Open for

Business

Illustration: Anirban Bora

At a time when most established
brands are struggling with their
supply chain, the young blood has Fighting Fear
stepped up its game to make its
presence felt and let the world & Anxiety with
know that it care and can
deliver. Brand Equity decodes Empathy and
Real Solutions
what’s working for younger,
smaller brands and what the
post-lockdown world may A Brand Equity special series on how the country's
have in store. biggest brands are navigating the challenges of a new
By Harsh Vardhan world. In Part Three, we gather insights from custodians
of some of the most ubiquitous retail brands, and we get

W
"As a
hen the going gets tough, "There is no template young company, According to Nielsen, share a look at their post-covid marketing playbook.
to follow. We wanted to we pride ourselves in our
the tough gets going -- of the top three brands By Amit Bapna
spread the message of love and agility and that’s what allowed
it’s probably the most us to make a few quick amends in in the hand sanitiser
hope. That’s the reason we launched
overused phrase our delivery model to suit the situation. segment dropped from
an early Mother’s Day Campaign - for
among millennials, but never what can be more comforting than a Other than moving to the slotted delivery 85% in January and
“Consumer behavior during Covid-times has
has it carried the weight that mother’s love? models and forging quick partnerships, we February to 39% in undergone unprecedented shift from re-
it does in the current situation The most important lesson we have learnt also initiated consolidated delivery to large
March after 152 new evaluation of their choice of brands to
apartment complexes. This reduced the pressure
the world is caught up in. is not to take anything for granted... If players entered experimenting or trying brands that have
you had told me two months ago that the on the delivery system while allowing us to serve a
Almost a global lockdown and much larger number of consumers. Our decision to the segment. In been agile to solve real consumer problems of
company can be run remotely, I wouldn’t
a constant threat to life has have believed it. But we are doing it now! hire hotels to house all employees working in the p a ck a g e d rice ensuring access, availability and trust.”
pushed everyone inside four We have decentralised the decision-making processing plants during the lockdown, adhering to in modern trade,
walls of their homes and made process to help cope with the changing stringent safety measures, has strengthened our
top three brands
Devendra Chawla
sense of team spirit. In fact, most of our new MD & CEO, Spencer’s Retail & Natures Basket
people rethink their lives and dynamics of each region. Flexibility has cumulatively lost
been the key." recruits have come through references from
actions. Brands aren’t unscathed our current employees." their share from 72% in
either. Some of the top business February to 64% in March.
PC Musthafa, CEO & co- “Retail has largely always focused on two
organisations and retail chains founder, iD Fresh Food Founders Vivek Gupta, co- “What worked for us is
powerful emotions - fear and greed, but that
Speak
have crumpled under pressure, founder, Licious that we own our entire supply
leaving many wondering if these chain and have a robust distribution will no longer be relevant. We have to be
corporate giants even had any plan network. One of the key decisions we made conscious of the current mind-set and add
of action for such an emergency. during the lockdown was to scale down the empathy as the most critical emotion in our
Surprisingly, some of the local and operations and provide only the essential communication craft.”
rather new-age companies have risen products, like idli dosa batter, chapati, Pawan Sarda
up to the occasion and managed to parotta, paneer etc in all markets,” says PC rce, Futur e Group
group head-digital, marketing & ecomme
deliver well. Musthafa, co-founder and CEO, iD Fresh
“Local brands have a more local supply ready Food.
chain - that makes it easier for them to cook Brand positioning and social image, too,
"We need to be super “As customer anxiety has risen, it has brought
to manage disruptions in times like nimble, yet wedded items has been a focus area for most of these
these. I believe it is not a matter of less have been companies at this point as it could go a long
about a significant shift in our playbook across
to long term objectives.
or more trusted choice, but the fact reliable Our business models were re- flying of f way in creating a positive impression on the marketing funnel - be it brand, digital or
that there was no choice in some cases. vendors engineered to meet the times and the shelves fast. the consumer's mind. customer lifecycle management. The 3 Ms -
we did the same, be it the way we now Messaging, Media and Monies - have evolved.”
Hence, availability trumped everything who could With most meat Rohan Mirchandani, co-founder and
supply to stores or the new D2C model.
else,” Abheek Singhi, senior partner help with required All of this was done with a clear thought shops shut and CEO of yogurt brand Epigamia says, Prashant Verma
and managing director at The Boston fulfilment. on how it met our big picture of the consumers becoming “We realised that despite the restriction vice president - marketing, Grofers
Consulting Group tells Brand Equity. Availability is the long-term goals." increasingly hygiene imposed on the movement of people and
In India, the sudden enforcement of key right now. Smaller conscious, demand for goods, we had to resume our supply lines to
nationwide lockdown on March 25, left brands have been able to Rohan Mirchandani, packaged and frozen ensure the availability of food in the retail “There is a swing towards a more cautious,
CEO & co-founder, Epigamia
many big brands with stocks stuck capture that aspect well.” meat from companies such stores. We re-engineered our operation conservative and risk-averse approach to daily
in the pipeline. Retailers say smaller and as Mumbai-based Zorabian and resources and worked closely with activities from a consumer mindset. The role
Gaurav Baheti, founder regional consumer goods products Chicken has also seen a significant state authorities to gain the requisite that the brand plays in consumers lives is one
and CEO of supply chain have been outpacing larger market leader surge in demand. Easier availability permission to run our supply of enabling convenience and this is what we’ve
management company Procol, brands in sales in nearly a dozen key of local players at the next door infrastructure to service the stores.
doubled down on during this time."
says, “Considering the fact that categories as consumers pick availability kirana stores has played a big role in Realising that many of our consumers
more than 95% buyers purchase on shelves over loyalty. Be it the city this demand and experts feel this could are still unable to find us in-store, we Srivats TS
essential goods through their based snacks companies or some better lead to a larger shift in consumption set up a direct to consumer platform vice president - marketing, Swiggy
network of sellers and brokers, known ones such as Garden (owned by patterns as people could get used to for them to order from us directly.”
there is a need to discover new CavinKare) and Baggrys, munchies and a comparatively lower priced brand. Continued on pg3 Continued on pg2

