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Travel tech platform <keyword id="19901637" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO" source="keywords">OYO</keyword> reported <keyword id="19910979" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-year" source="keywords">financial year</keyword> 2023-24 as the maiden profitable fiscal with a net earning of nearly Rs 100 crore, founder <keyword id="20198157" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal" source="keywords">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> said on Thursday. In a post on social media platform X, Agarwal said he sees growth ahead "not just in India" but also in OYO's other key markets of Nordics, South East Asia, the US and UK. "While a delighted customer or a hotel partner brings the biggest smile on my face, our first cut financials of FY24 have me humbled as well," Agarwal shared. "We had our maiden net profitable financial year at nearly Rs 100 crore. This was our eighth consecutive quarter of a positive EBITDA and we also have a cash balance of around Rs 1,000 crore," he added. He further highlighted that global credit rating firm Fitch has also taken note of OYO's improved performance and strong cash flows, upgrading its credit rating. "I see growth ahead not just in India with emerging travel trends such as premiumization, spiritual travel, business travel and conferences, destination weddings but also in our other key markets of Nordics, South East Asia, US and UK. FY25 will clearly be even more exciting," the OYO founder stated. He added that these are provisional numbers, but the audited financials will likely be close to these. Earlier this week, Fitch Ratings announced it has upgraded the rating of OYO parent firm Oravel Stays, citing the hospitality company's improved financial profile. Fitch upgraded Oravel Stay's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to 'B' from 'B-' with a 'Stable' outlook, according to a statement. It also upgraded the rating on the company's USD 660-million senior secured term loan facility due 2026 to 'B' from 'B-'. In FY24, OYO added about 5,000 hotels and 6,000 homes globally. It also reported a PAT (Profit after Tax) of Rs 99.6 crore (USD 12 million) and an adjusted EBITDA of Rs 888 crore (USD 107 million) for the whole fiscal year, up from Rs 274 crore (USD 33 million) in FY23. EBITDA -- Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization -- is an alternate way of calculating profitability to net income. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lok-sabha-exit-poll-2024-what-are-they-when-will-they-be-announced-and-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/110565608.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lok-sabha-exit-poll-2024-what-are-they-when-will-they-be-announced-and-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/110565608.cms" target="_blank">Lok Sabha Exit Poll 2024 – what are they, when will they be announced and all you need to know</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/truecaller-can-now-detect-if-the-caller-is-using-ai-how-to-use-it-to-prevent-ai-call-scams/articleshow/110556100.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/truecaller-can-now-detect-if-the-caller-is-using-ai-how-to-use-it-to-prevent-ai-call-scams/articleshow/110556100.cms" target="_blank">Truecaller can now detect if the caller is using AI – How to use it to prevent AI call scams</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/indias-t20-world-cup-team-matches-and-everything-you-need-to-know/slidelist/110551798.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/webstories/indias-t20-world-cup-team-matches-and-everything-you-need-to-know/slidelist/110551798.cms" target="_blank">India’s T20 World Cup team, matches and everything you need to know</a>

