Rs 799.

equipped with the LED display, with a multi-functional button that also shows time. Users can also set alarm. The LED display can also act as a night lamp for children in the room.

OPPO TO LAUNCH NEXT RENO FIRST IN INDIA

fter the launch of Reno and Reno 10X, Chinese smartphone giant, Oppo is ready to launch its new phone in the Reno Series. India will be the first market to receive the upcoming addition in Reno Series. As per media reports, the phone will be priced in the range around Rs 35,000 – Rs 40,000. This is the first time that Oppo has launched a product first in India and this is seen as another step towards tech giant’s ‘India-First’ commitment. In other news, Oppo has announced that the Phase I of its manufacturing unit in Greater Noida is complete. The new facility is expected to double the manufacturing capacity of smartphones by 2020. According to Sumit Walia, VP, Product and Marketing, Oppo,”With the increased production and future export plans, we aim to achieve our dream of making India a global export hub for smartphone phones.” Oppo has also set up it’s largest R&D facility outside China in Hyderabad.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 15

TECH

CONVERSATIONAL AI: AUTOMATING MARKETING ENGAGEMENT

he rise in digitization globally has been aided by the increased penetration of smartphones that now proliferate the international market. The number of global internet users has already crossed the four billion mark and is growing at a rate of 7% (YoY). This ongoing development is creating unprecedented market opportunities for businesses, wherein businesses can easily visualize target customers, their end-to-end demands, and then approach them using the most optimal strategy and marketing channel. This enables them to cost-effectively reach out to their customers and aptly serve them. This is an area where Conversational AI is bringing about a massive difference, especially following the global adoption of social media. The global market size of Conversational AI is expected to reach $15.7 billion in a span of five years, as compared to $4.2 billion, as of 2019, as per a report by MarketsandMarkets. So, let’s have a look at the ripening Conversational AI market and how it can change the game of marketing engagement altogether. Conversational AI: Mastering the ‘Art’ of Conversation, and the Science behind it Conversational AI is an approach in which we use AIpowered solutions to, directly or indirectly, interact with a customer. It leverages tailored messages for achieving the desired objective while analyzing everything from a customer’s distinctive behavior, inherent proclivities, and then converses with them while achieving unmatched personalization. Industry-leading Conversational AI solutions providers are able to increase open rates to as high as 80% with a 50% CTA (call to action), figures that typically range 15% to 30% using the

16 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

KARTIK WALIA HEAD OF OPERATIONS (INDIA), AMPLIFY.AI conventional approach. This, despite the technology still being embryonic with significant room for further enhancements and integration. This approach is further being complemented with the integration of Conversational AI solutions to social media platforms. Digitization, in a way, directly means the adoption of social media. This is because people prefer seamless communication. Social media platforms gives them the flexibility to communicate as, when, and how they want to – it might be in the form of a text message, a call, or just a voice note. Such communications can also be in the form of comments or even a reaction over a post. It is why out of the 4.39 billion internet users, 3.84 billion actively use social media platforms. To give you a contrast, this is more than the population of top six most populous countries held together, or about half of the

INDUSTRY-LEADING

CONVERSATIONAL AI SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS ARE ABLE TO INCREASE OPEN RATES TO AS HIGH AS 80% WITH A 50% CTA (CALL TO ACTION), FIGURES THAT TYPICALLY RANGE 15% TO 30% USING THE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH.

global population. With the ongoing global digital adoption, this figure is expected to rise exponentially in the near future. So, what Conversational AI does is that it engages people (or rather customers, both current and prospective) where they are, instead of conventional and redundant approach of driving them towards a business’ platform. It triggers conversation there and then itself, working in line with ‘flexible and seamless communication’ that everyone prefers. The best part about Conversational AI is that despite processing these marketing functions over social media platforms, it maintains the coherency between all communications driven by a business, both on social media platforms as well as its proprietary website. This ensures that there is no communication gap whatsoever and all queries are appropriately catered to. It also enables a brand to better gauge the customer perception, find out where improvements are required (in terms of product or service), and also develop marketfacing products and services pre-emptively. Today, businesses can unlock their true growth potential by making Conversational AI an integral part of their communication strategy. No time could have been better than this for enterprises with both business solutions enhacing and global market booming riding on the back of digital technologies. Perhaps, inching a couple of steps closer to their customers, and also to the future.

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FEATURE

INDIA CEMENTS ADDRESSES DEPLETING GROUNDWATER ISSUE WITH ‘COROMANDEL CARES’ CAMPAIGN As part of the initiative, the company will reach out to individuals building independent homes and provide them seed balls for growing trees in their new homes By Simran Sabherwal

oromandel Cements, from India Cements, has launched a green initiative, Coromandel Cares, to address the problem of depleting groundwater. The initiative is a platform for ‘go green’ campaigns in Bengaluru and Mysore. As part of the initiative, Coromandel Cares will reach out to individuals building independent homes and provide them seed balls for growing

trees in their new abodes. It will also offer expert advice to their customers for building rainwater harvesting structures in their residential complexes for water conservation, under the guidance of scientist A R Sivakumar. Commenting on the initiative, Rakesh Singh Executive President, The India Cements said, “We believe every brand should have a purpose in life and must do certain things that are beyond the call of duty. What concerned us was: is a customer who has built a house with our cement leading a good life after the construction.” To start with, the company chose Bangalore. The city was chosen because

RAKESH SINGH, Executive President, The India Cements

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the decreasing green cover and concretisation of Bangalore, particularly in the suburbs, has led to water scarcity. In this scenario, the objective for the company was to make Bangalore green, work on water conservation, address issues of environment protection, sustainable development and encourage house and apartment builders to adopt greener initiatives. The company is providing home owners, who use Coromandel Cements, with free filters to encourage water harvesting. After Bengaluru and Mysore, India Cements will expand the initiative to Chennai and Kochi. Singh explains that each city has its own challenges and the company will provide expert guidance and technology depending on the relevant local issues for each city. As part of this initiative, the company has launched a Seed Bomb campaign to increase the green cover in the city and promote rainwater harvesting

IF THE CONSUMER IS CONFIDENT ABOUT THE BRAND THEN OUR LONG-TERM PROSPECTS ARE ASSURED. WE ARE NOT LINKING IT TO SALES BUT ARE DEFINITELY LOOKING FOR BRAND GROWTH AND MAKING THE BRAND STRONGER.

(RWH) with scientific and costeffective interventions for water conservation. Reflecting on the genesis of the campaign, Bala Manian, Founder Partner & Planner, OPN Advertising says, “Prior to working on the campaign, we had carried out a consumer research in a few markets that Coromandel Cement was available in. Research revealed that ‘trust’ was a key attribute that determines the choice of cement for the consumer. Thankfully for us Coromandel also scored highly on the trust dimension. So while the other cement brands were all emphasising on strength as the primary attribute, we opted for a differentiated positioning.” She adds, “We started by asking the question, what would

make the consumer trust you? When we show people that we genuinely have their best interests at heart, they

About India Cements India Cements began its tryst with destiny way back in 1946. Over the last 7 decades, the Company has earned the unshakeable trust of thousands of architects, builders, engineers, stockists, dealers and consumers alike. With a total group capacity of nearly 16 million tonnes, India Cements has played a vital role in the booming construction and infrastructure growth in India. Its commitment to building a stronger India can be seen in the rapid growth achieved with 8 cement plants and two grinding units located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Stringent quality measures are behind every bag of Company’s products. The Company has four trusted strong brands- Sankar Super Power. Coromandel Super Power, Coromandel King and Raasi Gold and a large number of committed stockists for covering the entire market. A majority of whom have been with India Cements for generations.

automatically trust you! And that’s how The Coromandel Cares campaign was born.” India Cements is leveraging the services of influencers like its dealers, stockists, contractors and masons, who are being educated about the initiative and also supplied with seed bombs and relevant information. The company is also partnering with events and activities that promote sustainable rain water harvesting and go green campaigns to create public awareness. India Cements will also have mobile vans visiting construction sites to spread the word. Social media also plays a role with all information and solutions available on the website (www.coromandelcares. org) and social media pages (facebook and instagram). Speaking on what the company’s expectations are from the campaign, Singh says, “A learning from our other brand, Chennai Super Kings, is that when we engaged with the fans, they liked us more. This helped in building the brand. My expectation from this initiative, is that two years down the line when I do a market survey, the consumer should say that Coromandel Cements is doing a good job. If the consumer is confident about the brand then our long-term prospects are assured. We are not linking it to sales but are definitely looking for brand growth and making the brand stronger.”

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 19

COVER STORY

PITCH TOP 50 BRANDS 2019

CELEBRATING INDIA’S

TOP BRANDS To celebrate brands and their marketing initiatives, Pitch unveils exchange4media’s Pitch Top 50 Brands 2019, to recognize the achievements of the top five brands across 10 categories

By Anam Khan

oyalty and trust are the foundations on which any relationship is built. With brands now an intrinsic part of a consumer’s life, it has become essential for them to form a bond with its customers and in turn convert them into loyal and trusted users. The digital revolution in the last two decades has led to a huge change in the way consumers and brands interact, with communication between the two no longer being a oneway street. These changes have led to brands seeking to standout and communicate to consumers in a cluttered environment, across multiple platforms. Consumers are

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looking for brands that would provide them with unique and memorable experiences and it is here that trust and loyalty come into play. It can help brands strengthen their bond with consumers. In order to celebrate brands, Pitch brings the exchange4media Pitch Top 50 Brands 2019, an annual property of Pitch, with an objective to unveil the top five brands across 10 categories. In its ninth year, the list acknowledges the impactful, efficient and commendable marketing practices being upheld by brands in various categories. The process aims to identify the best approaches with respect to idea and innovation, consumer connect, communication impact, execution and results.

POWERFUL THEMES!

FIFTY IMPACTFUL WINNERS What makes companies and brands tick in the marketplace? What are their success mantras and what sets them apart from others? These are some questions that are at the core of what Pitch Top 50 Brands looks at. Going beyond usual award shows, the Pitch Top 50 Brands identifies the key themes which are relevant to marketers today. The brands are then judged under these themes.

THE KEY THEMES ARE • BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID • CHALLENGERS • DIGITAL MASTERS • EVERGREENS • GLOBETROTTERS • IMPACTFUL DEBUTS • RESURGENTS • MILLENNIALS • SOCIAL CONTRIBUTORS CHALLENGERS • SUPREMELY LUXURIOUS EVERGREENS

The insight behind this segmentation is that, these themes represent the marketing universe better than industry vertical driven segmentation. In the first step of the selection process, the editorial team at Pitch created a list of potential brands for each category. Then an Advisory Council was created to shortlist brands, with most potential, in each category. The closed door meeting saw intense discussion among members of the Advisory Council over a plethora of brands. They debated about whether or not the brands embodied the spirit of the category they represented. The Advisory Council consisted of eminent personalities such as Prof. Freda Swaminathan, PhD (Business Management), Fore School of Management; Dr. Pinaki Dasgupta, Professor (Marketing), IMI, New Delhi; Dr. Nimit Gupta, Professor & Scholar of Marketing, Fortune Institute of Business Management, New Delhi; Prof. Arvind Shukla, Professor (Marketing) & Chairperson, Doctoral Programs, Birla Institute of Management, Greater Noida; Arunabh Das Sharma, CEO & MD, Sagacito Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; Saurabh Mathur, Head Planning and Strategy, VML India; Naresh Gupta, Co-Founder, Bang In The Middle; Avik Chattopadhyay, Co-Founder & Partner, Expereal; Vani Gupta Dandiya, Founder, Benddit; Atulit Saxena, President Brands, Futurebrands Ltd.; Ritu Sharda, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy North

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 21

COVER STORY and Sunil Kumar, Editorial Advisor, Pitch. At the end of the discussion, the Advisory Council shortlisted the top 100 brands. The selection process was validated by KPMG. Once the top 100 brands were decided, a three-tier judging process was put in place to identify the best among the rest. In the final stage of the selection process, renowned marketers and experts were brought on board as jury, to decide the winners. The jury was chaired by Vivek Gambhir, MD & CEO, Godrej Consumer

SELECTION CRITERIA • Product • Services • Organization (Corporate entity; Not for Profit entity etc) • Place/Nation • Event • Media

LISTING OF BRANDS PITCH EDITORIAL

RESEARCH PITCH EDITORIAL

EVALUATION ADVISORY PANEL

RESEARCH & VALIDATION KPMG

FINAL SELECTION JURY

Products. The other esteemed members of the jury were, Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Media; Bishwajeet Samal, Head - Marketing, Volkswagen Passenger Cars; Dilen Gandhi, Sr. Director - Marketing, Foods Category, Pepsico; Nitin Karkare, CEO, FCB Ulka; Sujatha

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V Kumar, Head - Marketing, India & South Asia, Visa; Trupti Bhandari, Global Business Lead Family Nutrition, GSK Consumer Healthcare; Abhishek Desai, Director of Marketing Operations, P&G; Ram Mehrotra, VP Sales & Marketing, Kansai Nerolac Paints; Nikhil Chand, Director,

Food and Confectionery, Nestle India; Amit Shah, Cluster HeadRHSM, &tv. With a stringent selection process in place, the power packed jury finalized the Pitch Top 50 Brands for 2019, brands that exemplify the very best that Indian marketing has to offer.