Don't Fall Prey to The hype around Social Media

by invitation
Marketers should use social
media without delusions.
Here's the truth that
nobody openly talks about.
By Shubhranshu Singh
The theory of social media marketing
differs from its practice. Vested interests
puff up myths and fallacies about it.
The dogma is that social media is
disruptive, democratic, autonomous and
open access. The commercial reality is
strikingly different. The ‘proven’ approaches
are all offered on a rate card. They are
designed and evolved for paying advertisers.
Brands pay platforms to get results. Social
media platforms work like traditional media
channels. The difference is that they possess
massively superior information about their
followers, which they exploit.
Why are they of value to brands? To
reach large audiences with paid media
promotions. Interaction is possible but the
vast majority of people on social media do
not comment, share or actively engage with
brands. This reality is concealed, snubbed
or ignored.
Social media is very much subject to
traditional approaches. The hype about a
new era of conversational, opt in marketing
which celebrates success through virality is
just that – ‘hype’ !
If you take an empirically substantiated
view, you will see that successful brands
do not run after engagement. They have
the means to guarantee scale and impact
through paid plans. Being powered by
‘audience love’ is not key to their strategic
plans. Big brands are not reliant on award
winning content beating the algorithm. In
fact, big brands rely on the algorithm thanks
to their cheque books, not creativity!
The utopia built around engagement,
conversation and real-time virality is a relic.
When did you last hear Facebook talk about
fans, organic conversations or engagement
on their platform? It is all about paid reach.
It has been so for years. Social media has
become just another marketing channel and
most consumers do not want many or daily
conversations with brands.
Engagement – Vanity made sacred
Since – by definition – social media is
about community, everyone focused on
engagement. Increasing the total of the
number of clicks that one could attract
became the game. At an aggregated level,
higher engagement numbers do not
necessarily mean better business results or
stronger brands. Social media campaigns
for big brands reach hundreds of millions of
people, but only few thousands ever engage
with them. There are performance outliers
but they are not the norm.
Like conventional media, social media
influences consumer decision-making
without having a large number of
engagement interactions. Yet, despite this
The hype about a new
era of conversational,
opt in marketing which
celebrates success
through virality is just
that – ‘hype’!
clear picture, it is still commonplace for
marketers to focus on engagement as the
key performance indicator of their social
media campaigns. The whole mind set is
that content should get reactions rather
than effectively communicating. This makes
little business sense. Engaged audiences
are already the core audiences. Media
planning basics suggest that you should try
to maximise reach. Sale pricing for engaged
audiences is at a premium. Still, brands
compete to get in front of the same people.
Community size and following – A
lever or a consequence?
It is always nice to know that there is a
fan following or a core audience that is
passionate or obsessive about your brand.
The reality is that most people live very
distracted and busy lives and it is rare for
them to have attention or interest in a brand
on an ongoing or a daily basis.
The causal connection between
fan population and business
growth is not validated. Priority
to the existing community implies an
inability to reach potentially new customers.
Social media – It is not for free.
Theoretically, social media marketing is free.
Anyone can set up a profile, a channel, a page
and then post content which many people
can potentially see. Billions of accounts
have been set up and so, predictably, one
gets lost in the cacophony. Hence, for serious
business, reach is achieved through paid
means. But the halo is still seen around
engagement.
So, there you have it. No matter what the
reality is and all the evidence proving it, the
myth of the transformative effect of social
media abides.
I call upon marketers to use social media
without delusions.
Firstly, do not get too caught up in the
tactics of what is currently working in social
media. Trends are less important than we
think. Clear insights, investment linked to
business objectives and a solid view of what
the brand stands for are way more important
than any flimflam.
Secondly, pick your channels based on
brand need. There is no point in duplicating
your reach. Once you get reach, watch the
reaction. Find a linkage to sales. Do not be
silly to revel in the ‘call to no action’. Brand
building is business. Stop creating content
you can’t afford to promote.
Lastly, great social marketing
isn’t about instant interactive
experiences. It is about rich,
relevant storytelling reaching
many people. The more the
people, the better the outcome.
The author is global brand
head of Royal Enfield.
Views expressed
are personal.
 Continued from Page 1 >>

FIGHTING FEAR & ANXIETY WITH EMPATHY

Pawan Sarda, GROUP HEAD-
AND REAL SOLUTIONS
DIGITAL, MARKETING & ECOMMERCE, FUTURE Srivats TS
GROUP VICE PRESIDENT - MARKETING, SWIGGY

The New Playbook The New Playbook

1. Retail has largely always focused on In these fundamentally
two powerful emotions - fear and greed, challenging and
but that will no longer be relevant. We extraordinary times,
have to be conscious of the current the consumer mindset
mind-set and add empathy as the most has moved from one of

‘Pivoting while serving in a crisis’