At ₹100 crore, OYO posts FY24 as maiden profitable fiscal: Founder

OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, the world’s second-largest and fastest-growing chain of hotels, homes, managed living, and workspaces, is enabling micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for thousands of real estate owners and helping them build a successful business. The company’s innovative business model turns around assets that were either lying unused or operating at standards that are not at par with the industry, into spaces that generate high yields, hence, turning many of these asset owners into crorepatis. Some of these asset owners who have seen tremendous success with their properties after joining hands with OYO belong to Gujarat. As Deepak Shah, an asset owner from Ahmedabad, says, “It has been three years since I have been managing this hotel with family along with OYO’s support. The biggest challenge for me earlier was to approach clients and market my hotel. With OYO and its support, marketing my property and getting clients to take notice was no longer a worry. Our property is at a convenient location that is in close proximity to different corporate offices making it a preferred place to stay. We have an in-house multi-cuisine restaurant and also have the facility of outdoor seating in the terrace area which can be booked for different occasions. Owing to great marketing, quality accommodation and customer service that we have been able to provide with OYO’s help has resulted in a 90% occupancy on average. It has been a very fruitful association with OYO and we aim to continue with this in the years to come.” OYO is continuously working with 500+ strong asset owner community in Gujarat to build successful and sustainable businesses. In line with this, OYO plans to expand and hire 2000+ employees across multiple functions, including Business Development, Operations, Service, Sales and Enterprise Partnerships, in the next one year in Gujarat to empower asset owners and enable them to ensure a great hospitality experience for guests, hence, increasing yields. Further to this, OYO also announced its partnership with Mountania Developers, to open the doors to its first upmarket business hotel in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. How can you be benefited after becoming an asset owner with OYO? Twofold value proposition OYO offers asset owners a two-fold value proposition. First, OYO provides partners with the necessary capital to bring a building up to OYO's standards. Moreover, it also leverages available data to predict RevPAR, internal rate of return and ROI. With these details, OYO can indicate yield guarantee to the underlying asset owner. End-to-End Support OYO invests in the assets alongside asset owners to offer end-to-end solutions and support. Right from offering free design consulting to upgrading and transforming hotel infrastructure, to easing access to finance, transparent payment protocols, multiple touch-points, marketing excellence, tech innovation and regulatory compliance assistance ----OYO’s focus continues to be on generating high yields for asset owners along with offering excellent customer service. OYO can transform and renovate assets in a record time of 3-14 days and on-board them at an even quicker pace — a stark contrast to the industry standard of up to 90 days. Increase in Occupancy An asset owner, Rick Patel, based in the US elaborates on the jump in occupancy. He says, "Before OYO, our occupancy was about 20-25% and now, we are running at about 80% occupancy. We have never reached this occupancy rate before in the last 5 years. I would definitely recommend OYO to my friends and family interested in getting into the hospitality industry. My experience with OYO has been amazing. The team is great to work with, very energetic and supportive. We are just looking forward to the next level." OYO brings to the table a successful model of combining design, hospitality, and technological expertise, financial acumen and operational capabilities to real estate owners around the world, giving them the ability to get a higher return on investments, access easy financing opportunities, transform their hotels, and offer good quality customer service, thereby significantly increasing occupancy and profitability – in every OYO building. There are over 35,000 of these buildings worldwide. OYO has been able to generate a high yield for asset owners by maintaining 70-80% occupancy, which is often an issue with an asset-light model. On an average, over 75% of hotel owners associated with OYO have seen an increase of 20-30% in occupancy, a 2.5 x jump in RevPar and a significant jump in profit, for every asset operating as an OYO-branded property. Another asset owner, Narendra Saini from Ahmedabad, says, “It has been three months since my partner and I joined hands with OYO and are already witnessing great results in terms of occupancy and yields. Prior to joining hands with OYO, our main challenge was promoting our hotel through different channels. There was a time when in the offseason we used to get only 25-30% occupancy which now, post associating with OYO, has jumped to more than 80%. With OYO, it has been a true collaboration of sorts where we both are mutually benefitting. Our hotel witnesses bookings from corporate clients. We have an in house restaurant and are soon going to open a multi-cuisine rooftop restaurant by next month.” Best Pricing Mechanism in the Industry OYO has introduced dynamic pricing in the hospitality industry to create a level-playing ground even for an independent or small hotelier. OYO’s pricing, inventory allocation, and revenue management are driven by a machine learning-based algorithm for prediction and dynamic pricing. The algorithm makes 60 million micro-optimizations, every day, to arrive at the optimal price point that ensures an affordable stay for guests while driving higher yields and occupancy for the asset owner. Above &amp; Beyond To further support the business goals of asset owners, OYO launched OYO Partner Engagement Network (OPEN) in India - an industry-first series of year-long initiatives. This was followed up with another industry-first initiative called ‘Cash in Bank’ facility to offer asset owners across India quick, hassle-free and collateral-free business advances to upgrade or renovate their buildings, with the never seen before ease, turnaround time, and convenience. This will further help asset owners improve the guest experience along with direct and repeat rate that’s already approximately 90%. OYO also introduced Partner Privilege Program in India to boost asset owner success and growth on the one hand and create a mechanism for continual engagement and recognition on the other. The Partner Privilege Program provides exclusive benefits and opportunities to OYO India’s top-performing hotel owners for their personal and professional advancement. Amol Dhir, an asset owner from Agra and a member of OYO India Partner Advisory Council, says, “I strongly believe that getting affiliated to a brand like OYO can help the small, unbranded hotels in tapping the guests within the brand ecosystem. OYO’s sales team is fabulously supporting my hotel. They are running the show from behind the curtain, where a number of sales representatives, are pitching my hotel, even beyond the country’s boundaries to intended travellers.” On his partnership and journey with OYO, Amol says, “When I joined this hotel 12 years back I had a big vision for it, perhaps way too big than what my grandfather, my father and my family had for this hotel. I wanted a support system, a partner who could assist me in this. One day people from OYO walked in and they pitched me the idea of getting my hotel onboarded. I felt that they were just the right people who I could entrust my idea and push my vision further and we could grow along. The biggest change I found when OYO came along was how tech-savvy they were. Now, sitting at home I get to check the occupancy reports, employee management, booking and revenue reports. As an independent hotelier, I could not have achieved this or would have taken a little longer to get there. Technology with OYO became more accessible, affordable. Our life as a businessman became easier through this technology. For me, OYO has always been a partner and it is giving us various opportunities to get featured and grow along.” If you are inspired by these success stories, you can know more about how to become an asset owner with OYO here: <a href="https://partner.oyorooms.com/in">https://partner.oyorooms.com/in</a> Disclaimer: This article is a part of a commercial partnership Oyo and Business Insider India.

Here's how OYO is enabling micro-entrepreneurship and creating crorepatis—many of them are from Gujarat

News Corp-backed real estate classifieds portal <keyword id="1960231" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Housing-com">Housing.com</keyword> on Monday announced its entry in co-living segment, and has tied up with <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> and <keyword id="2366577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="zolo">Zolo</keyword> as well as unorganised players for listing around 5 lakh beds on its platform. Housing.com, part of Singapore-based Elara Technologies that also owns PropTiger.com and Makaan, also released a report on co-living which highlighted that the market size of this segment is estimated to double at Rs 2 lakh crore by 2023. "We are entering into co-living segment which is a big growth area. We have launched an exclusive section for co-living on our Housing.com. As of now, it will work as search and discovery platform, but direct bookings on our platform will be enabled later," Housing.com CEO Dhruv Agarwala told reporters here. 
 Housing.com, which is also backed by Softbank, Accel and SAIF Partners, has tied up with OYO Life and Zolo to promote their co-living spaces on its platform. 
 At present, the classifieds platform has around 5 lakh beds across major cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, Agarwala said . 
 Out of the 5 lakh beds, around 50,000 beds are from OYO and Zolo. 
 "We plan to scale up this listing to a million beds by the end of 2020," he said. 
 Asked about revenue model, Agarwala said it could be through advertising and the co-living segment would become a significant revenue generator for Housing.com in coming years. 
 "The way in which the concept of co-working is changing how traditional commercial work spaces operate in India, co-living is transforming traditional renting. The change is driven by a highly mobile millennial workforce and a growing student population with a new mindset," Agarwala said. 
 Recently, US-based News Corp and its Australian group firm REA made fresh investment of around USD 70 million (Rs 500 crore) in Elara Technologies, sources had said. 
 With this fresh funding, Elara has raised USD 175 million (about Rs 1,250 crore) so far from investors.
 Elara Technologies first set up PropTiger.com in 2011 and then acquired Makaan.com in May 2015.
 In a major consolidation in the Indian online real estate business, Elara acquired Housing.com in January 2017, a start-up founded in 2012 by around a dozen IIT graduates.
 While PropTiger helps developers in selling flats available in the primary market, Makaan.com largely deals in buy-sell of re-sale properties.
 Housing.com is a classified platform for developers, brokers and homeowners with over one million listings. 
 Elara has 23 offices across India and 1,800 employees. MJH RVK