POWER OF TEN

CATEGORY WINNERS 1

BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID

IMPACTFUL DEBUTS

Big Bazaar

Echo

Fevicol

IKEA

Ghari Detergent

Mahindra Marazzo

Parle G

TATA Harrier

Reliance Jio

Zee5

CHALLENGERS

MILLENNIALS

Bira 91

H&M

Fogg

Instagram

OnePlus

Lenskart

OYO

Netflix

UrbanClap

Nykaa

DIGITAL MASTERS

RESURGENTS

BookMyShow

Bata

Byju's

Dabur Red Toothpaste

Google

Frooti

Paytm

Nokia

Swiggy

SpiceJet

EVERGREENS

SOCIAL CONTRIBUTORS

Amul

Ariel - Share the Load

Cadbury-Dairy Milk

Brooke Bond Red Label

Colgate

Horlicks Fearless Kota

Maggi

P&G Shiksha

Thums Up

Times of India

GLOBETROTTERS

SUPREMELY LUXURIOUS

Apollo Tyres

Forest Essentials

Bajaj Auto

Jaguar

Infosys

Mercedes-Benz

Taj Hotels

Oberoi Hotels

TATA Motors

Sabyasachi AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 23

COVER STORY

BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID This category looks at brands that target the masses. They focus on continuous improvements in price performance, quality, technology, distribution to appeal to larger numbers.

WINNERS

PARLE-G: INDIA’S TEA MATE

ave you ever wondered who the child on the Parle-G pack is? Contrary to the many rumours, the child is an illustration created by Everest Creative way back in the 60s. The company continues to use this iconic image to this day, and the biscuit continous to tantalise the taste buds of Indians since 1939. As the saying goes that ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’, the popularity of the biscuit - best enjoyed dunked in chai - can be asserted by the fact that Nielsen declared Parle-G as the world’s largest selling biscuit brand. With the tagline ‘G’ se Genius, Parle-G first TV commercial ‘Swaad Bhare Shakti Bhare’ was launched in 1982.

Commenting on how Parle-G became India’s favourite biscuit, Mayank Shah, Category Head, Parle Products, says that the secret to the brand’s longevity is maintaining its legacy over the years. The focus on brand building helped the brand retain its position. With multiple players in the market battling on the similar price point, Shah says that the focus was on brand building. He says, “Continuous brand building coupled with a strict control over cost helps us to retain an edge over other players in the market.” A key strategy adopted by the

CONTINUOUS BRAND BUILDING COUPLED WITH A STRICT CONTROL OVER COST HELPS US TO RETAIN AN EDGE OVER OTHER PLAYERS IN THE MARKET.

MAYANK SHAH

Products Category Head, Parle

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brand to retain consumers was offering value packs. Shah adds, “Our competition focused on a low price point and not on quality. You cannot compromise on quality and our focus on quality has helped us retain consumers.” Speaking about its marketing mix, Shah says that “12% - 15% of the marketing budget goes to digital advertising”. A look at its recent ad campaign ‘Digital Genius, highlighted how Parle-G continues to hold a space in the hearts of Indian consumers across generations. What has the nine-decade-old Parle-G done right, “It is primarily the utility. If you ensure meeting the needs of consumers with the right product, they will stay with you”, says Shah. In addition to Parle-G, the parent company Parle Products has over 40 products, which are household names, across five categories -Biscuits, Confectionery, Chocolates, Snack and Rusk.

CHALLENGERS In this category, the focus is on brands with big and bold business ambitions and who have broken through by changing the rule of the game.

WINNERS

URBANCLAP: THE SERVICE EXPERT, THAT’S A CLICK AWAY

ntrepreneurial spirit and a dream to carve a niche in the Indian start-up space, saw the three founders of UrbanClapAbhiraj Bahl, Raghav Chandra and Varun Khaitan-pool in Rs 10 lakhs to start the company. A need gap identified was the challenge customers faced in finding services and also connecting with the service providers. This led to UrbanClap starting off as a platform for search and discovery and then evolving its business model to on board people to provide specific services, train them. UrbanClap also helped standardize user payments across its services. Today the company operates under five verticals – Beauty & Wellness, Repairs, Home Maintenance, Homecare & Design and Weddings. To promote its offering, the company has released 360-degree campaigns educating customers of their proposition on how easy it is to get services provided at home. Commenting on how brand UrbanClap was established, Rahul Deorah, VP Marketing, UrbanClap says, “In the online home services play, there are no established brands. We are trying to create the category from scratch. Regardless of competition, we have tried to keep our marketing strategy very simple. We always try to be authentic in our

communication, and adopt a multi-channel marketing strategy.” A key focus area for the company is ensuring quality control across all its services and Deorah says, “We firmly believe that our brand will first and foremost be built on the quality of our service, and then on the word of mouth with respect to that quality. In our marketing communication, we try to stay real & demonstrative - as we are the category creators.” He adds, “Challenging existing customer beliefs and building top of mind recall is a journey that happens

over years. A brand needs a solid foundation of consistently providing great customer service to back the challenge. We believe that if we keep our fundamentals strong and deliver on our promise, customer loyalty will follow.”

WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT OUR BRAND WILL FIRST AND FOREMOST BE BUILT ON THE QUALITY OF OUR SERVICE, AND THEN ON THE WORD OF MOUTH WITH RESPECT TO THAT QUALITY.

RAH RAHUL DEO rbanClap g, U VP Marketin

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 25

COVER STORY

DIGITAL MASTERS Technology driven brands - a technology product or a technology enabled product.

BOOKMYSHOW: THE NEXT INDIAN UNICORN? WINNERS

f one has been keeping a tab on BookMyShow, the news that the company is likely to enter the exclusive club of unicorns – firms valued at $ 1 billion or more – on the back of fresh capital infusion, may not really be a surprise. When Bigtree Entertainment – the parent company of BookMyShow - launched in 1999, Indian laws prevented online ticket sales and neither could the box office be automated. The dotcom bubble bust in 2002 hit the company hard. However, by 2007 the scenario had changed and the growth in multiplexes and credit and debit card penetration saw BookMyShow being re-launched. Being an

26 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

early mover, BookMyShow helped build the online ticket sales ecosystem in the county and has since gone beyond cinema tickets to selling tickets for theatre, live concerts and even sporting events on its platform. In fact, today, the company sells more than 15 million tickets each month and operates in five countries. However, the online ticketing space has seen competition entering the fray and another challenge is grabbing the attention span of the consumer. Says Marzdi Kalianwala, Head - Marketing & Business Intelligence, BookMyShow says, “As digital options continue to widen, consumers are constantly

scrolling across various media plaforms. It is hence imperative that attention is paid to the content and how it is communicated to the consumer so that it stands amidst all the clutter. Pushing out relevant content at the right time that matches the consumers’ needs and interests is paramount when it comes to digital platforms.” He adds, “It is extremely important to retain the consumer and keep them happy as that builds brand loyalty. While we continue

WHILE WE CONTINUE TO WIDEN OUR OFFERINGS AND CONTENT, WE RETAIN THE ESSENCE OF OUR COMMUNICATION SO THAT WE CONTINUE TO BE RELATABLE TO DIVERSE AUDIENCES, BOTH NEW AND OLD.

LIANWALA MARZDI KA usiness ting & B Head - Marke ookMyShow Intelligence, B

to widen our offerings and content, we retain the essence of our communication so that we continue to be relatable to diverse audiences, both new and old.” Being a digital-first company, technology continues to be the focal point for the company. BookMyShow has been mining the extensive data it has collected and using analytics is able to sharply target consumers and also helped increase spends

per head of movie-goers for its cinema partners. On the back-end side of things, the company looks to ensure that the consumer experience is smooth. “Technology helps make the consumer experience on the product better and this is exactly what consumers seek. By using technology effectively and innovatively, we make the consumers’ process of discovery more fruitful and easy to access. This helps in bringing customers

back to the platform time and again,” says Kalianwala. And when it comes to expanding their user base, Kalianwala added, “Our endeavour is to offer the best and most marquee out-of-home entertainment experiences for everyone who seeks different forms of entertainment. This has and will continue to help us reach a constantly evolving and diverse audience thus, expanding our customer base even further.”

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 27

COVER STORY

EVERGREENS The classic and timeless brands that have managed to adapt themselves to changing trends and consumer preferences.

WINNERS

COLGATE: KEEP INDIA SMILING

s Colgate an Indian brand? No, but the brand is so entrenched in the Indian mindset, that most consumers see Colgate as an Indian brand. Started by William Colgate, in the early 19th century in New York City, as a small soap and candle business, the company is today present in the oral hygiene category with products such as toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes and dental floss. Talking about how brand has evolved,

Arvind Chintamani, Vice President, Marketing, ColgatePalmolive (India), says, “Colgate commitment to India, for over 80 years, is reflected in being trusted across generations, and being an intrinsic part of their households. The ‘consumer’ is always at the heart of everything we do. We have consistently focused on the evolving needs and demands of our consumers based on real consumer insights, and we’ve made sure that our communication remains relevant

and contemporary. We continue to focus on consumer-driven innovations and on creating impactful brand experiences through our strong equity advertising and consumer offerings.” Commenting on the factors that have helped the brand stay evergreen, he says, “Colgate is an inseparable part of the Indian social fabric. The trust that our consumers demonstrate for our brands, is invaluable to us. The consistency of our efforts over the decades to understand and evolve according to the needs of our consumers, to provide them with the best, safe and high-quality products, and serve the communities where

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we live and work, is the key to building trust.” He continues, “Colgate remains an evergreen brand because we believe that ‘Everyone Deserves A Future They Can Smile About’. We strive to make a real impact in peoples’ lives; our storytelling is contemporary, relevant and supported by real actions. We speak in an authentic voice and we believe in showing respect to our consumers. They are the real stakeholders who play an active role in a brand’s evolution and, we provide only the best quality products in line with our 100% commitment to product safety and performance that keeps us winning as we continue to earn the trust of consumers.” The oral hygiene segment in India has seen strong competition in the recent years with the new entrants capturing a significant share of the market; however Colgate continues to be biggest player in this space. Commenting on the competition, Chintamani says, “Indians continue to start their day with Colgate and this continues, year after year. Competition has always been there in some shape or form.

WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY FOCUSED ON THE EVOLVING NEEDS AND DEMANDS OF OUR CONSUMERS BASED ON REAL CONSUMER INSIGHTS, AND WE’VE MADE SURE THAT OUR COMMUNICATION REMAINS RELEVANT AND CONTEMPORARY

INTAMANI ARVIND CH ting, t, Marke Vice Presiden live (India) o Colgate-Palm

New players will come and that’s a reality. We maintain our discipline of staying focused on what we do and how we do it better– everyday, fairly and ethically. The quality of our products and the integrity with which we conduct our business speaks for itself. Our years of trust and equity in the country have been possible only because we have stayed the course. Doing the right things consistently even in tough situations, has shown that our shares have grown both, in value and in numbers and we’ll continue to do that.” Taking forward its brand belief that ‘Everyone Deserves A Future They Can Smile About’, Colgate-Palmolive (India) recently launched the Keep India Smiling (KIS) Mission – the brand’s commitment to provide foundational support to over 20 million people every year to enable a future they can smile about. “To Keep India Smiling is our larger vision for the country and we understand that as the market leader in Oral Care, we must lead the path by providing - the best oral care and continue to strive to spread oral care awareness besides, investing our efforts in community programs to provide water accessibility, education, skill-building and empowerment to people who need it the most”, added Chintamani.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 29

COVER STORY

GLOBETROTTERS Brands that have travelled beyond the Indian shores and built a significant global presence.

APOLLO TYRES: A FIRM GRIP ON THE ROAD

ince its inception in 1972, Apollo Tyres has been a trusted name in the business of manufacture and sale of tyres. Apollo Tyres caters to over 100 countries across the globe. The company markets its products under two global brands: Apollo and Vredestein. Their products are available in countries across the globe through a vast network of branded, exclusive and multiproduct outlets. At the end of the financial year 2019, the company clocked a turnover of US$ 2.48 billion. Commenting on the how the brand overcame the challenges when entering a new global market Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Apollo Tyres

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Ltd. says, “The challenges are immense. You need to be sure how the brand wants to position itself against where the market perceives its position to be. The solution lies in the details with which the market entry strategy has been thought through and what are the differentiations that are being presented to the market, if any.” He adds, “Mostly, brands from developing countries are accorded the lower end of a mass market position. The marketing mix therefore has to work hard to obtain a better positioning by offering better value than existing competition.” A strategy for most brands when entering a new market is localizing the product and marketing to meet the needs

WINNERS

TRUST IS BUILT OVER TIME. HOW ONE RESPONDS TO THE CHALLENGES THAT A NEW MARKET THROWS UP IS IMPORTANT AS THIS IS WHERE THE BRAND GETS TESTED ON ITS AGILITY, AND ITS COMMITMENT TO THE MARKET RMA SATISH SHA c, Middle a Pacifi President, Asi pollo Tyres Ltd A a, East & Afric

of varied consumer base. “The importance of localising the product and marketing solution is extremely important. It needs meticulous understanding of the market and solutions have to be tailored to the segments that the brand wants to address. The variability of offer may vary from simple tweaks to radically different product and service

solutions,” says Sharma. The brand ethos runs on customer satisfaction and loyalty. The dealer network is also part of Apollo Tyres’ mission to “go the distance” and give customers greater choice. What also has to be kept in mind is that loyalty goes hand in hand with building and establishing trust with the consumer.

Consumers expect a brand to be transparent about how their data is utilized by the brand, how the brand communicates with them and what platform is used. “Trust is built over time. How one responds to the challenges that a new market throws up is important as this is where the brand gets tested on its agility, and its commitment to the market. A brand’s position in its home market helps build credibility but one cannot rely on that alone beyond its impact in the initial phase. Evidence shows that how a brand fares outside its home market also decides how a brand could hope to be received. The trade (distribution partners) are normally well aware of the brand promise, ahead of the end-users, and they can play a critical part in helping the brand establish itself in its intended journey,” explains Sharma.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 31

COVER STORY

IMPACTFUL DEBUTS Brands that made an impactful debut in the Indian market. This includes completely new brands, as well brand extensions but not new models or versions of an existing brand.

TATA HARRIER: ON A ROLL!

he cluttered Indian automobile market saw a new sports utility vehicle (SUV), the Tata Harrier launched in January 2019. Tata Motors partnered with the Indian Premier League (IPL) as an Official Partner in 2019 for Tata Harrier. Looking back at the launch, Vivek Srivatsa, Head – Marketing, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors says, “Harrier has been the most talked about product launch in the auto industry, for the last 12-18 months. We have retained our presence in the market by partnering with IPL, the biggest sporting event in the country. Harrier was the lead car for the event and was displayed in-stadia across matches. Post IPL,

we are now celebrating 10,000 customers for Harrier across different platforms.” With robust

WINNERS

demand from Tier II and Tier III cities, brands across the board are looking to entice this aspirational consumer with innovative strategies. “Tier II and Tier III cities are strong markets for Tata Motors. The brand enjoys a very high affinity here. We are ensuring that the vehicles are showcased in events across these markets. Our showrooms in these markets have been refreshed to give customers a premium experience when they visit to test drive or experience the Harrier. We are also engaging with key influencers in these markets to build a strong word of mouth for Harrier”, added Srivatsa. Talking about the marketing platforms and avenues that the brand is looking to explore, Srivatsa said, “We continue to explore all options depending upon campaigns. However, digital remains a key focus area for us to drive awareness for the brand.”

HARRIER HAS BEEN THE MOST TALKED ABOUT PRODUCT LAUNCH IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY, FOR THE LAST 12-18 MONTHS…. POST IPL, WE ARE NOW CELEBRATING 10,000 CUSTOMERS FOR HARRIER ACROSS DIFFERENT A S T A IV R S PLATFORMS VIVEK nger ting, Passe Head – Marke s Unit (PVBU), es n Vehicle Busi Tata Motors

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SOCIAL CONTRIBUTORS Brands that align with a cause that are closer to their consumers’ heart. That may involve the cooperative efforts of a for-profit business and a cause or non-profit organization for mutual benefit.

WINNERS

TIMES OF INDIA: BRAND WITH A PURPOSE

he largest selling English language daily in the world, Times of India has consistently used its platform to educate and communicate to its readers about important social issues. Commenting about why it is important it is for a brand to be socially active, Sanjeev Bhargava, Director - Brand TOI says, “With trust

in institutions falling over a period of time, consumers are looking towards brands they patronize to fill the gap. It is for this reason that brands find cause marketing to be an effective business practice.” Times of India has launched several campaigns over the years to create awareness and seek action around various

WITH TRUST IN INSTITUTIONS FALLING OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, CONSUMERS ARE LOOKING TOWARDS BRANDS THEY PATRONIZE TO FILL THE GAP. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT BRANDS FIND CAUSE MARKETING TO BE AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICE

ARGAVA SANJEEV BH OI nd T Director - Bra

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COVER STORY

social issues both at the national and the regional level. These include campaigns such as the ‘Lost Votes’ campaign, which highlighted Indian citizens residing in India, but are unable to cast their votes since they are away from home, the “Times Out & Proud” campaign which offered the LGBTQIA+ community free space in its classifieds for three months or the award winning #NoConditionsApply Sindoor Khela campaign that invited women from all walks of life - widows, transgenders,

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separated, divorcees and single mothers — to celebrate Durga Puja. Bhargava says that socially driven campaign have helped build the brand and also engage with its readers on a deeper level. He explains, “Our commitment to socially driven campaigns is for two broad reasons. We are the only national newspaper in the country and it becomes on us to propel, promote or support positive change in the country. Secondly, as a marketing practice, we have experienced

a stronger commitment from our readers towards our brand.” He adds, “The success of social campaigns is often measured by how people have reacted to the authenticity of the cause and in what way they have come forward to support it. ‘The Lost Votes’ campaign saw tremendous engagement with more than one million citizens joining the movement asking for a resolution from the government. We saw over 10 million engagements on social media with digital conversations on #LostVotes trending twice on Twitter. People from all walks of life, students, corporates, authors, musicians, actors, sports stars shared their willingness to bring about the change and campaigned to the Election Commission in their individual capacities and acted as influencers in talking the campaign to larger audiences.” He further added, “When a brand engages in taking its readers along for causes they believe in, there is a trust and loyalty that is generated in the process. It also helps in direct readership which shows the growth of TOI by 11.5% (AIR, IRS Q1, 2019) as a direct response to the campaign.”

SUPREMELY LUXURIOUS Brands that conjure of images of luxury and most people aspire to own.

WINNERS

MILLENIALS Brands that appeal to millennial for their style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness.

WINNERS

RESURGENTS Brands that conjure of images of luxury and most people aspire to own.

WINNERS

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COVER STORY | GALLERY

GLIMPSES FROM PITCH TOP 50 BRANDS

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1. Akhilesh Sabharwal, Sr Vice President, Fulcro World in conversation with Atit Mehta of byjuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2. Arvind Chintamani, VP - Marketing, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd

3. Anupriya Acharya, Publicis Media with Mayank Shah, Parle G 4. Sushant Dash, President, India & Middle East, Tata Global Beverages 5. Shashwat Sharma, CMO, Bharti Airtel 6. Trupti Bhandari, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Neeru Salat, The Hindu awarding Anirban Roy, Amazon Echo 7. Ritij Khurana accepting award on behalf of OnePlus 8. Ankit Bhargava, Nickelodeon and Dr Annurag Batra awarding Harini Babu from Infosys for Globetrotter category 9. Amit Kothari, H&M awarded as a Millennial brand by Vani Gupta, Former CMO PepsiCo and Naval Toshniwal, Sakal Media Group

10. Sanjeev Bhargava receiving award for Times of India for a Social Contributor category

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APP STORE

WHAT YOU GOT IN YOUR MOBILE? TIKTOK’S PARENT COMPANY BYTEDANCE FORAYS INTO SEARCH BUSINESS

yteDance, the Chinese company that owns the TikTok video service, has plans to offer its customers search engine services. This move is being seen as a threat to the monopoly enjoyed by Baidu, the dominant internet search provider, in China and could affect Baidu’s ad business that has fuelled its profit.

napchat recently rolled out a new feature called Instant Create. It allows advertisers to create quick single-ad campaigns with minimal design requirements. Using the admaking tool, an ad can be built in just three steps. First, the advertiser will have to select the ad’s objective (increase web visits, app installs, or app visits), enter the business URL, and choose targeting filters.

ByteDance also runs Jinri Toutiao, a news site and customers will be able to use the news site to search for news or products, etc. The search results could then be leveraged for advertising revenue. ByteDance is also looking at its other service in China Douyin, similar to TikTok, to build a search engine. The Chinese tech firm is also developing a smartphone after striking a deal with electronics company Smartisan.

YOUTUBE’S PREMIUM USERS CAN NOW DOWNLOAD VIDEOS IN 1080P QUALITY

f you are a YouTube Premium subscriber, there’s good news for you as users can now download videos for offline watching in 1080p resolution, up from the previous limit of 720p.

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SNAPCHAT’S ‘INSTANT CREATE’ OFFERS TOOLS FOR ADVERTISERS TO CREATE ADS

Till now, when a viewer was watching a 720p video, the resolution of the video was lower due to compression. Now with 1080 p, when viewers watch the offline downloads on phones with bigger screens, they will be able to enjoy the content in sharper resolution. This feature is being slowly rolled out across the YouTube apps for iOS and Android.

The tool automatically pulls images from the URL entered and sizes them appropriately, alternatively advertisers can also upload images manually. Instant Create leverages Snapchat’s most popular templates and simplified ad detail options and allows advertisers to publish creative without additional design resources. Experts believe that the tools will be resourceful for small and medium businesses (SMBs) that lack budget to create advertisements.

WHATSAPP ROLLS OUT ‘FREQUENTLY FORWARDED’ MESSAGE FEATURE TO CURB FAKE NEWS

GOOGLE’S NEW UPDATES AND TOOLS TO HELP APP ADVERTISING COMMUNITY

hatsApp has launched a new feature in India called Frequently Forwarded messages, on its Android and iOS-based apps. The Frequently Forwarded feature informs users if the message they have received has been forwarded more than five times. The user can then make a more informed decision before forwarding the message and help curb fake news. The Facebook owned instant messaging app has also shortened the longer forwarded messages and to read the full message the users have to tap on the message. The new feature is available for all the consumers who are using the latest version of the messaging app.

oogle has introduced updates and tools for its app advertising community, as per media reports. The announcements were made at ChinaJoy conference in Shanghai. The new integrations have been made to the Google App campaigns platform. It will allow app developers to expand their advertising across the Google network. The update has been rolled out in the US and will be available in other markets, like Malaysia, India, Japan, Pakistan and Indonesia. The app ads will also show in YouTube mobile search results, and as in-stream skippable ads. The new functions will help developers reach more users with app ads.