critical emotion in our
communication craft.
One must show
empathy for what
the stakeholders
are facing – and
demonstrate that
the brand is there
to help.
2. Safety and hygiene
measures will very critical
for customers. We have to demonstrate
this in-store and in our communication,
too.
3. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ -
Going beyond physical stores, expanding
into new categories, new geographical
areas or new distribution models, brand
will have to react quickly and be more
agile. As a matter of fact, we launched
shop.bigbazaar.com in ten days post the
lockdown was announced.
Learnings From These Times
One of the most valuable lesson for me
and my team was when we managed
to create some interesting moment-
marketing brand voice pieces. The key,
however, is to constantly hear the
consumer and respond quickly looking
beyond your limitations. We recently
shot a safety communication film by
completely outsourcing production from
our zonal teams with hand-held cameras
and staff. To our surprise our consumers
became the voice and helped move this
video forward. My biggest learning: a
good marketing idea is not bound by
marketing budget.
The Bounce-back Plan
First of all, we ensured that we reached
out to our customers and had a one-on-
one to understanding of their current
mind-set. That exercise was valuable as
we identified their current wallet share
and their post-lockdown needs. There
is absolutely no doubt that that there is
a shift in their purchase behaviour and
this shift is here to stay for another year.
We are gearing ourselves to cater to this
shift. Another critical aspect for us as a
large-format retail brand is to observe
social distancing. This has compelled us to
go beyond our stores and ask ourselves
“How else do we reach our customers”
versus “the customer reaching us”. Apart
from shop.bigbazaar.com we’re working
on a couple of other models like ‘click &
pay’ – where customers can shop online
and pick-up from dedicated area nearest
to the store or ‘Door-step delivery’ and
‘Society Seva’.
Prashant Verma
VICE PRESIDENT - MARKETING, GROFERS
The New Playbook
Health and economic crises bring
about lessons for companies to adapt.
As customer anxiety has risen, it has
brought about a significant shift in our
playbook across the marketing funnel
- be it brand, digital or customer
lifecycle management. The 3 Ms -
Messaging, Media and Monies - have
evolved in our new playbook.
Messaging - It is a time to be
sensitive to our audience and
solve their fears; and definitely
not talk about product
superiority. As a brand, we
need to be empathetic to our
customers, reassure them that
we have their back and then
empower them with the support
they need (home delivery in our case)
to fight this pandemic. Our campaigns
have been around the commitment
of our #DeliveryHeroes, safety
procedures, #ZeroTouchDelivery and
the introduction of Society Shopping
to ensure delivery that is faster and
serves more households together.
Media - Our content marketing
strategy has been driven by short
videos, static and brand stories. The
tonality for the brand is now ‘raw’
- inspired by the josh towards our
country from our delivery partners,
support from our NGO partners
and real-life testimonials from our
customers.
Monies - We have refocused our
investments and our marketing
efforts are geared towards solving
real-life problems for our customers
- be it providing safe, contactless
delivery or society shopping in order
to serve more people.
Learnings From These
Times
As a new-age consumer internet
company that eats and breathes data-
driven marketing to develop models
for CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value)
and CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost),
we also realise the increased value of
building long term relationships with
customers during
this period. Being
transparent with
our customers on our
operational restrictions and
surges in demand, innovating on our
feet by solving real problems for them
and showing agility to execute quickly
were all important learnings in the last
6 weeks.
The Bounce-back Plan
For us, it isn’t necessarily about
bouncing back but preparing for
a new normal and strengthening
the brand and the business. As
the adoption of online grocery is
happening via environmental forces,
we are working towards making this
transition seamless for our customers.
We are witnessing first-time online
transactors entering the digital space
via grocery shopping. Nearly 20% of
our new users are first-time online
shoppers.
We have a responsibility to ensure
that these new-to-online shoppers
find it easy to interact with the app.
To make their switch easier, we are
handholding them throughout their
purchase journey, and educating them
on the way to ensure this transition is
seamless. Over the next few months,
we will be investing in our systems to
build multilingual interfaces, shopping
assistants, easier payment interfaces
and chatbots for quick resolutions to
problems.
seeking experiences in the
pre-Covid times to seeking
safety and security in the
current, post-Covid situation.
Devendra Ch awla
There is a swing towards a more
MD & CEO, Spencer’s
cautious, conservative and risk-averse
approach to daily activities from a consumer
mindset. The role that the brand plays in a
consumer’s life changes and evolves, and this
is abundantly true for Swiggy as well. The
role that the brand plays in consumers lives is
one of enabling convenience, in line with our
mission, and this is what we’ve doubled down
on during this time.
Within the food category, the mindset
translates to an increased need for safe and
secure food handling, right from the food
preparation at the restaurant to handling
and packaging and transport via our delivery
partners. We have put in place a series of
measures that are geared towards this
including No-Contact delivery, highlighting
restaurants with best safety standards
and the safe practices being employed at
restaurants to keep food safe, and masks for
our delivery partners, among many others.
In addition, while delivering groceries
and essentials as a way to make our
consumers lives easy and more convenient
has been part of our offering for a while,
we have scaled our grocery offering to
over 200 cities. We have seen extremely
strong traction for this service and this
addresses a fundamental consumer
need in these times – of gaining access to
grocery essentials in a safe and anxiety
free manner. We’ve also ramped up our
Swiggy Genie service, which is live in over
30 cities and allows consumers to do any
task they need done right from delivering
home-cooked food to loved ones to picking
up non-prescription medicines from
neighbourhood stores.
Learnings From These Times
The role a trusted brand plays in consumers’
lives has only been re-emphasized and
sharpened. At any time, consumers gravitate
towards trusted brands, but in these
extraordinary and challenging times this is
exceptionally true.
The Bounce-back Plan
There will be a greater amount of emphasis
on trust, safety, protection, and the role
that brands, and in particular trusted
brands, will play in consumers’ lives will
only increase. It will be important to build
trust and positive consumer sentiment in
these uncertain times. We will double down
on continuing to operate responsibly and
in a manner that validates the trust that
consumers place on us and expect from us.
Retail & Natures Basket
The New Playbook
A brand gets defined by the way
consumers retain it in their minds
and hearts. Unprecedented times
present a rare and unplanned
opportunity to touch the hearts
of millions and develop a deeper
connect for lifetime. The pandemic
and the lockdown in a sense has
made consumers differentiate
between life and lifestyle.
Our attempt has been an un-
relentless mission to serve millions
of households, build a deeper
emotional connect while serving
their daily essentials with utmost
safety and hygiene during these
times when they need us the
most; whether at stores or via
our e-commerce app, phone or
while using our chat bot for home
deliveries. Our frontline staff has
emerged as the real heroes serving
households in such times and going
much beyond the usual call of duty.
Consumer behavior during Covid-
times has undergone unprecedented
shift from re-evaluation of their
choice of brands to experimenting or
trying brands that have been agile
to solve real consumer problems
of ensuring access, availability
and trust. Our ability to remain
empathetic to consumers in these
times of need coupled with our
strategic shift to boost our ‘Out-
of-Store’ business, redefined our
marketing strategy making it truly an
omni-channel.
The Bounce-back Plan
Communicate, Adapt and Pivot:
Constant communication across
digital and eCommerce channels
assuring access and availability of
essentials in these times of need
and treating the store as a platform,
we created an ecosystem via many
partnerships with other industry
players which allowed us to pivot
to an OOS ( Out of Store) delivery
grocery player apart from managing
store business.
We partnered with Uber, Rapido,
Zypp, Scootsy, Swiggy, ShadowFax,
Delhivery and many more within
24-48 hours
of lockdown
to manage the
shortage of
delivery staff
and initial staff
attendance. Thus
while we took orders, communicated
with consumers, managed
inventories and supplies of food and
FMCG brands, we also trained our
new partners on hygiene, safety,
contactless delivery and were able
to serve consumers not just through
our own staff but also via these
partnerships as Out of store delivery
orders increased multiple times.
A Grocery Assistant (chat-bot) on
WhatsApp is solving real-time
delivery problems. It is helpful
especially for consumers who were
never online before.
Plan selection of assortment in line
with needs: Consumer’s needs and
choices evolved as they got more
health and hygiene conscious,
enabling availability for newer
categories in healthy, organic, fresh
and regional selection. We ensured
personalization across regional
tastes by presenting gluten free,
hydroponics fresh produce, high
protein, direct from farm, apart from
the regular assortment.
The Learning
Critical learning has been to never
let a great crisis go waste and to
stay responsible and accessible: A
new go-to-market Strategy where
“the store comes to you” evolved
with differentiated models to serve
societies like RWAs ,NGOs, senior
citizens and differently abled people.
Brands that could quickly “solve
for” consumer issues and which
innovated during COVID times,
would have built a long-term
association and earned trust with
existing as well as new consumers.
Brands who have relentlessly
worked towards ensuring its
promise of availability, safety,
hygiene and convenience, will
go a long away in the hearts of
consumers.