NewsCorp owned Housing.com partners with Oyo and Zolo

<ul><li>With COVID-19 impacting the hospitality industry, bringing revenues down to almost zero, to now the steady recovery of the industry, there’s a lot that has happened through the course of the year. </li><li>Hospitality was one of the worst affected industries worldwide, however, with cities unlocking and global restrictions easing gradually, India topped the charts for OYO as the most booked country.</li><li>As OYO launches its annual Travelopedia, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, <keyword id="7036155" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Hotels-Homes">OYO Hotels &amp; Homes</keyword>, India &amp; South Asia tells us about India's favourite tourist hotspots, COVID-19 impact on OYO, <keyword id="10519936" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="travel-sentiment">travel sentiment</keyword> this year and some trends he expects to see in 2021. </li></ul>2020 has been a unique year that pushed every brand and industry to transform itself. While it started on a good note for the hospitality industry, with January 2020 (pre-covid) being the most travelled month, April 2020 witnessed most cancellations across the country owing to the government’s precautionary lockdown. Hospitality was one of the worst affected industries worldwide. The grinding halt on travel and tourism impacted home-grown hospitality brand OYO by bringing its revenue down to zero levels during the lockdown. However, with cities unlocking and global restrictions easing gradually, India topped the charts for OYO as the most booked country while Delhi clocked in the most bookings across the world in 2020. Consumer confidence was at its highest during December 2020 as OYO saw the highest number of bookings since India unlocked. Today, Ritesh Agarwal’s OYO has reached ~45% of pre-COVID occupancy levels and its used room nights have grown steadily 40% m-o-m since bottoming out in May. Some of the brands are performing much better with <keyword id="4100346" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Townhouse">OYO Townhouse</keyword> operating at 85% of pre-COVID occupancy levels. An OYO Hotel in Shahjahanpur and another in Chennai witnessed an average occupancy of 100% since lockdown. Over 8.5 million new user bookings were made on the OYO app and website in 2020. We caught up with Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO - India &amp; South Asia to discuss some of the key trends that came out in its third annual report - OYO Travelopedia 2020. <div type="Video" msid="80040904" hostid="261" title="Rohit Kapoor of OYO hotels and homes on India’s favourite travel hotspots and trends to be expected in 2021" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=80040904"></div> Lockdown’s impact A month down into the nation-wide lockdown, OYO realised that the macro factors cannot be controlled. As the hospitality industry came to a complete halt till the end of June, OYO decided to focus on improving its consumers and stakeholders’ pain points. It also wanted to use its space smartly by giving back to the society. It offered a helping hand to various hospitals and their doctors across the country. “After a few consumers started showing interest in travel, we launched an extensive campaign across the country to get in touch with our partners and stay in very close touch with our consumers. We tried to identify what consumers were thinking, some problems they were facing and what we could do to solve them. We worked with 24+ state ministries, 50+ government and private hospitals and hosted about a 250,000+ hospital staff and asymptomatic patients during the lockdown. 200+ sailors were safely quarantined at OYOs across India. 1,50,000 litres of disinfectant and 70,000 litres of sanitisers were used since April to welcome our guests,” shared Kapoor. OYO also on-boarded Sonu Sood as its brand ambassador, who emerged as a knight in shining armour and has been applauded for his humanitarian work to send thousands of stranded migrants back home during the lockdown. It launched a nation-wide campaign with Sood to woo its consumers. <div type="Youtube" id="ijSg92O1d30" title="OYO Sanitised Before Your Eyes" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ijSg92O1d30/mqdefault.jpg"></div> When Vande Bharat started, approximately 73,000 repatriated Indians completed their institutional quarantine at OYOs across India. Amongst these, most bookings were made by guests travelling from the Middle East, primarily UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. Insights from OYO’s Travelopedia According to Kapoor’s predictions based on travelopedia’s insights, leisure travel is making a steady comeback - with tourist hotspots of Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Tirupati, Goa, Mussoorie recovering faster than other destinations. The data also revealed that Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad ranked as the most popular cities among business travellers while Jaipur, Goa, Kochi were travellers’ favourite domestic leisure hotspots. <div type="image" title="Oyo travelopedia" msid="80040415" hostid="261"></div> Speaking on one of the most important trends this year for OYO, Kapoor said, “One of the most humbling things we found out that has stayed with me is that a guest has stayed with us 128 times this year, something that tells us that we are on the right path and that our customers have immense faith in us even in tough times. While 2021 will be a new learning in itself, we’re hopeful that the changes we have brought in 2020 will set new precedents in the travel and hospitality sector and we are completely motivated to work towards providing safe stays to all our customers.” We're at that time of the year when people normally are in the mood to travel. Across India, without any surprise, the tourist hotspot of Goa emerged as the most booked beach destination, followed by Kochi, Vizag and Pondicherry. To target these beach-lovers, OYO also launched a campaign earlier this month titled ‘Chalo Beach Chalein.’ <div type="Youtube" id="6W_9U2C7G30" title="OYO | Chal Beach Chalein" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6W_9U2C7G30/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Interestingly, OYO has also seen a resurgence in religious tourism. Puri emerged as India’s top pilgrimage destination, followed by Vrindavan, Tirupati, Shirdi, and Varanasi. In December 2020, over 17 lakh people checked-in over the weekends. December 12, 2020 saw the most number of bookings (so far). The next estimated date is December 31, 2020 (bookings still coming in) Telling us how December turned out for OYO, Kapoor said, “This month, people are traveling to places they wouldn’t have thought of visiting earlier. For example, many of our users have shown interest in Mukteshwar, Ramgad or Bhimtal. Plus, one big change for everyone is that during this part of the year, people travel to international locations -- that’s not happening this year. That demand is getting funnelled to domestic markets and that is a trend I foresee continuing for at least 12 more months.” Kapoor has been traveling himself to locations he wouldn’t have been to otherwise. He has been to Jaipur and Udaipur with his family, then he went to Ramgad and worked from there for 15 days. He has also been on a road trip to Lucknow, Allahabad and Kolkata. From his many road trips to different parts of our country and from OYO’s in-depth research study, Kapoor noticed how people aren’t staying with their relatives anymore. They preferred living in a hotel, which is a cultural shift in our country. Walking us through Travelpedian further, Kapoor said, “If you look at the patterns emerge, the first unlock started with the big cities and we wondered what is it that these big cities offered: one type of cohort was those who wanted to just leave their homes and work from somewhere else. Secondly, people were worried about going and staying in someone else’s home, which is pretty common in India. I was in Allahabad in September and was trying to book an OYO, it was fully sold out. It was because of an exam which was going on and it was booked by parents whose kids were appearing for that exam. Third thing we saw is seasonality disappearing because work from home is allowed. The classic pattern of people travelling during peak seasons and vacations is phasing out. People are going away for staycations, working for 8-10 hours and using the rest of time for leisure. Lastly, they are also up for impromptu plans because they want to be reasonably sure that they are ready to travel.” OYO’s goals for 2021 The focus areas in 2021 would be more or less the same at OYO. Kapoor said that one thing that COVID-19 has taught us is that the future is unpredictable and the team is prepared for uncertain 2-3 quarters. “We have learnt the power of building product-led solutions for partners and that we will continue to invest in that. We want to open OYO-products and solutions to a much wider set of customers. We have all kinds of customers today but I think we have the opportunity to present OYO as the best option for anybody who is seeking good-quality experience. OYO has been recognised as the best start-up to work with and my focus would be to continue being the best place to work with for our target not just in India, but globally as well.”