AIRTEL TO PHASE OUT 3G SERVICES FOR INDIAN USERS BY MARCH 2020

harti Airtel announced that it will shut down its entire 3G network across the country by March 2020. The company will increase its focus on providing 4G services, driving greater realisation and increasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). The company has already wound up its 3G network in the Kolkata circle but will continue to provide 2G services for feature phone users. Airtel plans to shut down the 3G network in six to seven additional circles by September and complete the process by March.

HUAWEI LAUNCHES SELF-DEVELOPED HARMONYOS

t the recently held Developer Conference, the Chinese tech giant, Huawei launched it’s self-designed operating system, HarmonyOS. According to the company, the new OS will be distributed Open-source for all smart devices. Huawei is planning

to bring out smart screens powered by the HarmonyOS 1.0 by the end of this year. According to earlier reports, the smartphone, powered by Harmony OS 1.0 is expected to

launch in Q4 2019 for around 2,000 Yuan in China. The Hongmeng system has previously been widely reported in the media as a potential alternative to Android on smartphones. Addressing the media, Catherine Chen, Senior Vice President, Huawei said, “The Hongmeng OS is for industrial use and the system has been in development long before the current discussions around finding an alternative to Android.”

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FEATURE

MARKETING THE CAUSE Socially conscious consumers are increasingly looking to associate with brands that show a commitment towards a social cause they believe in and reflect their beliefs. We explore how cause-related marketing campaigns help in building the brand trust and reinforcing the brand story. By Sanstuti Nath

antar’s ‘Purpose 2020’ report states that, “Purpose is what people are looking for in brands and this preference will only intensify as the next generation comes of age. Purpose-led brands enjoy stronger growth and a deeper connection with consumers. Purpose is central to success in the future of consumption.” Today’s consumer, especially the millennial, is socially aware and given a choice would gravitate towards a brand that resonates with their moral and ethical beliefs. Kantar’s report also states that, millennial believe, “Businesses have the size, reach and trust it takes, and people expect companies to use this power for a good purpose.” With consumers becoming invested in brands that they believe in, brands too have taken up cause-related marketing to strengthen the connect with the consumer. There are various studies that show that consumers, today, willingly pay more for products associated with a social cause. According to a research conducted by DoSomething Strategic and DEFY Media this year, 34% young consumers ‘unfollow’ brands and stop using them because of their “lack of social responsibility”. The research report further states that, “Purpose matters more than ever, it’s important for brands to actively take a stand around the important issues of our time, and young consumers are the vanguard of this shift.”

ALIGNING WITH A CAUSE Today, brands are moving from short-term campaigns to meaningful commitments based on the causes they care most about, giving consumers a reason

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CAUSE AND EFFECT 77%

of people would not care if the world’s brands disappeared tomorrow

63% of baby boomers expect more than just a product from a brand; this percentage increases with younger generations.

76% of Gen Xers, 84% of millennials and 87% of Gen Zers believe brands need to do more 55% of those surveyed believe companies have a

greater responsibility than the government does to create a better future for people. Source:

Havas’ Global Meaningful Brands®

to believe, before giving them a reason to buy. Purpose has never been more important. Today, catching the consumer attention is a challenge, with the proliferation of new-age media, a multitude of choices, content and new products. This year’s Meaningful Brands survey, conducted annually by Havas, found that people would not care if 77% of the world’s brands disappeared tomorrow.

find an intersection between the market, culture and consumer to build relevance and deliver a real impact beyond just the product/ service benefits they have to offer.” Brands also need to be socially active in order to stay relevant and build a personalized connect with the consumer. Vikram Bahl, Area Marketing Lead, Nutrition & Digestive Health, GSKCH Indian subcontinent, says that, “Brands

77% said they buy from companies with which they share values

84% say brands should be transparent

with consumers about their commitments and promises.

38%

believe brands currently communicate Only honestly about their commitments. Brands that have been able to prove they are meaningful generate greater financial value, with the study estimating that meaningful brands outperform the stock market by

134%.

Source: According to a spokesperson from Procter & Gamble (P&G) India, “nine of 10 consumers say they have a more positive image of a brand when it supports a cause and half the consumers today make purchase decisions based on their shared beliefs with the brand. This indicates that it is increasingly becoming important for them to be more responsible.” Taking into consideration the social awareness of the millennial consumer, it only makes sense that social media has become a major gateway of communication between the brand and the consumer. But, this gateway is unguarded and over populated with multiple choices. Messages with social and emotional connect reach consumer faster and appeal more to their conscience. Rishabh Sharma, Head of Brand Strategy, Twitter India, says, “There has never been a tougher time to be a brand or a marketer. It is really essential for organisations to

Havas’ Global Meaningful Brands® 2019

connect with consumers most when they touch consumers in an authentic and relevant way. Tapping into the right issues and emotions, make a strong connection with audience and turn it into long-lasting relationships.” Though the millennial consumer is socially aware and active, he is also fickle minded. With options to ‘skip the ad’, change the channel or to scroll past the advertisement, this consumer is very difficult to connect with and it’s here that cause-related marketing helps engage the audience. According to Puneet Das, Vice President Marketing, Tata Global Beverages, “Today’s consumers are bombarded with thousands of messages and attention spans of consumers are at a premium. Hence, for the brands to be socially active not only helps them get noticed, but

it also establishes a deeper, and more meaningful connection with its audience. It goes beyond the product or functional proposition.”

BUILDING CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT Socially driven storytelling is a well-established route of driving persuasion and consumer engagement. Bahl explains, “When a brand follows a socially driven approach to reach its consumers, it reinforces the brand’s story.” Social purpose can draw an organic traction from the consumer end. When consumers find brands weave in purpose and genuine intent to make a difference, both the brand message and values get seamlessly strengthened. “Consumers embrace the brands that follow cause-marketing more than others, as it shows a brand’s commitment towards community and its core value. Consumers like to connect with brands that share their passion and drive to transform for the better. By doing so, we build a strong foundation and long lasting customer relationship”, he adds. According to Das, cause-related marketing campaigns “enables

According to research by DoSomething Strategic and DEFY Media, 2019 34% young consumers ‘unfollow’ brands and stop using them because of their “lack of social responsibility” “Consumers will stop using a brand if it lets them down. This can be due to price increases and product quality issues, but it’s also due to actions not in line with young people’s values and beliefs”

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FEATURE

“BRANDS CONNECT WITH CONSUMERS MOST WHEN THEY TOUCH CONSUMERS IN AN AUTHENTIC AND RELEVANT WAY. TAPPING INTO THE RIGHT ISSUES AND EMOTIONS, MAKE A STRONG CONNECTION WITH AUDIENCE AND TURN IT INTO LONG-LASTING RELATIONSHIPS.”

Vikram Bahl,

Area Marketing Lead, Nutrition & Digestive Health, GSKCH Indian subcontinent

brands to establish deeper connection with the audience and makes the brand more humane.” Backing this point, there are many studies to prove that consumers like to associate with brands which are more socially responsible and conscious. “There are studies which have been done (mainly in the West), which indicate that increasingly consumers want brands to take a stand on social issues and majority of them are loyal to ‘purpose driven’ brands who are championing a social cause”, adds Das. Today, social media is the interactive platforms for brands and consumers. It is where we see many brands connect with a current hot topic and often fall short of delivering an impact due to lack of design to drive for participation. According to Sharma, “Moments occur daily on Twitter, perhaps delivering a 24-48 hours swell in conversation, but there are few

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“THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A TOUGHER TIME TO BE A BRAND OR A MARKETER. IT IS REALLY ESSENTIAL FOR ORGANISATIONS TO FIND AN INTERSECTION BETWEEN THE MARKET, CULTURE AND CONSUMER TO BUILD RELEVANCE AND DELIVER A REAL IMPACT BEYOND JUST THE PRODUCT/SERVICE BENEFITS THEY HAVE TO OFFER.”

Rishabh Sharma,

Head of Brand Strategy, Twitter India

moments that go on to become movements evoking conversations at a sustained period of time.” Sharma highlights the key features of successful purposedriven marketing approach. He says, “Brands need to create content which is informative. They need to listen to consumers and react accordingly, and build campaigns that not only lead to important conversations but also leave a lasting impact.”

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY Edelman Earned Brand Report of 2017 states that, as many as 57% of consumers will buy or boycott a brand based on its position on a social or political issue. Another study by DEFY Media and DoSomething Strategic says that, “consumers will stop using a brand if it lets them down. This can be due to price increases and product quality issues, but it’s also due to actions not in line with young

“TODAY’S CONSUMERS ARE BOMBARDED WITH THOUSANDS OF MESSAGES AND ATTENTION SPANS OF CONSUMERS ARE AT A PREMIUM. HENCE, FOR THE BRANDS TO BE SOCIALLY ACTIVE NOT ONLY HELPS THEM GET NOTICED, BUT IT ALSO ESTABLISHES A DEEPER, AND MORE MEANINGFUL CONNECTION WITH ITS AUDIENCE. IT GOES BEYOND THE PRODUCT OR FUNCTIONAL PROPOSITION.”

Puneet Das,

Vice President, Marketing, Tata Global Beverages

people’s values and beliefs.” To keep the consumer engaged, Sharma believes that brands should associate with the cause that is linked with the very core of brand’s value. He says, “Purpose-marketing works when the cause a brand is addressing is linked to its very core. Today customers are able to quickly identify the difference between a brand that is trying to make a difference versus those merely vying to “stand out” from their competition by associating itself with a cause that may not actually resonate with its essence.” On the other hand, Das believes that brands need to “Walk the Talk” in order to keep the consumer retained. He adds that, “Everyone knows the issues. It’s about how you can solve for them. And brands need to be authentic and genuine in their efforts on that front.”

CAUSE RELATED CAMPAIGNS:

BRANDS’ WALK THE TALK Airbnb - #WeAccept

Airbnb created awareness regarding its goal to provide short-term housing for 100,000 people “in need” over the next five years through their campaign #WeAccept. The campaign promoted a message of diversity and inclusion by highlighting that the world is more beautiful the more you accept.

Uber - #JerseyKnowsNoGender

In early 2018, Uber globally realigned their brand identity and launched a purpose driven statement #MoveForward. Uber has been consistently building upon the umbrella promise through national initiatives such as #JerseyKnowsNoGender - where they encouraged the nation to support the Indian women’s cricket team at the ICC World Cup or even city specific movements i.e. #LowerTheWindow - to move Delhi towards a breathable future.

#WeTweet

Twitter India launched its first ever consumer marketing campaign in the country, #WeTweet. The motto of the campaign was “No Tweet is too small when we Tweet together”. The purpose of the campaign was to move the important conversations forward. Throught the #NoShowerDay, social media giant captured the imagination of Indian youth, propelling then to join the importent public convwersations like #MeTooIndia and #KeralaFloods. The campaign also highlighted Twitter’s brevity and conversational nature, and how it is also a platform for humour and fun.

Bottle of Love Horlicks Ahhar AbhiyaanWith this campaign Horlicks aimed at supporting the cause of malnutrition for children among age group three to six and educate family, especially mothers about it. As part of this project, Horlicks raised funds by donating Re 1 from the sale of every bottle of Horlicks towards the cause. As part of the campaign,

Horlicks partnered with CARE India in West Bengal and Save The Children in Tamil Nadu to conduct awareness programs.

This campaign was launched during exams, when kids face immense pressure. Horlicks understood that during this stressful time, mother’s dose of love can go a long way in managing child’s stress. The campaign reconnected mothers and their children across the country and empowered mothers to break down location barriers and share a bottle filled with love. The aim of the campign was to help kids prepare better for their exams. Bottle of love helped the health drink brand in connecting with the audience at deeply personal level while generating positive customer engagement.