#STAYHOME WITH THE STARS

Brand Equity looks at the Lockdown 2.0 version of celebrity brand endorsements. By Priyanka Nair
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
Over the last few weeks, Indian badminton
star PV Sindhu has been shooting short
videos and re-sharing content for brand
partners, from home. So far, Bank of
Baroda, Stayfree, Vizag Steel, VISA and
a few other brands have engaged with
Sindhu. The messaging is mainly focused
on creating awareness to ‘stay home and
stay safe’.
Ramakrishnan R, co-founder, Baseline
Ventures, the firm that manages Sindhu’s
endorsement deals, tells Brand Equity,
that it is important for brands to win back
consumer confidence. As market situation
eases out, he says, “There is going to be
a major spurt in consumption of sports.
Sport improves morale and fans cannot
wait for live action to start.” The move by
brands to keep similar faces around this
time is wise, he believes.
Sindhu is not the only celebrity brand
endorser working from home. Actress
Sara Ali Khan has posted content
for JBL India and Puma, brands that
have onboarded Khan for multiple
engagements. Leading Bollywood star,
Deepika Padukone, who has
invested in yoghurt brand
Epigamia, and actress
Jacqueline Fernandez who’s
invested in RAW Pressery, a
cold-pressed juice company,
were seen pushing messages
for their respective brands.
Then there are others who were
spotted extending the shelf-life
of old campaigns. Pepsi brand
ambassador, actor Tiger
Shroff recently posted a
throwback photo from
an old campaign shoot.
Industry sources tell us
that actor did so on his
own and not because
of any contractual
commitments.
Talking about
the brand’s plans
with its celebrity
partners in the near
future, a PepsiCo
spokesperson, hints, "Our celebrity brand
partners are a part of the PepsiCo India
family and we remain committed to
them. We are collaborating and working
together to create timely and meaningful
conversations.”
Currently, most celebrities are involving
themselves in brand activities as a part of
an on-going contract or out of goodwill.
But in the coming months, there could
be a change in their fee structure, says
Ramakrishnan. “While physical time of
the athlete still constitutes the chunk of
endorsement fee but going forward there
will be a fine mix of physical and digital
engagements. There will be separate
weightage of commercial fee attributed
towards digital engagements,” he adds.
THE NEW LINE OF PARTNERSHIPS
Actor Vicky Kaushal is
currently promoting OPPO’s
#StayInWithPassion campaign.
Sumit Walia, VP, product and
marketing, OPPO India, tells Brand
Equity, “When the world is in
varying stages of quarantine and it
‘seems’ that almost everything has
come to a cessation, this is exactly
when we need to get up and inspire.
The need of the hour is for us to not
only inspire people to pursue their
passion but also encourage them
to practice social distancing and be
safe. Hence, #StayInWithPassion.”
OPPO has also partnered with
multiple social influencers across
content genres like fitness,
photography and cooking.
E-learning platform,
Unacademy, is another brand
that’s actively involving
celebrities for the last two
months. As a part of
the brand’s ongoing
program called
“Legends on
Unacademy”,
cricket stars Brian
Lara, Brett Lee,
Jonty Rhodes,
along with
politicians Dr. Shashi Tharoor and
Dr. Kiran Bedi have given pep talks
to students across the country
through live classes. Recently,
celebrity couple Virat Kohli and
Anushka Sharma were also seen
live on Unacademy.
In the April edition, over
30,000 students attended each
of Tharoor’s five sessions. The
joint session by Kohli and Sharma
attracted more than 50,000, while
Bedi’s session was attended by
more than 20,000, claims the
company. According to Karan
Shroff, VP marketing, Unacademy,
“Brands that have an emotional
connect with the consumers’
lives through their campaigns will
definitely stand out.”
Along with the emotional
connect, consumers are
also rightfully demanding
transparency, believes, Walia.
“It is for this reason that
marketers are strategically
moving towards the
use of celebrities as
influencers and not just
mere endorsers. It is a
question of shared
equity,” he adds.
A SONG & DANCE
HDFC Bank and HP India
have hosted fundraisers with
musicians across genres.
Thematic content is also being
generated by several brands.
For instance, on the occasion of
International Dance day, Tata
Sky partnered with actress
Madhuri Dixit to host the
#UnitedByDance event.
Ashita Aggarwal, marketing
professor SP Jain Institute of
Management and Research,
says that unfiltered stories
from celebrities’ home will
add warmth to brands’
communication pieces. “Stories
would change and that is to
identify with times that left
a huge mark on us all. New
brands may be skeptical to sign
new endorsement contracts
due to decreased consumption
and troubled economy. But
that would be momentary.
Before we know, we all will
move on to something else
and celebrity endorsements
would become as usual,” she
concludes.
Marketers Speak
On what celebrity endorsement deals
might look like in the near future
Celebrities brand These are trying times and it
endorsements are is very hard to arrive at how
not limited to the the world would be after a
role of an endorser pandemic; will celebrities have
or mainstream the same impact or will the
mass genres world be more focused on
like Bollywood maintaining social distancing/
or Cricket. Both health and hence endorsements
brands and will take a back seat, only
celebrities will time will tell. However, one
have to work thing is certain, learning from
collaboratively successful people will never
towards creating stop, drawing inspiration
partnerships from their enduring journey’s
echoing the ‘new will never stop. Hence
relevance’ which endorsements done with
may develop in character and done right will
the coming time. do well. Brands that have an
We can see a shift emotional connect with the
in the consumer consumers’ lives through their
sentiments as campaigns will definitely stand
they would out. Moreover, it is essential
expect brands to for every brand to consider
stir positive and these things while planning
progressive change advertising and endorsements
through meaningful led efforts in the near future.
and responsible Endorsement deals might also
collaborations that have to be short term given the
resonates well with uncertainty this pandemic has
the brand ethos. brought on us, hence shorter
investments with a vision
Sumit Walia will help brands secure their
VP, product and investments and would draw
marketing, higher interest. All of this of
OPPO India course until the world resumes
100% normalcy.
Karan Shroff
VP marketing,
Unacademy
 AN ON-GOING SERIES COVERING VIEWS OF AD AND MARKETING LEADERS AND EXPERTS ON THE WAY FORWARD.
‘There is an odd
efficiency to
this pandemic’
Ari Weiss, chief
creative officer,
DDB Worldwide,
shares with BE the
unintended gift
of the crisis that’s
gripped our world
I
t feels like every commercial
these days begins with “in
these uncertain times…”
and they are indeed
uncertain times,
but they are also
extraordinarily
human times.
They have
forced us to
stare down the
things we love
about ourselves,
the things we hate
about ourselves and
everything in between.
This global pandemic
continually forces us to come to
terms with the infinitely small
role we play in the world, but
the amazingly impactful role we
play as part of a larger connected
organism – namely: human
beings. Hence the very aptly
named title for this series “We’re
in this together.”
This is a huge moment for
reappraisal in our lives and
same goes for our work lives.
It forces us to ask “When have
we been simply going through
the motions?” versus, “When
have we been really loving
what we do?” Nowhere is this
more apparent than a Webex
or Zoom meeting. Schedule
a box checking meeting and
it’s just a matter of moments
before the cameras turn off,
the audio goes on mute and the
meeting falls apart. Schedule
a truly progressive, thought
provoking meeting and the
cameras turn on, the custom
backgrounds get creative,
everyone starts talking over
each other and hours pass as if
we were all in the same room.
Continued from Page 1 >>
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Even meat delivery platform Licious
has been rather active when most e-
commerce chains have been facing de-
livery challenges. “Given that we own,
control and manage the entire supply
chain, Licious has been in a position to
respond swiftly to the changing ground
realities in the wake of the pandemic.
We have been airlifting some part of the
raw material, especially for cities where
local sourcing is difficult at the moment.
Across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi-
NCR, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune and
Chennai, we have witnessed a 200 per
cent surge in demand during the lock-
down period,” Licious co-founder, Vivek
Gupta, tells BE.
tartups such as food brand Soulfull,
owned by Kottaram Agro Foods, have
brought tech into use to work around
the situation well. Says Prashant
Parameswaran, MD & CEO, Kottaram
Agro Foods, “As a startup, we do not
have regional HR teams for every city/
state and our leaders from the sales team
moved into being the CEO’s for the re-
gion and took on the spot decisions. Our
sales team not only collected orders via
phone or with our app but also ensured
delivery by taking their vehicles or dis-
tributor vehicles. We had set ourselves
into a war-zone mentality. Some of our
regions delivered sales which were as
much or if not more than the pre-Covid
times. We even enabled a store locator on
our website for our customers to know
which stores are open in their area and
what products of the brand they had in
stock.”
Snacks company True Elements’ co-
founder Puru Gupta, who antici-
pated the crisis says, “Thanks to
our China learnings and connec-
tions, we anticipated this situation to
some extent in the middle of Janu-
ary itself (though not this level of
We recently had a global
assignment for one of our
largest clients and under
normal circumstances it
would have been extremely
challenging to pull incredible
talent from around the world
away from their regularly
scheduled business. But in
two weeks, with most of
the box checking meetings
falling apart, we were able to
get over 100 ideas from more
than 20 teams in 7 offices
across markets. And the work
was amazing. I was so
incredibly proud of
our team, but more
importantly I
was so moved
by how many
people in so
many different
countries, with
such diverse
perspectives--
COUNTER VIEW
all in the midst of
overcoming all sorts of
personal and professional
obstacles--came together to
solve a problem with brilliant
creativity. Nobody was
going through the motions.
Everybody was doing what
they loved.
There is an odd efficiency
to this pandemic. It makes
going through the motions
feel meaningless and it makes
truly important meetings
bring people together to solve
problems that no individual
could solve alone. It makes us
feel human. It makes us feel
a part of something bigger. It
makes us feel alive. In the end,
that’s the greatest gift this
pandemic will give us. The gift
of feeling alive.
Not long from now, things will
likely return to normal. Hope-
fully, we will all remember how
alive doing what we love has
made us feel in this moment.
And moving forward we contin-
ue to empower and encourage
each other to do what we truly
love. Because that’s what will
move our industry forward and
more importantly our world.
ROAD AHEAD
5-6%
Nielsen’s growth outlook for
FMCG sector for 2020
9-10%
Projection before Covid-19
pandemic happened
The sector saw early signs of recovery in Jan & Feb
March 25
Nationwide lockdown came into effect
May 18