Over 8.5 million new user bookings were made on the OYO app and website in 2020: Rohit Kapoor

<ul><li>Prasidha Menon, VP &amp; Global Head of Communications - <keyword id="4964826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-hotels">OYO Hotels</keyword> &amp; Homes writes how the cardinal rule for all marketing and communications teams is to build a company’s communication strategy on the pillars of transparency, consistency, authenticity and empathy. </li><li>She shares a few drive impactful internal, external and social media communications in 2021. </li></ul>When in peril, it’s a human tendency to question the authenticity of the problem. The next step is, of course, solving the problem itself. When the COVID-19 crisis hit the world, some countries spent time understanding the magnitude of the virus. Some others were quick to acknowledge the problem at hand and then accelerate their decision-making processes based on the available information, learning from past crises of somewhat similar magnitude and embracing the uncertainty around this health crisis. Visibly, the latter group was able to control the situation better. To do this, such nations leveraged the power of timely and relevant audience-focused communications, and instilled a sense of urgency and collaborative responsibility, all of which helped bring people together and collectively rally towards the common goals of ‘beating the virus’ and adapting to the ‘new normal’ while the pandemic continues to create uncertainty. Today, as the world is slowly moving forward and taking a step towards embracing a new way of life, it is important to remember that the pandemic isn’t over yet. In my view, during such times, the cardinal rule for all marketing and communications teams is to build a company’s communication strategy on the pillars of transparency, consistency, authenticity and empathy. Needless to say, their communication should also reflect the same to all stakeholders - consumers, partners and, most importantly, the organisation’s employees. Here are a few ways to drive impactful internal, external and social media communications during a once-in-a-lifetime crisis (hopefully) like COVID-19: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Purpose-driven communications: Redefining communications objectives in a disrupted world" text="Purpose-driven communications: Redefining communications objectives in a disrupted world">Purpose-driven communications: Redefining communications objectives in a disrupted world</cmsannotation> In a world where COVID-19 disrupted the disruptors, there is increased scrutiny and skepticism on companies, especially startups, and their long-term success. Thriving in such an age of disruption and a fast-evolving situation requires every organisation to have a well-thought-out purpose, an objective that drives all engagements, and a clear long-term plan. Leaders should lead with purpose. To put it simply, a brand’s objective would greatly differ today than it used to be in the pre-COVID days since the impact of the pandemic on the business calls for re-tooling everything. Today, organisations have a never-again opportunity to recalibrate, go back to basics and rebuild a future-proof business, with a renewed focus. While companies focus on doing this, the PR &amp; Communications function must be deeply entrenched within the business to identify opportunities to engage with various stakeholder groups and rebuild the trust and confidence in the brand. While positive developments from the vaccine space give us hope, overarching communication plans must still be agile and designed to battle uncertainty at any given point. Flexibility is crucial, as is cohesiveness and scenario-based engagement or planning to ensure that the company’s reputation doesn’t suffer during the recovery process. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Elevated Role of Communications: As brand custodians, there is a need to find authentic ways to keep your stakeholders engaged" text="Elevated Role of Communications: As brand custodians, there is a need to find authentic ways to keep your stakeholders engaged">Elevated Role of Communications: As brand custodians, there is a need to find authentic ways to keep your stakeholders engaged</cmsannotation> Good communication efforts are incomplete in today’s times if they are not authentic enough to win the hearts and minds of your key stakeholders. Everything that the company does should have the ability to move people, drive brand love and build loyalty for the organisation. Even in cases of companies that had to take inevitable and tough decisions to safeguard their future, those that led with empathy and authenticity were respected for leading from the front. So far, the marketing and communication teams were working towards reputational goals, while driving business outcomes. Today, it is extremely important for them to be the voice of reason and play a significant role in helping the management arrive at key business decisions, whose impact goes beyond the brand’s external reputation. Storytelling in times of crisis needs to be purpose-driven and action-led. There is a clear need to remind business stakeholders that it’s not always about business afterall, and drive initiatives that matter to one or more of your stakeholder groups - consumers, employees, partners, or the larger communities that the company serves. For instance, it is often said that in times of distress, a customer or a partner’s interaction with a brand triggers an immediate and lingering effect on their sense of trust and loyalty. It is, therefore, important for brands to stay ahead of the curve and engage consumers and partners with content that matters - relatable messages that interest their well-being and ‘evolved’ lifestyle. To achieve this, communication teams need to synergize across functions - be it brand &amp; marketing, business &amp; data analytics, tech or business teams - and drive decisions and improvements that are in the best interest of their stakeholders. Such integrated efforts across audience-focused communication channels (social media, traditional media, SMS, emailers, webinars, etc.) enable organisations to stay connected to their stakeholders and drive brand resonance. When it comes to employee communications, the communications team needs to work closely with the HR department as well as the leadership to find interesting ways to understand the pulse of the organisation and design campaigns that address their needs - morale-building, learning &amp; development, dealing with the ‘new ways of working’ or mental health and wellness. Owing to remote working, employee engagement and team bonding activities may have taken a hit, however, through exciting topical virtual events with external experts, coffee sessions with leaders, and upskilling workshops, organisations can continue to keep the morale high among their workforce. Sustaining momentum during a long-drawn-out crisis like COVID-19 requires organisations to be bold enough to acknowledge that they might not have the perfect answer to every situation. Or, for that matter, even a complete understanding of the situation and its impact in the long term. But they must still commit themselves to ‘act responsibly and engage empathetically’ and their communications should reflect that with as much authenticity as possible.