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FEATURE

TATA Tea - Jaago Re First launched in 2008, Jaago Re had been Tata Tea’s longest and strongest running campaign. The TVC launch of the campaign on Twitter received record breaking engagement of 49%, which is higher than benchmarks of 3-4%. It reached 144 Million users in the first phase of the campaign, and 248 Million in Phase 2. Over the years, in all the Jaago Re campaigns Tata Tea has gone beyond just communicating the messaging, and have always enabled the consumer to bring about a ‘positive social change’. In 2008-09 for their Election campaign they facilitated voter registrations online through our platform. The result was six lakh voter registrations. In Power of 49 Campaign (2013-14), they presented the first-ever crowd sourced manifesto of women issues to the government. For their ‘Alarm Bajne Se Pehle Jaago Re’ launched during 2017-18, 1.8 Million petitions were submitted to the HRD Ministry on two causes – to make gender sensitization , and sports encouragement a mandatory part of the school curriculum. Jaago Re’s ‘Power of 49’ campaign, Tata Tea received 1.8 Million petitions for the two causes they were championing – Women’s Safety and Sports encouragement.

When it comes to sparking conversations while marketing the product, P&G comes across as an expert. Some of their campaigns that grabbed the eyeballs are:

Vicks Touch of Care

Gillette #ShavingStereotypes (Winner | Silver Lions at International Festival of Creativity 2019) Gillette’s #ShavingStereotypes campaign showcases the real-life story of sisters Jyoti and Neha Narayan who have challenged gender stereotypes prevalent in Indian villages by running their father’s barbershop.

In India, homosexuality is not discussed and transgenders are still fighting for their identity. The Supreme Court of India ruling in 2014 recognised transgender individuals as the ‘third gender’ and some legal and political progress has been made but society at large continues to stigmatise and stereotype transgender individuals, and they are still being denied basic rights. Vicks took a bold stand, sending a powerful message to help pave the way towards a more inclusive society. In a video for their #TouchOfCare campaign, Vicks cast a compassionate spotlight on transgender activist Gauri Sawant, challenging conventional thinking about what it means to be a caring mother.

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Ariel Share the Load Ariel’s simple #ShareTheLoad campaign, which asks some tough questions, has successfully triggered a conversation on equal distribution of household chores between all members of a family irrespective of gender. In 2015, when Ariel launched its first #ShareTheLoad campaign, statistics showed that 79% men thought ‘household chores are a woman’s job’. In 2016, 63% married men thought household chores are a woman’s/daughter’s job while all ‘outside’ work is a man’s/son’s job. However, in 2018, this number was down to 52%, signifying that change has indeed begun. ‘Are we teaching our sons what we have been teaching our daughters?’ is the question that the latest #ShareTheLoad campaign by Ariel asks.

Whisper #SitImproperd Whisper’s ‘Sit Improper’ campaign focused on breaking the age-old stereotypes about gender expectations. It was based on the insight that Indian girls are expected to live by a set of standards imposed upon them by the society - from the way they should sit, to even the aspirations they must pursue or not pursue. The movement created a revolution and gave women the license to sit the way they want without the fear of being judged.

Whisper Breaks Silence Whisper’s digital campaign #WhisperBreaksSilence showcased that every whisper of encouragement plays an essential role in breaking the silence around periods. It was also a salute to millions of teachers, fathers, mothers, elder sisters or best friends who’ve broken silence with words of encouragement. In a country where superstition was passed silently, we broke it with a whisper.

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GUEST COLUMN

A FUTURE OUTLOOK OF MARKETING IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY

VARUN JHA CMO AND HEAD OF DEMAND BUSINESS, ZOOMCAR

he last century saw the rise of automotive sales on the back of “supply push” philosophy, and dealer networks were created as logical extensions. These networks were created to do almost everything – hold inventory, leverage private capital, provide service & support and of course, convert store traffic into sales using aggressive methods based on consumers’ wallet size. However, the meteoric rise of digital and a complete change in a consumer’s path-to-purchase behaviour has brought out the weaknesses embedded in the traditional dealer distribution channels. This has made original equipement manufactures (OEMs) rethink their marketing and distribution strategy and as a consequence, the next multi-billion dollar company of this century would be a more innovationleveraging tech start-up. Given the fast-changing landscape, the marketers’ job would be to do two things:

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Sustain the brand’s current market: Share by participating in the customer life cycle value chain at multiple points to influence digital sales and grow in the markets they have been stagnant. The consumer decision journey itself has undergone massive change. From being a linear model where a customer had one Zero-moment-oftruth, the journey has become completely non-linear with intent-driven countless micromoments of truth. Typically a user takes on average 90 days to search, discover and then decide what car to buy. And as per a Google case study published in 2016, during this period, a user goes through as high as 900+ digital interactions. This opens floodgates of opportunity for the marketer to follow the user wherever he’s interacting. To create products and brands that cater to the rent-notbuy psyche: This is the most challenging job for any marketer in an OEM. Young Indians, nowadays don’t believe in completely owning an asset. They would rather prefer to have access to hassle-free ownership. This has led to the germination of various subscription-based products/services and shared mobility as well. Therefore, if OEMs can co-curate products for this audience by chalking

out product partnerships with start-ups offering mobility subscriptions and market them with the right positioning, it will lead to the creation of a new segment altogether. It’s estimated that 20% of the overall carpurchase market in India will be through subscription products over the next few years. . Key Learnings Thus Far There has been a plethora of learning so it’s hard to put forth the most important one. Yet some of the mission-critical learnings that I can share are:Data and drawing actionable insights out of it are at the epicentre of successful marketing. Every marketer should be a business person, with a knack for knowing the pulse of the customer and then chalk out brilliant marketing strategies basis on data science to ensure brand adoption and trials. Be highly experimentative Quickly Scale up what’s working and descale the ones which fail. Running multiple pilots and the business case is a driven approach to marketing that yields the best ROI. Be as hands-on as possible One has to be good at both – strategizing and execution. Else one risks falling into a consulting mode with having a one thousand feet view of things. This is more important in today’s world where most of the consumers are digital natives and you’re expected to build and market dynamic digital solutions. Without the technical know-how, you will always

struggle and rely on a third party (in most cases digital consultants) which may not have an end-toend view of the business and customer life-cycle value chain. The Evolution of the Marketing Discipline Marketing has changed more in the past five years than in the past 50. Earlier, businesses were completely brand-centric. This was the age of the ‘outbound marketing’ mind-set. The marketer came up with a brand message and interrupted the potential customer with mass communication ads on the radio, TV, newspaper, etc. Now the business is becoming purely consumer-centric, which is having your finger on the pulse of the customer community-listening to what they want, and delivering it. The genesis of this change is how consumer behaviour has evolved in the last decade. Take a minute and imagine the world 10 years ago. Facebook was still competing for traffic, Amazon was primarily known for selling books and the iPhone was just two-years old. Back in those days, consumers still trusted brick and mortars, there were no price comparison sites and the buying experience was painstaking. From that, we entered the world of the digital realm with which came ROBO (research onlinebuy offline) and reverse ROBO. And therefore, consumer buying decision became an iterative process with multiple micromoments of truth. This has made marketing more multi-dimensional. For each of the kinds of marketing, there is a business side, an analytics side, a creative side, and many more. Technology is also disrupting various aspects. We’re witnessing more of automation, more of specialization and lesser human interventions. For instance, machine learning and use of predictive modelling today tells

who to target, when and where to target, who’s more likely to convert and predict the LTV of available consumer cohorts and therefore every campaign has a very specific objective to achieve. Needless to say that marketing is the new finance, it has become more about number and analytics-driven and today marketers should be well adept with mathematics. These days, modern marketing teams have more data scientists and analysts than traditional marketers. Securing Mindshare for Zoomcar The holy grail of marketing strategy at Zoomcar is to get as many first-time users on the platform through ROI-centric channels and at the same time ensure a very high repeat transacting users. While the former helps us expand the self-drive category, the latter ensures the LTV maximization. Thus, we follow a cyclic model of Get-Convert-Repeat. We’re super ROI-focussed and invest heavily into performance, alliances and CRM channels. Apart from this, we also focus a lot on videos! It’s estimated that 82% of the internet traffic by 2021 will be through video and we leverage this megatrend a lot. We produce both in-house dynamic content (mostly videos) and get high-quality production done through our creative agencies. In the past, we have partnered with content players like Filtercopy and done tons of brand integration and syndicated content work, which has helped us be in line with our “AlwaysOn” content strategy. . The Road Ahead for Zoomcar? We will continue to stay invested in the performance channels for the demand side of the business. On the supply side, ZAP Subscribe – our car subscription offering – has seen massive uptake since its launch last year. Car subscription is a new category and we are committed to building it substantially in India over the next few years. This would mean a lot of investment will go into building awareness and consideration for ZAP Subscribe through ATL and mass media campaigns.

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BRAND CONNECT

AN AD ICON:

THE AMUL GIRL

By Anam Khan

hen a cheerful blue-haired little moppet in a red polka-dotted dress showed up on a hoarding, in 1966, little did anyone realise that this cute moppet would become the face of one of India’s most well-known brand and an ad icon, who continues to be loved by generations of Indians, more than fifty years since her debut. Occasionally controversial but always cheeky and topical, the timely one-liners of the Amul girl have become a commentary on the pressing issues of the time. The Amul girl is one of India’s longest running ad campaigns, probably the only ad campaign in the country with an unchanged theme and style since it was first unveiled.

The brains behind the campaign Sylvester daCunha was handpicked by Dr Verghese Kurien and given the responsibility of the brand. Along with Sylvester daCunha, illustrator Eustace Fernandes and Usha Katrak gave life to the Amul girl while the famous slogan ‘Utterly Butterly Delicious’ was coined, in the same year, by Sylvester’s wife, Nisha DaCunha. An early campaign had the Amul girl kneeling in prayer, with one eye closed and another on a pack of butter with the words, ‘Give us this day our daily bread with Amul Butter’ got an immediate positive response from the public. Another topical ad, in March 1966, focussed on horse racing which was popular. The ad had the Amul girl riding a horse, with the word ‘Thoroughbread’. The Amul girl has commented on everything — from sterilisation during the Emergency, ‘We have always practised compulsory sterilisation,’ says the Amul girl, holding a salver of butter and with a cunning innocence that would have tied up even Indira Gandhi’s censors in knots, to Aamir Khan’s statement on growing intolerance where the Amul girl offered a golden slice and asked him ‘Aal izz hell or aal izz well’?