Date till which lockdown is to last as per current directions
scale.) We worked out a detailed business
continuity plan. From the first week of
March, we moved our migratory popula-
tion to live inside the factory with their
food and entertainment taken care of.
As a result, we had zero production loss
in our plant - the only loss was due to a
broken logistics system which we man-
aged in Pune and Mumbai through our
vehicles.”
But the question to be asked is whether
consumers would continue opting for
these newer brands in the long run or is
this surge in demand just a manifesta-
tion of the panic in the air?
“In the first two weeks of lockdown,
anything that was available, sold. Many
smaller and new brands gained
sales in that period. But I would
wonder, if consumers were mak-
ing a choice for a brand at all. People
panic bought categories - atta, soybean
oil, biscuits, noodles, ghee, hand wash
‘This will not be our new normal’
You cannot build teams, relationships
or company culture through video
conferencing, writes Ogilvy India’s
chief executive, Kunal Jeswani
I’ve heard talk about the new normal.
I’ve heard talk about how fabulously so many
companies, across the world, are operating in the
lockdown.
I’ve also heard talk about how the future is
increasingly going to be about agile working.
Why do we need large office spaces when
people can work from home? Do we really
need to travel to work anymore? Do we need
to meet colleagues or clients or partners face
to face? Isn’t it smarter to just continue video
conferencing the way we are right now?
Imagine the costs we could save.
This entire line of thinking is being pushed forward by people
who do not operate at the frontlines of actually creating
revenue. People who do not actually meet, ideate and create
together. People who do not have a responsibility to build
company culture. People who have distanced themselves so
far from their employees, their customers and their businesses
that they actually believe their job is just to manage numbers on
spreadsheets.
You cannot build and motivate teams through video
conferencing.
You cannot build relationships through video conferencing.
and not brands. Some new brands ended
up going to new consumer homes. Very
good for them,” says Damodar Mall, CEO
- Grocery, Reliance Retail.
Nielsen has slashed its 2020 growth
outlook for India’s fast-moving con-
sumer goods sector to 5-6% from its ear-
lier projection of 9-10%, but big brands,
with their financial strength and larger
distribution chain, can bounce back ag-
gressively once supply chain disruptions
ease. This, in turn, might again hurt the
smaller brands.
“I would not see this (fall in demand
during lockdown) really as an issue with
big brands. They finally have the capabil-
ity to reorient the supply chain quickly,”
says Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner &
sector leader, Consumer Products & Re-
tail, EY India.
In the long run, numbers will still be
in favour of corporate behemoths, but
younger brands are well aware of how
When Will The
‘Resurgence’ Come?
Adman turned marketing professor,
Brian Sheehan, on how advertising
expenditure will recover in the
post-Covid world
A
s we start to think about economic
recovery from Covid-19, the key question
for our industry is “how quickly will
advertising spend come back to its pre-
crisis levels?” Is it months or is it years? That is,
of course, very hard to project, since we don’t even
know for sure when day-to-day life will recover.
Everything depends on where, when and how much
major advertisers spend. In reality, the answer will be
vastly different for different categories. Some will recover
quickly, others a bit more slowly and others extremely
slowly. Unfortunately, some of the slowest-recovering
categories are some of the biggest media spending
categories.
Total US advertising spending for the most recent year
was over $200 billion. The number one and number two
spending categories were Retail and Automotive. Between
them, they accounted for over 13% of total advertising
spending. Two other categories in the top 10 were Travel
(including airlines, hotels and car rental) and Restaurants.
WE’RE
Putting these four categories together, they accounted for
about 20% of all advertising spend.
So, our key question can be refined: How long will it
IN THIS
take for these categories to rebuild their business and
their advertising spending? Because advertising spend
is a function of ability to recover, the best place to look
TOGETHER
for answers is not in the advertising community, but in
the investment community. How are they advising their
clients in terms of how big the impact will be on these four
A BRAND EQUITY SPECIAL SERIES categories, and how long do they think it will take for them
to recover?
The general consensus among investment advisors is
as follows: The impact of the crisis on Automotive has
been high and recovery will be a long-term proposition
(demand for new cars will be deferred due to lack of
consumer confidence and lack of actual usage during the
You cannot build and sustain company culture through video
conferencing.
crisis). The impact on Travel and Restaurants has been
severe and recovery will be long term (even when bans
You can try but you will fail. are lifted, consumer confidence in these areas will be very
We are human. We need physical contact, conversation and slow to recover). By “long term” investment companies
collaboration to thrive. We are surviving through the lockdown are predicting longer than one year. Retail will be a mixed
and using tools like video conferencing to excel at what we bag. Investors think that much of retail for day-to-day
do, in these times of crisis, because we know the crisis will items will recover quickly, but larger purchases may be
end. We live today in the hope that tomorrow will be delayed as a result of poor consumer confidence and
different. In the hope that we will be back in our lingering layoffs.
offices, working together face-to-face with our A recent Adweek article noted that retail promotions
colleagues again soon.
will abound coming out of the crisis. And that’s good for
Make no mistake, when we have even a advertising spending in the retail category. The article
semblance of normality back in our lives quoted Mitchell Yoo, global chief client officer at digital
no one will want to get on another video marketing agency iCrossing, “who anticipates what he
conference for a very long time. They will hate
calls a ‘retail resurgence’ when stir-crazy consumers can
it and they will resist it.
finally leave their homes and stores lure them in with ‘a
When the lockdown lifts, people will want to rally variety of offers and sales when they are safe to open their
together. They will expect their leaders to encourage doors.’” And many retailers will have a lot to talk about
them to meet, engage, ideate and create together. They
with new innovations such as contactless transactions
will want to experience what they lost for a while – the culture
and addressable e-commerce.
of the company they joined. Culture doesn’t rest in a poster or
There are lots of things that can and will happen in the
emailer that lists company values. It rests in the people we work
next few months. It is a fool’s errand to make an exact
with. The people make the culture. They bring it alive through
prediction. But it seems safe to say at this point that at
their interactions. Working with them, day in and day out, builds
least 20% of total advertising spending is at severe risk for
our experience of the company culture. Take that away and you
at least one year. These categories will not stop spending,
will be left with an emptiness that will destroy your company.
Video conferencing is a sorry substitute for real life. I but their spend will likely be in line with their new level of
understand that safety is important in these times and I will ask revenue for a long time.
The author is professor of advertising at the S.I.
our employees to use the tools available to them until it is safe to
Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse
meet in person again. But we will meet in person again. This will
not be our new normal. University. Views expressed are personal.
Post the panic
buying stage, things are
different in our stores. Let’s talk
about instant noodles as an example.
As a supermarketwala, I love all the
brands of noodles I sell, including our
private brand SnacTac. However, as a student
of consumer behaviour, I have to say, in these
otherwise disturbed times, a bowl of Maggi feels
People are moving away from safer, warmer, cosier than a bowl of SnacTac or any
discretionary spend and focusing on other brand! When many things are uncertain and
financial security: Nielsen report tad scary, people like to reduce variables around
them and seek comfort in the known and trusted.
I wonder if I would go for a newbie gluten free
Lockdown leading to a drop-in idli mix with unfamiliar credentials, or a
trusted rava idli mix from MTR.”
consumption and shift in preferences “The thing that has mattered
the most in these times is the 4th P of
Damodar Mall
marketing - that is ‘place’. Our research has
Possible government stimulus, CEO Grocery, Reliance
indicated that availability at the retail point has
cheap crude oil and low inflation may
Retail
been the most important element of marketing.
help post Covid-19 business In light of that, all FMCG companies have pulled all
stops to ensure last mile availability. Consumers
are concerned and cautious about the future - due
A McKinsey study shows about 65% to both the virus and the economy. Our research
of the consumers have tried new or
alternate brands, of which nearly
EXPERT clearly shows that they expect to spend less across
most categories. Consumer choice at these times
10% intend to not switch back
TAKE is driven by a set of interrelated factors - trust and
security is more important than ever; the sense
of minimalism and desire for small pleasures will
this situation can serve as an opportuni- co-exist.”
ty for them to make a lasting impression.
Srini Vudayagiri, CEO, Unibic Cookies, Abheek Singhi
says “We have been utilising this time senior partner and managing director,
to get back to the drawing board and The Boston Consulting Group
come up with a sound post-lockdown
plan. Our strategy is to tap into this
opportunity to reinforce our brand
messaging and help connect with new “I would say the winner
would be the brands that
customers. Furthermore, the plan is to can understand the shifts in
continue to stay connected, especially consumer behaviour quickly and
in these times of physical distancing. reorient their product range and
Another focus area is staying connected channel to meet their demands. While
with over two lakh trade partners and smaller players are nimble in this, the big
companies have an advantage now of not
business associates, as we help each oth- working full steam and hence a lot of management
er weather the storm.” bandwidth available to address these issues. In fact
“Given that there are no fixed formulas the larger players who are cash rich have a great
to surviving a pandemic or doing busi- advantage in using their scale and might to change
ness in a lockdown situation, we have to much faster this time.”
be quick on our feet … The biggest lesson Pinakiranjan Mishra
has been to be adaptable to the fast-chang- partner & sector leader, Consumer
ing ground realities,” he concludes. Products & Retail, EY India.
harsh.vardhan1@timesgroup.com
Hello! Is it me you're looking at?
A special curated list of virtual backgrounds and top tips for almost every type of #WFH call. By Priyanka Nair
SIDETAKE
Mattel made action-
figure replicas of doc-
tors, nurses, grocery
store workers, and
delivery drivers — and