The holy trinity of communications: A guide to a cohesive internal, external and social media strategy in the next normal

<ul><li>Often Valentine’s Day is associated with the young, and love is marketed and celebrated as a young person’s thing. </li><li>We have developed an ageist perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. </li><li>Breaking these stereotypes, OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign stood out in the clutter of puppy love this year. </li><li>We caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes to understand what encouraged the brand to feature a mid-age couple, the process of its casting, and discussed why Indian brands have been neglecting people in their mid-age while celebrating love. </li></ul>Imagine a cafe and a young couple on a date. You see a bunch of roses in the background, chocolate heart-shaped boxes on the table and the guy proposes. You don’t need to try too hard because that’s basically the template Indian advertisements have been following for their Valentine’s Day ads for years. We are seeing more representation of LGBTQ couples, intercaste marriages, live-in couples, young women taking charge but rarely do we see women in their late 40s or older, falling in love all over again or sharing a romantic moment with their partner in public. Often Valentine’s Day is associated with young people, and the idea of love is marketed and celebrated as something that’s mushy, young and sweet. We don’t often get to see mid-age couples on dates or in any romantic settings. Even in mainstream cinema and pop-culture, it is only now that we have movies like Once Again and Badhaai Ho with mid-age actors as their protagonist and ads like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/colgates-endearing-campaign-encourages-people-to-stop-worrying-about-whatll-people-think-and-just-follow-their-hearts/articleshow/77782264.cms">Colgate's</a> Remarriage. These movies and ads have nudged us to reconsider our attitude towards love. However, an old couple still in love or mid-age people falling in love is still treated as a different conversation - just as talking about LGBTQ+ is only remembered during pride month, it doesn't fit into the larger umbrella of love yet. With this, we have developed an ageist and limited perspective towards love, believing that one loses the ability to express and celebrate love as one grows older. So, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw a young hospitality brand, OYO, take a different route this Valentine’s. Its Valentine’s Day campaign is about a mid-age couple who is loyal to OYO and has a rather mature idea of love. Featuring a brilliant cast comprising <keyword id="1813" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="neena-gupta">Neena Gupta</keyword> and <keyword id="21050" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swanand-Kirkire">Swanand Kirkire</keyword>, the campaign celebrates the spark that keeps long-term relationships alive. Titled ‘Long-term relationship with OYO,’ it is a 4-film digital campaign. In the first film, the protagonists engage in playful bickering. Kirkire asks Gupta why she sticks to choosing the same hotel and room every time they travel. Gupta replies with another question ‘I am not bored, are you?’ subtly hinting at their long-lasting relationship. It is those adorable glances at the end between Gupta and Kirkire that stole our hearts and the sound of a playful tune of ‘Yeh Rishta Hai Thoda Khiska’ acts as a cherry on top. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="25" retweetcount="5" status="Relationships are in a long term relationship with #OYO. Just like these two cuties.#YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/xWLBtbH6qT" createdat="1612536531000" id="1357702732744806400"></div> The campaign is supported with social media posts and emailers. Each post brings in a pragmatic perspective and reminds the audience that love is not all mush, it is a little complicated. For example, OYO dropped a truth bomb on Teddy Bear Day saying that women don’t play with teddy bears anymore. The copy read, “Dear adarsh balak, sasta ho ya mehenga, she stopped playing with teddy bears when she was 10. This is un-bear-able. Love, Neena.” <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="11" retweetcount="0" status="Agli baar emoji se bhi kaam chal jayega 🧸🐻 Teddy was my chuddy buddy, buddy. #TeddyDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska… https://t.co/UWOFyqMxGt" createdat="1612935766000" id="1359377248172732416"></div> Another realistic comment was on Chocolate Day, advising people to avoid cliches and not give heart-shaped Chocolate boxes to your loved ones because it is less chocolates, more air and lacks utility purpose. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="24" retweetcount="1" status="Avoid cliches, swaad anusar 🍫@Neenagupta001 #ChocolateDay #YeRishtaHaiKhiska #Valentinesweek https://t.co/jTD19oGZ22" createdat="1612847985000" id="1359009068547903489"></div> On a day when brands neglect mid-age people, OYO has broken many stereotypes but it did not intend to make a statement by onboarding a mid-age protagonist, it all happened organically. Moreover, Gupta and Kirkire were the brand's first choice. Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand - OYO Hotels &amp; Homes said, “The best movies, the ones that leave a lasting impression on you, come from stories and faces that are lined with age and character. That's really where great cinema emerges from. Advertising sometimes tends to feature bright shiny objects. I'm not just talking about human beings, even food. So the food you see in ads, you don't necessarily see in real life. We have sculpted bodies, perfect faces, etc. OYO might feature young faces from time to time as well, but we just felt these stories were better told by a couple who are ageless. Time has no relevance to the stories we are telling. It could be anyone, anywhere. We know that we are talking to such a varied audience as ours. We know that the lead protagonist needs to have a certain amount of chutzpah as well as stature. So yeah, we decided let's go get an actor not lower in age because sure, puppy love is awesome but I think we have a winner here in Neena.” While we still continue to fight with a global pandemic, OYO aims to remind you with this campaign that some familiarity is comforting and gain its consumers' trust. After conducting a consumer research and chatting with a few of them one-on-one, OYO found that that in eight out of 10 cases, women drive the conversation and take the final decision around travel. It also highlighted consumers who visit OYO once, they tend to go back to the same hotel. And this insight fueled the idea and gave birth to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/yerishtahaikhiska">#YeRishtaHaiKhiska</a>. The first ad currently boasts 2,322,307 views. Telling how the brand stumbled upon this idea of celebrating long-lasting relationships, Hola said, “The starting point of any campaign for us is inclusivity. We’re a mass brand that is adopted by so many diverse sets of people; SMEs / corporate travellers, leisure travellers, couples, among others. This is an inclusive campaign that speaks to all, rather than an old vs young one. Secondly, over time our core customers see a very high repeat rate. To the same location and the same property. Our guests are literally in a long term relationship with OYO. Additionally when we spoke 1:1, woman to woman with a lot of our women guests we came across the fact that women were the key decision-makers when it came to booking a getaway, holiday, or vacation. So join the dots and the campaign comes together. Inclusion, relationships, consideration amongst women in particular.” Both, the concept of the campaign and script of the films were written by OYO’s in-house global brand team, with support from Oink Films on production. Hola said the brand aims to woo female audiences with its Valentine’s campaign. “We’re expecting greater consideration overall. And in general, likeability because this is just such a charming campaign. I think we don't necessarily need to feature your audience in your communication for them to like it. So in terms of interests and mindset, couples will relate with it, no matter what age group they are. I do think one of the intentions is to have greater likeability and affiliation with a female group. And I feel sure we’ll see that happen,” shared Hola. OYO will roll out a unified view across 45+ OTTs and apps programmatically. This includes platforms such as Inshorts, Sharechat, OTT platforms (Hotstar, MX Player, Sony Liv, Voot), music streaming apps (Gaana, Spotify, JioSaavn,) and dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid). It will further amplify the films through an influencer campaign based on the theme #RishtaThodaKhiskaHai via a mix of celebrity and lifestyle influencers such as Smriti Khanna, Meeth Miri, Natasha Singh, and Siddhi MahaJankati, among others. As a brand that caters to a large audience, OYO is also making a conscious effort to be more inclusive in their advertising and marketing campaigns. On whether we will see more sections and communities of our societies in OYO’s campaign, Hola said, “Absolutely, We’re a brand that is adopted by the world’s middle class. And we will look to do work that appeals to a large mass.”