48 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

THE STORY OF REVOLUTION THROUGH A BOLLYWOOD MOVIE ‘MANTHAN’ ‘Mero Gaam Katha Parey’, as the strains of melody of this popular soundtrack from the national award winning film, Manthan (meaning Churning) plays, one is transported to tha dairy heartland of Gujarat. Directed by Shyam Benegal, the story for Manthan was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement headed by Dr Verghese Kurien. Kurien, who is known as the ‘Father of the White Revolution’ in India. The film traces the origins of the cooperative movement through its fictionalised narrative, based around rural empowerment. The film follows the journey of a young veterinary surgeon played by Girish Karnad, a character based on the then 33-year-old Kurien who was the chief of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Kurien joined hands with local social worker, Tribhovandas

Patel, which led to the setting up of a local milk cooperative, in Anand, Gujarat. The project also demonstrated the power of “collective might” as it was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated Rs. 2 each. The title song, ‘Mero Gaam Katha Parey’ was later used as the soundtrack for the television commercial for Amul. The commercial showed clips from the movie that showcased the economic hardships rural women in India faced after independence, which gave rise to a new co-operative called Amul that was formed to help them. Today, Amul has become Asia’s biggest dairy company, which is still owned by these farmers. A line ‘Mare Ghar Jhanjar Laxmi Ke Baje’ (in my house, the bells of wealth ring) was added to the song, as a symbol of the success of Amul.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 49

BRAND CONNECT

BRAND AMUL, MORE THAN JUST MILK 1 AMUL MILK

Amul Amul Amul Amul

Taaza Slim Trim Milh Chai Mazza Gold

9 PANEER

Amul Malai Paneer Amul Fresh Paneer Amul Tin Paneer

10 DAHI 2 CAMEL MILK

Camel Milk Amul Camel Long Life Milk

Amul Masti Dahi Amul Probiotic Dahi Amul Flaavyo

11 CHOCOLATES 3 BREAD SPREADS

Amul Choco Buttery Spread Amul Lite Amul Butter Delicious Table Margarine

4 CHEESE

Amul Processed Cheese Amul Emmental Cheese Amul Gouda Cheese Amul Cheese Spread Pizza Mozerella Cheese Amul Processed Cheese

Amul Chocolate Amul Chocozoo Chocolate Syrup Amul Wafer Chocolates Amul Rejoice Assorted Chocolates Amul Cooking Chocolate

12 MITHAAI RANGE

Amul Amul Amul Amul

Gulab Jamoon Basundi Shrikhand Avsar Ladoo

13 AMUL MITHAI MATE

Amul Mithai Mate

5 BEVERAGE RANGE

Amul Memory Milk Amul Tru Kool Cafe Amul kool Flavored Milk Amul Kadhai Doodh Amul Irish Drink Mocktail Amul Haldi Can Amul Kool Koko

6 UHT MILK

Amul Amul Amul Amul Amul

Taaza Gold Milk Calci Moti Slim ‘n’ Trim

7 AMUL PRO

Amul Pro

8 ICE CREAM

Amul Amul Amul Amul

Epic Ice Creams Faavyo Froen Yoghurt Creame Rich

50 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

14 HAPPY TREATS

Aloo Tikki French Fries Hash Brown Potato Wedges Veg Burger Patty Veggie Stix

15 GHEE

Amul Ghee Sagar Ghee Amul Yellow (Cow) Ghee Amul Brown

16 AMUL CATTLE FEED Anomin Amul Shakti Amul Cattle Feed Bovi Plus

17 FRESH CREAM

Amul Fresh Cream Amul Whipping

‘We cater to the Indian taste and will remain authentic in our flavour profile’ Being a milk producing unit, what prompted Amul to enter the icecream segment? In the nineties, ice-cream was classified as a small scale sector. We had acquired a small dairy unit (which had the SSI (Small Scale Industry) licence. We approached Dr Verghese Kurien (then GCMMF Chairman) for his view on entering the ice-cream segment. Dr Kurien wondered, why the production of ice-cream was reserved for the small scale sector and why India’s biggest dairy company was not making icecream? He then said that we should launch ice-creams. We launched Amul Ice Cream (in 1996) and changed the rules. The Indian consumers have a preference for flavours such as strawberry, chocolate and kaju draksh and these are the best-selling varieties in the ice cream segment. In India, if you want to be a mass brand, food, ice-cream or any product, and want consumers to buy your product, you have to be authentic and local. An example of this is our range of Kulfis. If you see our advertising spends, currently the maximum amount is spent on Kulfis. We have got more than 10 flavours of Kulfis - Peele wali Kulfi. Our Latest launch is Gulkand Kulfi. We have got Punjabi Kulfi, Ratnagiri Kulfi, Kashmiri Kulfi, Rajwari Kulfi, and now Gulkand Kulfi. These are all traditional Indian flavours as these are the flavours that give you volume and numbers. International flavours like Mexican chocolate doesn’t give you numbers.

Easy going and calm, those are the words that pop into one’s mind when meeting RS Sodhi, Managing Director at GCMMF (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) Ltd, popularly known as Amul. While Amul is a cooperative at its core, the company has diversified from just milk to a variety including chocolates, icecream, mithai and even lactose free milk. Sodhi talks to us about Amul’s recent entry into the juice segment and explains why the company focuses on the Indian palate and flavour profile.

You have recently diversified into the fruit juice segment. How big a market is this for Amul? Overall, the juice segment is a big market. We have

AUGUST JULY 2019 | PITCH | 51

BRAND CONNECT

chocolates are under our brand, including Amul Belgian milk chocolates, which is sold across India.

There are a lot of brands competing in the mid segment with more brands entering the space. How do you see the new competition?

just captured a small share of the juice market and are in the learning phase. Our main emphasis and focus continues to be milk and we compete in the milk segment. We entered the fruit juice beverage space because it is milk based. If you read our bottle, it mentions fruit pulp and milk solids. The juice is packaged in a small transparent bottle, priced at Rs 10, so that people can see what they are drinking. Also, we have kept the flavours natural and fruit based.

What about the chocolate segment? You have pioneered the dark chocolate segment. Please tell us more about it. Amul entered the chocolate segment in the late 1970s and it was very small in the initial phase. What we found was that the Indian consumer wanted to consume more dark chocolate, with lower sugar content, just like consumers in western countries. However, Indian chocolate makers were continuing to produce chocolates with high sugar content, in fact the sugar content was increasing. When we launched dark chocolates, suddenly we saw the huge consumer response to our product and then expanded our capacity by five times. Dark chocolate has done very well for us. We have become the Number One brand in the country in the dark chocolate segment. Currently, we have more than 25 varieties of dark

52 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

THE ORGANIZED MILK MARKET IS RS ONE

LAKH SEVENTY THOUSAND CRORE PER ANNUM.

IN THE BRANDED ORGANIZED SPACE, NO OTHER FOOD OR FMCG CATEGORY IS AS BIG AS MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS AND THIS CATEGORY IS GROWING AT A RATE OF 13% -14% PER ANNUM.

India is not only world’s largest producer of milk and milk products but also the world’s largest and fastest growing market for dairy products. The size of the Indian market is around seven lakh crore rupees, that’s double the size of the US market. However, the organized market is one lakh seventy thousand crore rupees per annum. In the branded organized space, no other food or FMCG category is as big as milk and milk products and this category is growing at a rate of 13% -14% per annum. In another 10 years, I believe, the size of the organized market for milk and milk products will be around seven to eight lakh crore rupees. Currently, in India, only one-third of the total milk products that is consumed is packed and branded, which means that two-third of the market is still unorganized. The consumption of milk and milk products is increasing and people are shifting from unbranded to branded products; these two factors are driving the growth in the segment. Amul is one brand, but if you look at

India’s total milk production, we handle only 6%; in the organised space our share is 25%. So, there is scope and potential for others to enter. Foreign brands have stagnated in their home markets and if they have to grow, they have to move to a market that is growing. India has the most efficient supply chain for dairy products and the margin of expense is 5% -6% from factory to consumer. Globally, farmers get one-third of what a consumer pays and onethird is taken by the retailer for distribution. Companies enter India because the market is big, but when they realize that the margins are low, they go back. India is a high volume market.

There have been many iconic advertisements that we have seen from

INDIA HAS THE

MOST EFFICIENT SUPPLY CHAIN FOR DAIRY PRODUCTS AND THE MARGIN OF EXPENSE IS 5% -6% FROM FACTORY TO CONSUMER. GLOBALLY, FARMERS GET ONE-THIRD OF WHAT A CONSUMER PAYS AND ONETHIRD IS TAKEN BY THE RETAILER FOR DISTRIBUTION.

girl. What goes behind these creatives? This is done by our creative agency, daCunha Communications. Topical needs to be fast and approvals take time, our creative agency doesn’t need our approval for the topical creatives. Content needs to be up on digital media within minutes.

What are your plans for your digital consumers? Social media is not static. It keeps changing. Yesterday it was Facebook, today its Instagram, now there is Tik Tok. You don’t know what new social media platform will emerge tomorrow. Also, you have to keep innovating to connect with today’s youth.

Chocolates, ice-creams, juices, what new product or category can we expect Amul to enter in the future? Like I said in the beginning, we cater to the Indian taste and will remain authentic in our flavour profile. We have been focusing on Indian mithai (sweets) and will be launching Amul Kheer and Amul Rabri.

Are you planning to increase your marketing spends?

Amul. Looking ahead, what can we expect from your campaigns?

Over the years, ‘Amul Doodh Peeta Hai India’ ‘Amul Taste of India’ and ‘Utterly Butterly Delicious, Amul’ have become iconic taglines. We don’t want to change the existing statement of any of the brands. If we launch any new category or expand the existing ones, we might think of something new but the old taglines will remain in place. We don’t change our tagline like other brands do. Also, we haven’t even changed our creative agency. If our creative agency wants to change something, we warn them in advance that they

can change anything but they can’t change the taglines.

I read recently that Amul has plans to target Indian residents living abroad. Will you be targeting people beyond the Indian diaspora? No, we don’t want to invest in mainstream. If we have to target mainstream, then India is the biggest market, where we already exist.

Amul hoarding and use of the social media sets the brand apart where the tone is cheeky and topical where you use the iconic Amul

At the moment, our marketing spends is less than 1% of our annual turnover. Over the last five years our ad spend was around 0.8%. As we do not have too many brands, we follow an umbrella branding strategy. Where other FMCG brands spend 8% -15% of their revenues on marketing, we have been spending less than 1%, right from beginning and do not plan to increase it.

So you rely majorly on your business rather than marketing? What is media? Media is a tool to communicate with the consumer. If you have an effective creative and a good media planning, you can get the same output as good marketing.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 53

REPORT

IRS 2019 Q2: PRINT PUTS UP A FIGHT WITH STABLE TR AND SLIGHT FALL IN AIR While consumption of news on digital platforms is on the rise, publications have shown consistency in their readership patterns

ven with digitisation of newsrooms and readership habits, publications show consistency in their readership patters, according to the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) data released by Media Research Users Council (MRUC). While consumption of news on digital platforms is on the rise, print is putting up a steady fight. The reach of print, television, radio and cinema vis-à-vis the previous IRS quarter, largely

remains unchanged. Internet as a notable exception continues to grow. Consumption of news on digital platforms is on the rise. The data reveals that the Total Readership (TR) of publications remains steady while the Average Issue Readership (AIR) saw a marginal decline in the second quarter of the calendar year 2019. The TR (read in L1M) in the ‘Any Hindi Dailies’ category remains consistent at 17%, while

the TR in the ‘Any English Dailies’ band saw a marginal rise to 3% in Q2, compared to 2.9% in Q1. The ‘Any Regional Dailies’ TR, according to IRS 2019 Q2, stood at 19% against the 20% of IRS 2019 Q1. The TR for all categories in Urban and Rural divisions also stood exactly where it was in the first quarter, except for the ‘Any English Dailies’ category in the rural market where it again grew from 0.7 per cent to 0.8 per cent.

READERSHIP TREND ACROSS LANGUAGES Read in L1M - TR %

ALL INDIA

URBAN

IRS 2017

IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

Any Hindi Dailies

Any English Dailies

2.7

2.9

3.0

6.5

0.6

0.7

Any Regional Dailies

Read Yesterday - AIR %

IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

RURAL

ALL INDIA

IRS Q2 2019

IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

URBAN IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

RURAL

IRS 2017

IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

Any Hindi Dailies

7.2

7.1

6.7

10.7

10.5

10.1

5.4

5.3

4.9

Any English Dailies

1.2

3.2

0.1

Any Regional Dailies

8.4

8.1

14.9

14.1

13.5

5.5

5.3

5.1

IRS Q1 2019 consists of Q3,Q4 2017 and Q1, Q2 2019

here are few trends if we look at the cumulative numbers of IRS data of Q1 and Q2. Unlike IRS 2019 Q1, where there was a rise in AIR of regional and Hindi dailies, in 2019 Q2, the percentage of Hindi dailies has fallen from 7.1% to 6.7%, while that of regional dailies has fallen

54 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

from 8.4% to 8.1%. As it turns out, the AIR of Hindi dailies in urban markets has fallen from 10.5% to 10.1% between IRS data of Q1 and Q2. AIR of regional dailies in urban markets, on the other hand, has fallen from 14.1% to 13.5% in the same time frame. Coming to dailies that led the

show in Q2, Dainik Jagran, inspite of seeing a drop in TR between Q1 and Q2 from 73673000 to 72559000 and AIR from 20256000 to 18146000, topped the list of top publications. Jagran was followed by Hindustan, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala and Daily Thanthi.