A
s video calls have become it's donating proceeds
the norm for people all
over the world to feel
background of one of the wonders of
the world. Proving the point that you
from sales of the toys
connected and to work, it have a dream team! to frontline workers
has also opened windows
for outsiders to peek into our homes, For A Brainstorming The toy giant Mattel is launching
private spaces and lives. Session Call a collection of Fisher-Price action
But now after weeks of meeting figures to celebrate the "everyday
people on screens the sheer number heroes" on the front lines of the
of virtual meetings through video coronavirus pandemic, including
calls has left many with fatigue and, medical workers, grocery store em-
strangely, with a feeling of more 3) MAYbe a tropical island or beach. ployees, and delivery drivers, the
loneliness. And in some quarters he/she needs to do to the current Throw them off a bit before they start company said Wednesday.
of the internet debates are raging retainers. telling you off. The collection includes 16 ac-
over privacy issues stemming from 2) SIT in front of the bookshelf. It's 4) A WALLPAPER with a life-size tion figures, as well as five Little
security lapses of popular apps, and safe and makes everyone look smart; photo of the team/founders in the People characters, including a
from the fact that our homes and even if you've never read a single foreground. Do anything to escape 2) MAKE a coffee shop set-up. Just doctor, nurse, emergency medical
private lives are now on display for book that's kept there. the meeting, till at least Q3, please. for a good feel. technician, delivery driver, and
all to see, which many people are 3) IF you are in the mood of 3) A SCREENSHOT of Brand Equity grocery store worker. Mattel said
uncomfortable with for varying positivity, get a bright and sunny 1) Toilet seat. Not getting enough For The Work Crisis Call articles about you and your agency. it will donate all net proceeds from
reasons - from privacy concerns to landscape as the backdrop. Try to ideas? Hop right on. 1) BANE from the Dark Knight. ‘Get the collection, which it's calling
messy rooms. stay away from the bland corporate 2) A brainstorming session is literally this done or else’. For a virtual office party #ThankYouHeroes, through May
There are many downsides to the blues and mahoganies as much as like a group of people painting 2) IF it’s a call with a client, get the 31 to FirstRespondersFirst, a fund
'new normal' of Working and Living possible. Formality in a physically on a massive empty canvas. Get photo of the army of your client established to support frontline
From Home through video calls. distant environment adds to the a background that reflects that servicing officers on their knees healthcare workers. The fund
However, people have also found void created by lack of gestures, eye sentiment. with folded hands. Only they can fix provides essential supplies, equip-
ways to circumvent some of these contact; hence, keep things warm and 3) Out of the box thinking requires an certain issues. ment, accommodations, child care,
issues with a little creativity. bright and not stiff and clinical. out of this world background. Maybe food, mental health support, and
Consider the virtual background cutouts of the moon, or Mars, or even other resources to medical work-
for video calls. It's become a canvas For A Pitch Call the Milky Way will give you access to ers, according to its website.
for many to express feelings and some far-out ideas. Each item in the collection will cost
individuality while protecting 4) For the philosophical ones, take a $20, and $15 of each sale will go to
individual privacy. picture from the book ‘Le Petit Prince’
And it didn't take long before or an image from ‘the Burning man
brands jumped on the background festival’. Do everything and anything
screen bandwagon, even creating to make the creative juices flow and 1) GET the string of fairy lights out
custom designs that double-up as ads inspire the creative cells. from your Diwali collection, clip
in some cases. old office party pictures, to get a
Now we're here to lend a For A Call With The nostalgic mood.
helping hand in choosing a virtual Finance Department 2) HOST An internal music festival,
background with a list of curated 3) ON second thought, who cares with posters of Tomorrowland or
suggestions for your next e-meet. about backgrounds when you have to even bringing it closer to home, get
be on the battleground? Pick up the a Ganesh Visarjan theme in its full
For A Client Call phone for a serious chat. pomp!
1) REMEMBER the Effies, Emvies, 3) HOST BYOB parties, ‘cocktail
Abbys, Cannes trophy rack back For The Review Call workshops’ and even think of those
in office? The countless number of 1) MACBOOK 'recycle bin' icon. If an cheeky after-five-vodka-shots
pictures taken from that corner of idea doesn't fly, you know where it games. If you are teetotaller, get
the office can be put to use to win is going. high on limbu pani or the seasonal the fund. The collection is available
the confidence of the potential client. aam ras. for pre-order starting Wednesday
After all, subtlety is hardly the way to 4) HOST a movie marathon evening through May 31 on Mattel's web-
go for a pitch. or a FRIENDS night. site. The toys are expected to ship
2) DON’T miss an opportunity to (Based on inputs from Ashish to consumers by December 31, the
be extra! Pick a background that's 1) THE image of an overcrowded, Khazanchi, managing partner, company said. "#ThankYouHeroes
thematically linked to a pitch. complex excel sheet filled with Enormous; Nakul Jambotkar, AVP & is designed to immortalize and
ILLUSTRATION: ANIRBAN BORA