OYO’s Valentine’s Day campaign with Neena Gupta and Swanand Kirkire stands out in the clutter of mushy, young love

OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, the world's leading hospitality chain, today announced that it will continue to ramp up efforts to improve its information security framework as well as roll-out stronger ethical hacking and bug bounty programs to encourage continuous improvement and collaboration with ethical hacking experts. This development is in line with the company's commitment towards ensuring data privacy and building a robust cybersecurity network. According to Jagbir Singh, Engineering Manager - DevOps and InfoSec, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, "One of our biggest assets is the trust our customers, partners and employees place in us. We understand that trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. One key responsibility in earning this trust is protecting the data our customers and other stakeholders have with us from any unauthorised use. Our team of 1100+ world-class security, network and software engineers and external partners across multiple geographies is at work 24x7 ensuring the protection of this data, so our customers and stakeholders can rest easy." The Bug Bounty program that the company aims to introduce is towards ensuring that there is a credible and continuous flow of positive feedback from independent security groups and individual researchers to mitigate against any bug or shortfall in the company's systems. This is in line with the established practice of recognition and reward for ethical hackers who help responsibly investigate shortfalls within the tech architecture of several tech companies including the likes of Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Google etc. OYO has accordingly developed an improved responsible disclosure policy to encourage honest and responsible reporting of any potential risks. Additionally, OYO has partnered with a specialized cybersecurity startup, AppSecure/Hackerhive, that connects companies and ethical hackers to help the former discover and fix security vulnerabilities and is in the process of developing a full-fledged bug bounty program. Security a priority Security is an integral part of any process at OYO; beginning from the collection of data, during transfer and processing to storage at rest. We follow a comprehensive information security framework based on NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA), ISO 27001 and other stringent industry standards. Our commitment also extends to employee training and sensitization at every step. All new joiners at OYO go through information security training as part of the New Employee Orientation. The company's software developers and other Information Security personnel also attend a mandatory quarterly refresher since the technology in this space is dynamic and evolving very quickly. There is also an annual mandatory refresher training for all existing employees. Commenting on this announcement, Anil Goel, Group Chief Technology and Product Officer, said, "We have a robust and world-class security team comprising of in-house and external experts employing best in class security techniques including virtual private networks/cloud, firewalls, intrusion prevention and detection devices (IPS and IDS), security trainings for all engineers, static and dynamic code analysis, regular vulnerability assessments and network penetration tests. In today's digital world, a cyberattack is a real concern. Hence, in line with our efforts to continually improve, we are investing in ethical hacking programs as well." OYO also joined hands with other technology companies to address the issue of increasing online frauds and save guests from cybercrimes. Along with other companies, OYO met the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) representatives and made a joint representation on the issue that also addressed the plan on how to curb these online frauds followed by a meeting with other stakeholders in the telecom industry. The company has a long way to go and as it continues to amplify investments in this ever-evolving space, it aims to continually improve. About OYO Hotels and Homes Opening its doors in 2013, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, a young hotel startup, today is the world's leading chain of hotels and homes. The portfolio combines fully operated real estate comprising more than 43,000 hotels with over 1 million rooms. Through its vacation homes business, the company offers travellers and city dwellers access to over 130,000 homes around the world under OYO Home, Belvilla, Danland, Dancenter and Germany-based Traum-Ferienwohnungen brands. OYO today operates in over 800 cities in 80 countries, including the U.S., Europe, U.K., India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