DAILIES READERSHIP - ALL INDIA ‘000s

TR 2017

TR 2019Q1

TR 2019Q2

AIR 2017

AIR 2019Q1

AIR 2019Q2

Dainik Jagran (Main) Hindustan (Main) Dainik Bhaskar (Main) Amar Ujala (Main) Daily Thanthi Lokmat (Main) Malayala Manorama (Daily) Rajasthan Patrika (Main) The Times Of India (Main) Eenadu

70377 52397 45105 46094 23149 18222 15999 16328 13109 15848

73673 54696 51413 47645 24054 19702 17480 18040 15234 15674

72559 52866 52111 47066 24916 20443 18091 17816 16126 14326

20241 17737 13872 11166 6971 5963 9383 7586 5080 14326

20256 18422 15405 10184 6572 6083 9776 7546 5645 6723

18146 15716 15333 10163 6874 6063 9623 7231 5789 5973

In the English category in Mumbai and Delhi, the Times of India stood out as the top publication followed by Hindustan Times, except for Chennai and Kolkata, where the second and third spots were taken by Hindu and Telegraph respectively.

“THE FINDINGS OF IRS 2019Q2 GIVES US A CLEAR PICTURE OF THE REALITY WE ALL KNOW - THAT DIGITAL IS ON A ROLL AND CONTINUES TO GROW AT A FASTER PACE. PRINT READERSHIP REMAINS HEALTHY AND I FIRMLY BELIEVE THE FUTURE LIES IN THE POWER OF TWO AND NOT JUST ONE.”

DAILIES READERSHIP - ENGLISH ‘000s Mumbai Times Of India Hindustan Times Delhi Times Of India Hindustan Times Chennai Times Of India Hindu Kolkata Times Of India Telegraph

TR 2017

TR 2019Q1

TR 2019Q2

AIR 2017

AIR 2019Q1

AIR 2019Q2

2053 1381

2517 1640

2625 1734

1050 755

1280 885

1317 869

1758 1992

2001 2147

2058 2054

887 1142

976 1220

958 1114

637 648

719 759

743 803

269 247

264 263

265 251

651 762

650 758

632 739

333 363

323 344

323 347

“WE ARE VERY PLEASED WITH THE QUALITY OF DATA THAT IS BEING RELEASED THIS QUARTER. INDIA IS CONSUMING MORE MEDIA THAN EVER BEFORE. INTERNET IS NOW FAST CATCHING UP WITH PRINT AND THESE TWO ALONG WITH TV ARE THE DOMINANT MEDIUMS THAT CAN BE USED TO REACH CONSUMERS.”

Ashish Bhasin,

CEO – Greater South and Chairman & CEO – India, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman, MRUC

Vikram Sakhuja,

Group CEO Madison Media & OOH, Madison World and Chairman, IRS Technical Committee

INTERNET CONTINUES TO SEE A GROWTH

Figs in %

% REACH

TOTALS IRS’19 Q1

TOTALS IRS’19 Q2

URBAN IRS’19 Q1

URBAN IRS’19 Q2

RURAL IRS’19 Q1

RURAL IRS’19 Q2

Universe size (000s), 12+ years

107,85,43

108,71,43

37,69,76

38,06,77

70,15,67

70,64,66

TV viewed in L1M Newspapers read in L1M Magazines read in L1M

77 39 6

76 39 5

90 53 9

89 53 9

70 32 4

70 31 4

Listened to Radio in L1M

Accessed Internet in L1M

Watched Cinema in L1M

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 55

REPORT

DAILIES READERSHIP – HINDI TR

AIR

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

39814 36848 27215

40919 38372 28614

40290 37815 28141

11874 8744 9605

12077 8088 9991

10336 8073 8260

Hindustan Dainik Jagran Prabhat Khabar Dainik Bhaskar Jharkhand

15566 12344 8210 3862

16585 13588 8820 4970

15983 13358 7956 5877

4918 3479 2087 1301

5185 3410 2001 1504

4780 3448 1841 1648

Prabhat Khabarhat Khabar Hindustan Dainik Jagran Dainik Bhaskar MP

4819 4451 3900 2197

4801 4240 3763 2115

4722 3800 3507 2074

1313 1314 993 629

1274 1232 921 618

1329 1051 769 554

Dainik Bhaskar Patrika Rajasthan

11079 7780

12169 7798

11651 7448

3559 2641

3847 2384

3642 2286

Rajasthan Patrika Dainik Bhaskar Punjab

15632 14829

17185 17082

16940 16807

7404 4835

7345 5707

7029 5765

Ajit Jag Bani Punjab Kesari Haryana

4009 4149 3119

4314 4386 3274

4414 4207 3304

1050 1183 957

1047 1106 936

1140 970 957

Dainik Bhaskari Dainik Jagran

3820 3724

4043 3882

4365 4162

1241 1328

1251 1250

1401 1368

Punjab Kesari CHH

3060

3352

3106

861

930

884

Hari Bhoomi Nava Bharat (CHH) Dainik Bhaskar Patrika

3641 2918 3088 2043

3860 3253 3149 2166

3742 3040 2934 1796

1230 755 898 673

1304 873 891 652

1256 821 792 541

AIR

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

Lokmat

18066

19469

20169

5904

6014

5988

Daily Sakal

10343

11668

12771

2898

3041

3589

Vijay Karnataka

6881

7860

8081

2539

2654

2583

Vijayavani

6453

7191

7345

2174

2270

2169

‘000s UP Dainik Jagran Amar Ujala Hindustan Bihar

DAILIES READERSHIP – REGIONAL ‘000s Maharashtra

Karnataka

56 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

DAILIES READERSHIP – REGIONAL TR

AIR

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

2017

2019Q1

2019Q2

Guj Samachar

11015

11067

10078

4216

3949

3696

Sandesh

10352

10375

9397

3554

3384

3211

ABP

12570

12361

12379

3806

3406

3321

Bartaman

9642

9475

9739

2815

2652

2668

Sambad

6592

6598

6656

1747

1579

1581

Samaja

5615

5463

5594

1380

1223

1255

Malayala Manorama

15850

17264

17867

9300

9677

9530

Matrubhoomi

11732

12841

13095

6297

6396

5869

Eenadu

8529

8251

7243

3720

3494

2925

Sakshi

5691

5238

5370

2011

1708

1850

Andhra Jyoti

3996

3897

3628

1567

1519

1378

Eenadu

7018

7077

6703

3177

3091

2898

Sakshi

3484

3384

3228

1288

1239

1236

Namaste Telangana

3149

2973

2806

1243

1111

1047

Andhra Jyothi

2349

2339

2221

1000

957

861

Daily Thanthi

22702

23471

24381

6782

6359

6712

Dinakaran

11804

12353

12738

2689

2480

2599

Dinamalar

11489

11588

11969

3079

2841

2814

‘000s Gujarat

West Bengal

Odisha

Kerala

Telangana

Tamil Nadu

MAGAZINES MAGAZINES

MAGAZINES

IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

IRS 2017 IRS Q1 2019

IRS Q2 2019

India Today (English)

8013

9151

9156

Saras Salil Hindi

4320

4262

3357

India Today (Hindi)

7181

7711

7456

Grih Shobha (Hindi)

2767

2783

3349

SamanyaGyan Darpan

6882

7493

6999

Champak (Hindi)

3339

3528

3342

Vanitha (Malayalam)

6128

7049

6811

Diamond Cricket Today (English)

2549

2927

3211

Pratiyogita Darpan (Hindi)

5924

6419

6076

Diamond Cricket Today (Hindi)

2809

2992

2951

Meri Saheli

4635

4682

4235

Mathrubhumi Thozhilvartha

2235

2607

2856

The Sportstar

2951

3437

3713

Sarita

2958

3067

2835

Bal Bhaskar

3598

3917

3685

Mathrubhumi Arogya Masika

2269

2687

2802

General Knowledge Today

3496

3666

1973

2526

2774

Ananda Vikatan

2708

3412

3394

Balarama Filmfare (English - Monthly)

2351

2740

2771

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 57

FEATURE

URBANCLAP: BUILDING A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Raghav Chandra, Co-Founder, UrbanClap tells us how the company caused a disruption in the marketplace, providing a seamless experience to its customers, creating micro-entrepreneurs and more.

By Anam Khan

challenge for any brand, old and new, is not just building the brand but continuing to remain relevant to the consumer, continuously engaging with the consumer and ensuring that the customer experience is such that the customer remains loyal to the brand. One brand that has focused on customer experience is UrbanClap, the home services company founded by Abhiraj Bahl, Raghav Chandra and Varun Khaitan. Since its inception in late 2014, the vision of UrbanClap has been to change the way people shopped for services online. Commenting on the journey so far, Raghav Chandra, CoFounder, UrbanClap says, “It’s been a long journey and there

Benefits of delivering a great CX (Customer experiecne) • Increased customer loyalty • Increased customer satisfaction • Better word-of-mouth marketing, positive reviews and recommendations 58 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

have been many challenges that we’ve faced.” UrbanClap has been at the forefront of the ondemand services ecosystem in India, but the company has not been immune to the rising competition from local vendors. This has meant that the company has had to be at the top of the game to ensure that UrbanClap remains the preferred medium for consumers when it comes to hiring trusted professionals for all their service needs. In fact, half of the company’s bookings come via its mobile app, and the company has seen an increased amount of traction in mobile traffic. Commenting on the start -up space and the line between the ’tech’ start-ups and ‘non- tech’ start up, Chandra says, “One have to be really careful of the

RAGHAV CHANDRA on the three major lessons learnt in building UrbanClap Business Model and Unit Economics: It is important to prove that the basic unit economics – cost of acquisition, cost of operations, revenue from transactions – all need to add up to the positive. For this, it is important to rely on data, rather than trust hypotheses and hunches. Customer Experience: This is the primary factor that determines whether a business succeeds or fails. When the business is growing, one has to be grounded and understand what the customer’s experience is like when they are using you. You have to invest and ensure the best customer experience, else you won’t be left with customers to serve. It’s very important to listen to your customers. Building a Stable Product: Creating a real value proposition for the user is absolutely essential. It is important to figure out what is your proposition before scaling the product.

Raghav Chandra, Co-Founder, UrbanClap

kind of talent employed and the tone and culture they set. To scale as a company, everyone needs to rapidly scale on their own, which requires a lot of effort to build the right core values, the right communication channels, the right messaging and the right company culture. Hiring and team building is one of the most important processes for any company.”

Creating Micro-Entrepreneurs

The segment in which UrbanClap operates is highly unorganized and Chandra says the company brought about a big disruption in this space. “UrbanClap has helped disrupt this working space and provided a platform for service professionals to be micro-

entrepreneurs. In India, gig economy is on the rise and many young Indians are welcoming it,” he adds. In fact, UrbanClap as a company has implemented training and upskilling programs to train professionals and also create jobs. UrbanClap recently partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) on World Youth Skills Day to collaborate for the mobilization, training and certification of service professionals across India. Currently, UrbanClap has more than 20,000 Individual Service Professionals (ISPs) working with the platform as micro-entrepreneurs across various services such as beauty (salon), spa, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance servicing & repair, painting etc. Chandra

elaborates, “With these 20,000 partners UrbanClap services close to a million customers every month across 10 cities in India.” Going beyond Indian shores, UrbanClap expanded its offering, in April last year, and entered Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In fact, the company chose to make its presence felt in Dubai before looking at the Tier-II cities in India. UrbanClap started its operations in Dubai with about 100 servicemen in five sectors: home cleaning, packers and movers, handymen and home painting.

Catching The Investors’ Eye

Recognizing the void that existed in the home services

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 59

FEATURE segment and building an online business has led investors to UrbanClap. These include names such as Ratan Tata, VY Capital, Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners and SAIF Partners. Joining this list are Mekin Maheshwari of Flipkart and Anjali Bansal of Avaana Capital who recently invested in the company. Adds Chandra, “Having someone on board like Mekin Maheshwari with a strong base in technology helps us in more ways than one. Being a tech company, user experience on our website and app is extremely crucial. Given his experience and expertise, we are sure that we will be able to further our aim of making our user interface one of the most seamless ones across the globe”. UrbanClap has evolved to become a one shop destination for service needs – be it plumbers, electricians, carpenters, cleaning and pest control, beauty etc – and with thousands of partners on board, a challenge is maintaining the quality of service across the board and the integrity of the brand. On his part, Chandra adds, “Considering the pain points of consumers related to home- services, UrbanClap is catering to the masses by providing quality experience and expertise and the freedom to choose services at one’s ease.”