3) YOU could also customise a numbers will be perfect to catch their client services director, Wunderman honor healthcare and every day
handmade background including attention. Thompson, Mumbai; Ahmed Aftab heroes, and to drive additional
1) GET a striking bar chart with the client’s product or service. Helps 2) IF not that then a white Naqvi, co-founder, Gozoop; Amit donations to support first respond-
current inflation figures and plaster it break the ice if you can draw well; if background which has these 8 Kekre, national strategy head, DDB ers," said Chuck Scothon, senior
on the wall. Nothing like a subliminal not it can be good for some chuckles. alphabets printed in bold — “C A S H Mudra Group; Raj Kamble, founder, vice president of Fisher-Price and
refresher course in an inflationary 4) If you want to be more dramatic, F L O W”. A gentle reminder always Famous Innovations; Sunetro Lahiri, global head of infant and preschool
economy, to let the client know what get your team members to have a helps. AVP, The Glitch) for Mattel.
"Whether these toys are given as a
gift to recognize someone working
Brands That Can Fix Your Video-call Wall Thrones, Westworld and Silicon
Valley.
of BK billboards as their backgrounds.
Users who share a photo or screenshot
on the front lines, or used as a tool
to help children have conversations
AN AMERICAN furniture and home IF DORRY, Russell and Bing Bong with these backgrounds with about how they are feeling, it is our
decor retailer, West Elm, has developed are dear to your heart, then Pixar #HomeOfTheBillboards will get a "buy
one get one free" offer for the Whopper hope that Fisher-Price toys, and
a range of backgrounds, including can make your Monday Blues
sandwich. play in general, can ultimately make
stylish log cabins and chic living rooms, disappear. The animation studio
which users download directly from its these difficult times easier for both
has converted many of its movies’ CLOSER HOME, Food delivery app
official Instagram account. iconic scenes to video backgrounds. Zomato has released wallpapers with kids and adults," Scothon contin-
THE INFATUATION, a restaurant quirky food quotes written on them for ued. Mattel has also been donating
DICTIONARY.COM has a list of
review site, has created a library of quirky backgrounds for people Zoom users. toys to nonprofit partners amid the
appetizing food backgrounds. who need to understand the real INDEPENDENT CREATIVE agency pandemic and making face shields
WANT TO act like a boss and sit on meaning of social distancing and Famous Innovations also launched and cloth masks. The company said
the Iron Throne for the next video call? quarantine vs. isolation. social distancing virtual backgrounds it plans to produce about 500,000
HBO has a fix for you. The television BURGER KING Is back with a social for Zoom. The illustrated backgrounds face shields for medical workers..
network has released backgrounds from stunt. The brand is incentivizing users remind people to wash hands, not touch Source: Business Insider
its all-time popular shows like Game of of video-chat software, to use images their face, keep safe distance, etc.