OYO to roll out comprehensive ethical hacking and bug bounty programs

<ul><li>The usual fervor of the Big Fat Indian Summer weddings have given way to downsized miniature ceremonies this year.</li><li>However, the global pandemic hasn’t affected Indians’ love for weddings. </li><li><keyword id="3237946" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sandeep-Lodha">Sandeep Lodha</keyword>, CEO, OYO’s Weddingz.in voiced his optimism for the recovery of the sector. </li><li>He spoke to us about the brand's journey, COVID-19’s impact and projections for 2021 and how they are sticking to their idea of togetherness in times of social distancing. </li></ul>It was at a wedding that Sandeep Lodha, CEO, OYO’s Weddingz.in conceived the idea of starting a brand that could cater to the rising need for professional and organised wedding-related venue and non-venue requirements for the new-age, tech-savvy consumer. The idea was simple. Lodha wanted his Weddingz.in to be a one-stop-shop that enables the promise of a great event at guaranteed best prices and allows the bride and groom to focus on their dream wedding and not worry about mundane tasks. Walking us behind the idea that led to Weddingz.in, Lodha shared, “It all started in 2015, while I was attending a relative’s wedding. I realized that the Indian <keyword id="562840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="wedding-industry">wedding industry</keyword> hadn't changed at all since 1999 when I got married. In fact, it was still very fragmented and disorganized, in terms of promises made by vendors vis-a-vis lack of delivery, which became one of the biggest pain points for to-be-weds as well as their families. I realised among all services, the largest investment or budget was allotted to venues alone, and poorly managed catering, sound, decor, among other elements threw a spanner in the works for the couple on their big day.” He saw an immense opportunity to organise the wedding sector with technological solutions, and he believes that the wedding industry still has a long way to go as an average Indian parent spends about one-fifth of the wealth accumulated in his/her lifetime on their child’s wedding. According to a KPMG report, India’s current wedding market is at $50 billion, growing rapidly every year. In 2018, Weddingz.in was acquired by OYO and has grown leaps and bounds since. As per Lodha, Weddingz.in is the largest wedding company in India that offers venue and non-venue wedding-related services. “Within the first year of acquisition, we scaled great heights. Just last year (2019), we executed over 27,000+ events and just before the pandemic-led nation-wide lockdown, we executed 4,000+ successful events in February 2020,” said Lodha. From the 'big-fat Indian wedding' to 'small is the new big' The big-fat Indian wedding industry in our country has never seen a recession period. However, 2020 has been an unusual period for businesses of all shapes and sizes, as well as economies of scale. Weddings that last usually for 4-5 days in India, had to be cut down to only include the main wedding day and ‘small is the new big’ emerged as the biggest trend of the year in the industry. Until early September, weddings were not a grand affair -- the overall spending on elements such as photography, food, decoration, etc also dropped with the number of people. In March 2020, Weddingz.in also saw its revenue dip by 90% but in the same quarter, things started looking up. Telling us how the 5-year-old brand tried to minimise COVID’s impact, Lodha said, “With restrictions on large social gatherings and events including wedding ceremonies, the pandemic has changed the wedding landscape in India. In the initial phase of the lockdown, customers were holding back. During this time, in light of the situation, we offered our existing customers the option of free rescheduling and offered potential value-based packages inclusive of venue, photography and makeup, among others. Owing to this flexibility that we offered our customers, the majority of them chose to reschedule their events, as opposed to cancelling them. Owing to our efforts, in Q1 itself, over 3000+ summer weddings were rescheduled for the latter half of the year, specifically, October-November-December 2020.” Weddingz.in launched a program called ‘Wz Safe’ with a 20+ point checklist to ensure social distancing, hygiene and sanitation across venues and win its audiences’ trust. It also offered flexibility to reschedule events free of charge. During the lockdown, it launched a multi-video conferencing platform called ‘Next Gen Weddingz’, with an emcee and multiple chat rooms. It also allowed the virtual attendees to interact so that they feel as much a part of the celebrations. As of today, the government allows 50-200 guests at the wedding. Weddingz.in’s partners are also scaling their operations by embracing the digital world. “These efforts also enabled our venue partners with online demand during such ‘socially distant’ times. For instance, we’re extremely glad to share that some of our Weddingz.in venue owners that leveraged our online platforms saw approximately 50-60% demand levels, thereby making operations feasible and enabling them with the necessary cash flow to sustain expenses towards rentals, etc. In my opinion, in a way, the pandemic is an accelerant, leading to the ‘digitization’ of events, a trend that we would have seen maybe 5-10 years from today. Since couples are trying to avoid running about and meeting the multiple vendors to fulfil their requirements, there was an uptick in demand for one-stop-shop online solutions that offered packages with all services,” said Lodha. Adding on how the lockdown period accelerated Weddingz.in to become a digital-led company, Lodha said, “This (lockdown period) really pushed us to re-think and accelerate our pace of innovations for sustainable and long-term health of the business. We decided to move on from being a tech-enabled organisation to a tech-driven/led company. Through a three-pronged approach to resurrect, win customer confidence and build for the future, combined with the steady relaxation of government restrictions, as of today, we have been able to reach 75-80% demand of pre-covid levels and believe this will continue to grow month-on-month in 2021.” Trends in 2020 and 2021 Brides and grooms are now taking the punt to travel to a different state and have their dream weddings with a smaller group of people. Commenting on the trends that emerged during 2020, Lodha shared, “We’re seeing an upswing in inquiries/demand for destination weddings - couples are opting to tie the knot across exotic locations like palaces, beach-side venues, outdoor farms or even in-city affordable resorts. Preference for open-air lawns or alternatively, booking hotel banquets twice the size for a much safer and socially distanced wedding are also on the rise. Another trend that’s definitely on the rise is live streaming of events for virtual guests/attendees. As couples are also increasingly opting for one-stop-shop solutions to avoid running about and meeting the umpteenth number of vendors to fulfill all their requirements. And of course, if there’s one thing in demand more than others, it has to be a lot of stress on hygiene-focused efforts.” According to Lodha, the wedding industry could roughly be at 35% of pre-covid levels in 2021 if three factors go in their way: the scale of weddings, number of events per wedding and guestlist increase. Lodha explained, “While things are almost there, we are already at 75-80% of pre-covid level demand. Some clients still continue to postpone their events but most are now taking the punt and going ahead with it. Secondly, the customer’s willingness to go ahead with pre-wedding ceremonies like Sangeet, Mehendi, Haldi etc. will help the industry bounce back sooner and steadily. In the short term, small and intimate functions may take place, however, large scale events will take time to make a comeback. For the winter wedding season, we saw a rise in guestlist (depending on region-wise relaxation of restrictions). But as you know, if cases continue to rise, the guestlist may shrink again. We feel as long as Covid is here to stay, the guest list will continue to remain small compared to pre-covid days, but with an upward trend as customers get accustomed to the new normal.” Vision for the brand Weddingz.in is now aiming to be there for its customers from the beginning of their planning and become the most sought after tech-led platform. It is betting big on tech and customer experience-driven path to recovery. “As we enter a new decade, for our customers, we want to be the most sought after platform for weddings in India. We want to truly become a one-stop-shop for all our customer’s requirements and continue delivering on our promise of a 100% great event. To do so, we will enable customers with our technology to plan their wedding right from the beginning. For our partners, we want to enable them to scale up operations by leveraging technology and equip them with the right infrastructure to make customer transactions more transparent, reliable and authentic. We want to create significant value for their business,” said Lodha.