Building The Brand On Social Media

Being a Digital first brand, it’s no surprise that social media plays an integral role, particularly when it comes to targeting consumers. Chandra says, “Social media is an extremely important tool in today’s day and age where everything is moving digital. Most of our consumers are active on various social media platforms and are highly influenced by the content that is available out there.” He continues, “Instagram and Facebook are the two mediums we focus on the most and we have started exploring YouTube as well. Social media has helped brands like ours to become easily accessible to people across India. With various influencer tools available online, it’s now easy for us to pick and

60 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

choose the right influencer to promote our brand keeping in mind the audience and age group we are looking to cater to.” The brand works to provide a seamless experience to its customers. Talking about building the empathy gap and the changes noticed in the customer’s experience, Chandra said, “The brand understands its customers’ needs and provides them with at-home services that give them the liberty to choose services at a time convenient to them without causing any disruption to their daily schedule. To bridge the gap with customers, UrbanClap provides its customers massive discounts on services like repairs, salon and spa, massage, and cleaning at home and the best packages at an affordable rate. Over the last two years, due to the launch of services like men’s grooming, the brand has seen several new customers join its platform.” The focus for the company is Customer Experience, (CX), which is the customers’ holistic perception of their experience with a business or brand. CX is the result of every interaction a customer has with the business, from navigating the website to talking to customer service and receiving the product/service. The better experience customers have, the more repeat custom and positive reviews you’ll receive, while simultaneously reducing the friction of customer complaints and returns. While the Indian market

remains the main focus for UrbanClap, the company continues to look at future potential global markets. “We currently operate in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and are very keen to further expand our services to other international markets. As of now, there is no confirmed roadmap of the next international launch, however, we should have in another international location by 2020”, says Chandra.

About UrbanClap:

Founded in November 2014, UrbanClap is India and the UAE’s largest home services company. The company offers services such as beauty and spa at home, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, appliance repair, painting etc. through its mobile app and website. It operates in 10 cities in India (including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune) and two international markets (Dubai & Abu Dhabi). At the back end, UrbanClap partners very closely with over 20,000 hand-picked service professionals. It provides these professionals with tools, training, uniforms, financing, insurance, bank accounts and products/consumables. This full-stack approach helps the company control the endusers experience and live up to its promise of delivering delightful services at home.

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INTERVIEW

REVVING UP ON GROWTH While the Indian auto industry has hit a bump in the road, lubricant supplier Shell Lubricants is confident of growth. Gareth Flood, Head of Marketing, Shell Lubricants India, tells us why India is such an important market, its tie up with motorcycle major, Honda, and targeting not just the B2B consumer and also the end consumer. How important is India as a market for Shell? Shell Lubricants is the Number One lubricants company in the world for the last 12 years. Our goal is to be the number one oil & lubricant company in India. We’ve been in the Indian market for a long time now, and are investing heavily to make that a reality. We operate in the B2B sector, with products such as industrial machine oils, and also in the B2C sector where we cater to the mobility segment, ie. everything from cars, motorbikes to trucks. We work very closely with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). We recently partnered with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) and launched our co-branded product for motorbikes and scooters, which is a world’s first for Shell. The category for mobility in the country is growing at a fast pace.

The automotive sector has seen a significant decline in sales in the recent past. What are the challenges to grow as an oil and lubricant company in the current landscape? Yes, currently, there’s a slowdown. That’s a macroeconomic event as car manufacturers and a lot of dealers are experiencing a slowdown. Despite that, we have a fairly balanced business because we have a large B2B business. Even in B2C, we’re in lots of businesses other than automobile. We have direct OEM relationships where we service factories. We also service the aftermarket, which is the car and motorcycle servicing, throughout the country. Even though, there is a slowdown from the consumer side, there are still a lot of opportunities for us. For example, expanding our distribution network further and building up a presence in cities where we want to have a stronger position. There are some segments in automobile industry that are actually showing high growth. For example, scooters are growing in double-digits and we are focusing on that segment to get growth.

India is a price sensitive market. What is your value proposition? We do see a shift in consumer sentiment overall. Historically, the Indian market was all about the price. However, as an example

62 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

if you look at motorbikes, bikers don’t follow the regular maintenance and change the oil when needed; this degrades the equipment and reduces the life span of the motorcycle. Now, we see people moving up the value chain and the price is not the only thing under consideration. With more awareness, a customer will get their bike or scooter serviced more regularly with quality oil and the vehicle will perform better. This gives the customer better fuel economy and they save money on fuel as they are using a quality lubricant, the bike will last longer. When it comes to servicing, we service both ends of the market. Our proposition for the premium segment is that we can protect your motorcycle or scooter. Fuel efficiency is our USP as this can save up to 3% in fuel, and if you calculate this over the years, it is a lot.

Oil and lubricants is a low involvement category where the mechanic is the influencer. Besides this TG, how do you tap the end customer? An influencer is very important. As you rightly said, India is predominantly what we call a ‘do it for me market’. People get somebody else to do the oil change. We have programs that target the influencers - the mechanic and the retailers who are also very important in the high street and in the bazaar trade. However, I must point out about the involvement of the consumer. Consumers want to know whether the oil used by the mechanic is good quality or not, because their car or bike is a very expensive asset. While we focus a lot on the mechanic and the trade, we are dialling up a lot more on consumer promotions and activations and the co-branded product that we launched with HMSI is an example of that. So we are reaching out to our distributor network, the trade, the mechanic and the influencers, and we’re also doing consumer activation. We will be targeting college students and universities with activations, and will do oil change for students on campus. We also have some digital activation for consumers, including online quizzes where

you can win vouchers and prizes including a free oil change done at your doorstep.

How are you targeting consumers in the Tier II and Tier III cities? We have a 360-degree campaign targeting the end user across India. We also utilise our large network of distributors to target consumers in Tier II and Tier III cities. Our distributors are present pan India and they have the product as well as the POSM (Point of Sale Materials). On the retailer side, we have mechanic activation programs, on-ground channel activation merchandising teams that deal with the mechanics, to train them on our launches and promotions, of all our products, so that they can then talk to the consumers about the benefits of using Shell products.

You have recently opened your first lubricant lab in India, what was the thought behind it? For Shell as a company, we invest heavily in research and development (R&D). We spend a billion dollars more in R&D than our next closest competitor. Our new lab in Bangalore is our fourth Technology Lab and is a world class R&D facility. The insight was that, India is the third largest

WE ALSO UTILISE OUR LARGE NETWORK OF DISTRIBUTORS TO TARGET CONSUMERS IN TIER II AND TIER III CITIES. OUR DISTRIBUTORS ARE PRESENT PAN INDIA AND THEY HAVE THE PRODUCT AS WELL AS THE POSM (POINT OF SALE MATERIALS)

lubricant market in the world and a very important market for Shell. As part of our investment in India, starting with the design in the lab, where we tailor our products for Indian OEMs with ‘made for India’ specifications, keeping in mind the Indian conditions like the variations in temperature. We design, test and manufacture in India and then distribute our products for sale. It is an end-toend process from the design right till we reach the end consumer.

What can we expect from your association with Honda? Are you looking at associating with other companies? Shell India has had very long associations with many Indian OEMs, be it manufactures of cars, motorcycles or trucks. HMSI is the biggest bike builder in the world and we are the biggest lubricants company in the world, so this was a perfect partnership for both of us. We are collaborating on bringing in high quality products specifically designed for the scooters and the motorbikes from HMSI’s stable. This also gives us opportunities to collaborate on many subjects such as the upcoming Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission norms, future technology and even on electronic vehicles and bikes.

How would you compare the Indian and the global market in terms of oil and lubricants? The Indian market is catching up to the global market in many ways, but it is a mixed scenario. In some cases, the Indian market is way ahead, BS VI is a good example and lot of Indian companies are directly jumping from BS IV to BS VI. For Shell, this works to our advantage because our oil and lubricants are high quality, more technologically advanced and premium, which deliver benefits beyond just the price. In addition, our products ensure longer equipment life, better protection of the engines, and fuel economy for customers thus bringing in more value to customers. We bring in all the experience we have from international markets like the US, Europe and China.

AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 63

GALLERY

DENTSU X, GROUPM BAGS TOP AWARDS AT 5TH EDITION OF EXCHANGE4MEDIA’S MEDIA ACE AWARDS The fifth edition of Media ACE Awards, by exchange4media, were organised in Mumbai. The awards recognised Indian media agencies and their people for their work and contribution to the advertising industry. The award ceremony, which preceded the panel discussion, showcased outstanding works from the period of June 1, 2018 to May 31, 2019 and was attended by top honchos of the industry. Among the big winners were Group M and Dentsu X, which took home the ‘Network of the Year’ and ‘Agency of the Year’ titles respectively.

1. Team GroupM, Winner of ‘Network of the Year’ award. L to R: Nawal Ahuja of exchange4media Group, Amin Lakhani of Mindshare, Marzin Shroff of Eureka Forbes, Anurag Batra of BW Businessworld and exchange4media Group, Sam Balsara of Madison World, Prasanth Kumar of GroupM, Richi Mathur and Vinod Thadani of Mindshare, and Mahesh Shetty of Viacom18 2. Marzin Shroff

3. MA Parthasarthy of Mindshare with Prasanth Kumar 4. Marzin Shroff, Sam Balsara with Divya Karani of Dentsu X, winner of the ‘Agency Head of The Year’ award 5. Mahesh Shetty with Alok Jalan and Satyabrata Das of Laqshya Media 6. Jyoti Raman Grover and Takashi Koyanagi of Dentsu X 7. Roshni Das with Eeshwari Pandit of Interactive Avenues, winner of the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award

64 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

11 8. Roshni Das of intel, Shamsuddin

Jasani, Amin Lakhani and Divya Karani

9. Chetan Rama Amin of Vikatan with first runner up of the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award, Shahnab Ahmad of Posterscope India

10. Girish Hingorani of Blue Star with Karan Kapoor of Interactive Avenues, runner up of the ‘Client Lead of the Year’ award 11. Hersh Bhandari with Raveena Udasi of Perfomix India, runner up of the ‘Client Lead of the Year’ award 12. Deepak Sapru of Panasonic Life Solutions India

13. Shashank Sinha of Eureka Forbes 14. Himanka Das of Vizeum 15. Anirban Mukhuti of Saint Gobain Gyproc

16. Roshni Das and Chetan Rama Amin with Varun Mundra of Isobar, 2nd runner up of the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award

17. Team Dentsu X, winner of the ‘Agency of the Year’ award

17 AUGUST 2019 | PITCH | 65

FEATURE RAPID FIRE

RAHUL AGARWAL CEO, Organic Harvest

What is the idea of your perfect vacation or your most favourite vacation spot? I like beaches. They would be on the top of the list. I like places like Maldives. The close second will be someplace like Leh or Ladakh, with mountains and trekking.

What’s your favourite go-to app? WhatsApp is my most used app, mostly for work. Other than that some other social media apps, but that’s it. I don’t use a lot of apps.

What do you do to de-stress after a long day at work? I read a lot. I spend at least an hour and half on reading before I go to bed. That’s the way I rewind myself and get energetic for the next day. Currently I’m reading ‘Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies’ by Reid Hoffman. He is the co-founder of Linkedin. I like reading business, management and motivational books I also work out a lot. Every morning I take out two hours for workout. One hour each for swimming and exercise. That’s how I re-energize myself.

If not a marketer, what would you be? I don’t know. I have never thought of that. I was a CA before, but I never liked it. After CA, my first venture was into online education. At one point I was teaching almost 20,000 students in USA, online. After that Orgainc Harvest happened.

What’s your favourite form of entertainment? I like watching movies on weekends. I like watching all kinds of movies, with the only condition that it should have an happy ending. Workout is also a form of entertainment for me.

66 | PITCH | AUGUST 2019

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