THE STRATEGIST'S SIDE: A LIMITED BE SERIES THAT COVERS THE MUSINGS AND LESSONS OF MARKETING STRATEGISTS IN A POST-COVID WORLD.
for a pani-puri vendor could be a mask. An
BY INVITATION
The Importance
apparel shop with sanitisation tunnel at
the entrance may have better walk-ins
Sideways' Mandar Gore to conversions ratio because consumers
decodes how consumers may feel safer thinking whoever has done

of Understanding
select through rejection size trials of the garments was sanitised
while entering the shop.
criteria and its role in the These are just examples but the point is
new normal world. consumers may reject one product/ser-

Why A Brand Is
vice for such differences and not neces-
Recently, my mother changed the brand sarily for the taste of the pani-puri or the
of milk because it wasn’t producing good colour of the shirt. The principle brands
malai (cream). I wondered, changing a need to take from this is, they may lead

brand of milk could be one of the uncom-
mon decisions because many of us don’t
even go to the shop to buy it and evalu-
ate other options. The act of purchase
doesn’t even happen regularly; it’s auto
pilot. Every morning the milk gets de-
livered to your door step. I started think-
ing that my mom must have bought the
previous brand because it was popular,
assurance of purity and affordable price
but she changed it because it didn’t give
good malai (cream). Basically, her ‘se-
lection criteria’ and ‘rejection criteria’
were completely different.
Just to give another example, how do peo-
ple buy a new brand of chips? They look at
the pack, contents, flavour and price. But
how do they reject it? They see quantity or
taste. Again, a completely different set of
selection and rejection criteria.
If you look at Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) as a category. Its selection criteria
are convenience, easy, fast, instant. This
has found traction with certain audience
so they have adopted the UPI products. But
many, especially the next 100 million, are
sceptical about UPI. They believe in the ad-
vantages of UPI but still don’t use it due to
the fear of hacking, frauds or transaction
failures. As a result, they haven’t adopted
any UPI product. Here, their rejection
criteria are creating an entry barrier for
Rejected
the category. So, doesn’t matter how much
selection criteria such as convenience and
speed is portrayed in the ads, they won’t
adopt UPI unless their rejection criteria
are taken care of.
In repertoire categories, the rejection
criteria could create lapsing. One could
get the trials going with selection criteria
but without surpassing the rejection cri-
teria it will be difficult to create loyalty;
for example, the milk needs to give more
malai (cream). Rejection criteria could
lie outside the product too. The context in
which the product is chosen could create
rejection criteria, in such case, the brand
needs to augment its offering to be able to
subdue the rejection criteria. For example,
a great real estate project at a distant loca-
tion may not sell much. While people will
love the flats and the facilities, they would
reject it for the lack of transportation facil-
ity. A restaurant with better quality food
could get rejected over another restaurant
because the road outside doesn’t have
parking. Likewise, every category would
have its own nuances about how consum-
ers choose through the rejection criteria.
Rejection criteria is not a new variable
in a marketer’s life. We all have thought
about it at some point of time. It was always
there but it’s becoming a dominant vari-
able in the choice with fierce competitive
battles, product innovations and abun-
dance of options. Another thing that will
make rejection criteria an even more cru-
cial variable is the post-Covid world.
While none of us know for sure how ex-
actly the post-Covid world is going to turn
out, some things seem more predictable
than others. For example, in the new nor-
mal world the consumers would be more
conscious about safety and hygiene expec-
tations. So, along with a hair cap and plas-
tic gloves, the third permanent accessory
the consumer for selection criteria but
the consumer will lead them for rejection
criteria.
Brands will have to fight harder to win
their share of the pie, given all the pre-
dictions are hinting at reduced consum-
er spending and a conservative mindset.
So, it will be even more important for
brands to pre-empt a consumer's rejec-
tion criteria and take care of it to keep
her happy.
One needs to understand the role of
rejection criteria in your category; how
dominant it is, what behaviour it influ-
ences and form strategies that encom-
pass product development, brand build-
ing, customer service, strategic tie-ups
and various other big or small market-
ing initiatives.
Looking at consumer behaviour through
the lens of rejection criteria could certain-
ly create new ways of driving trials and
loyalties in the new
normal era.
The author is a senior
strategist at Sideways.
Views expressed are
personal..
The author is senior
strategist at Sideways.
Views expressed
are personal.