The wedding industry would roughly be at 35% of pre-covid levels in 2021: Sandeep Lodha of Oyo's Weddingz.in

<keyword id="2550719" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Rooms">OYO Rooms</keyword> has laid out plans for its future and they look quite promising. The hotel aggregator, which trimmed losses from Rs 496 crore in last year to Rs 325 crore in 2016-17, is planning to double its inventory of 70,000 rooms to 1.5 lakh by the end of next year. OYO’s <keyword id="1670338" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ritesh-Agarwal">Ritesh Agarwal</keyword> said they will cater to business and leisure travel in India, which is growing and to meet the demand, OYO will add at least 15,000 rooms this year. The company's gross bookings run rate grew to Rs 2,563 crore annually. "We have been doubling our revenues year-on-year and within this year we will continue to grow our revenues by two-and-a-half times year-on-year. We will see more properties coming up in areas where occupancy rates are high,” Agarwal told ET. Also, OYO is enhancing customer experience and will be making bookings easier for customers. Moreover, every property will be given a unique number to distinguish it from neighbouring OYO properties and the signages are expected to display the address more clearly. Speaking about GST affecting OYO, Agarwal told ET, “We and most of our partners think the rates have been thought of very fairly. We have kept our prices similar to what it was before GST. I do not see the GST having very significant implications. The market continues to grow. The demand for business traffic is high. Leisure business demand is higher than ever.”

OYO has trimmed its losses and here’s how it plans to add more rooms, enhance customer experience

<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we talk to brands to understand how they are coping with the new normal and their strategies towards navigating these difficult times.</li><li><keyword id="5030059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mayur-Hola">Mayur Hola</keyword>, Head of Global Brand, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> Hotels &amp; Homes voiced his optimism about the future with us as he told us all that OYO will be doing to make things safer for all its stakeholders.</li></ul> The world is slowly opening up, trying to get back to a normal routine. With cities opening up, so are businesses. Travel has been an industry that has impacted massively. With people stuck at homes, many travel-related businesses came to a complete standstill. However, with flights slowly opening up, people are still cautious. People are still only travelling if there is an absolute necessity. We are probably still some time away from people getting comfortable with travelling for leisure, things are definitely moving in that direction. In an attempt to understand how things have been for an organization which has its core businesses closely wired with the travel industry, we caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, OYO recently. And we are glad we did because he gave us just the right dose of optimism that we need during these bleak times. Hola not only told us how the organization has been coping all this while but also shared some really quirky learnings from the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> experience. Edited excerpts: Q) The world as we knew it has perhaps changed forever. The post-Covid world will be very different, and so will be the consumer’s expectations from different brands that have been a part of their lives. As a brand, how are you prepping up to meet these uncertain expectations of the future? The world isn’t in a great place right now (figuratively). But it’s not all bad. I’ll try and inject a few mg of optimism here. Women leaders are managing their countries brilliantly. The world needs more of them. Doctors (and the entire healthcare system) are helping hundreds of thousands of people make a full recovery. Millions of people are speaking up for issues that matter and not sitting on the fence. There are countless sensitive and caring souls willing to help each other and our fellow creatures in the real world. Billions of dollars are being donated. Amongst it all, SpaceX has sent a manned space flight to the International Space Centre. People are people and while the worst amongst us get seen and noticed, it is the best within all of us that will bring the world back to being the imperfect little rock we know and love. The same is true for brands. We do the right things to support our universe and sooner than later they come back to support us. We’ve been helping our hotel partners reopen and sanitise their spaces. We are informing our customers about the efforts we are making together to welcome them back and keep them safe. And today many are returning to us. Q) How have the past few months been for the brand? Since hospitality has been one of the worse affected, what is your expectation from the rest of the year? We’ve been set free! Free from office, from 9 to 5, from conference rooms and belts and creased trousers, from blow dried hair and appropriate attire. We can live in PJs, work from wherever! So we will actually see more domestic tourism coming our way than ever before. However we aren’t a tourism-dependent hospitality brand. We get a huge number of same city and business travel bookings. We’re seeing a lot of our pre-lockdown booking patterns make an encouraging comeback and are fairly positive in the long term. We might see a lot of work calls being made from hilltops and beaches later in the year, but that’s a whole other matter. Q) How did you, as an organization, deal with this dynamic situation? How did you ensure you kept the morale of your teams high? Being optimistic and helpful gets one past a lot of the doomsday theories. When you focus on hosting those who need to quarantine, on feeding the hungry and contributing monetarily and in all ways possible for you including housing Lucy the beagle and her doctor father (they were pushed out by their society, we helped), then keeping morale high is not a challenge. Our job was to stay open, help and communicate with those who needed help so they knew where to come. We did that. Q) As a marketer, what have your key learnings from this experience been so far? In no particular order, here are some learnings that may or may not help market stuff. 1. Mahabharat over Netflix. 2. Ludo over PS4. 3. Daru over dawa. 4. Motiyon waaley masks over motiyon waaley daant. 5. Binge wash over binge watch. 6. Namaste over shake it baby. 7. Sonu Sood over Akshay Kumar. 8. Ghar ki daal over bahar ki murgi. 9. Air India over hot air. 10. Kirana store over app store. Q) How difficult was it to figure out your communication strategy during these adverse times, considering it is easy for consumers to misread <keyword id="6354839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword> communications as opportunistic? Difficulty is relative. Here’s what was easy. Working together became super easy, as everyone realised that we need to help each other. Deciding to be empathetic and sensitive was easy. Making sure that all our acts and our communication about those acts, was designed to be helpful and not tactical. All this was easy. Q) Going forward, what is your marketing strategy going to be for the next few months, which from where we are now, is still shrouded with uncertainty? Do you think, marketing as we know it, will also change in the post-Covid world? Will your priorities as a marketer change? As a country we need to get back to work, get the economy going, get life back on track. This is what we know and it is what we will do. Every single brand’s strategy has to be to support that. So as folks go about reviving life and business, we will scrub our spaces and protect them. ‘Sanitised Stays’ is our strategy to build consumer trust and meet their expectations. We’ll focus our efforts to deliver this on-ground and convey the same via all channels and mediums to our partners and guests. This will include some key partnerships which we’ll announce soon. We will play our part in helping India reopen. Finally, the world will find a way to recover, we just will. I don’t know if that is visionary. But it is the vision OYO has.

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