Marketing in the times of COVID-19: Tata Consumer Products Limited

• Tata Tea’s Jaago Re, over the years, has awakened people -- pushed them a little to care about important social issues and inspired them to take action.
• Under its latest leg, Tata Tea aims to remind us to take care of the elderly, who are the most vulnerable to the virus due to their decreased immunity.
• We caught up with Puneet Das, Vice President Marketing, Beverages- India, Tata Consumer Products, to further understand how they have tweaked the brand's marketing strategy and media plan amid a nation-wide lockdown.

Remember how your parents would weave fictional stories to convince you to stay indoors or to make you eat your food when you were little? “Bhoot uthakar le jayega?,” they would say in a child-like voice. Now, it is our turn to remind them that it isn’t safe outside and this is exactly what Tata Tea’s latest campaign tells us.


With a lot of anxiety and uncertainty around, we need wake up calls now more than ever. Tata Tea has taken this opportunity to encourage us to support the most vulnerable group of society right now -- senior citizens. Due to their decreased immunity, they have a larger risk to fall victim to the virus than us, which can also affect their mental and emotional health.

It’s latest edition of #JaagoRe #BaadonKeLiye, therefore, targets millennials and reminds them to take care of their elderly members during these tough times. They have partnered with influencers such as Mandira Bedi, Rannvijay Singh, Dia Mirza, Milind Soman, to name a few.

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Elderly are the most at risk due to COVID-19. Iss Baar #BadonKeLiye #JaagoRe!! ❤️ @jaagore Lets be there for them without being around them. Log on to jaagore.com to know more, share your ideas and pledge your support to help the elderly.

A post shared by Dia Mirza (@diamirzaofficial) on Apr 16, 2020 at 5:28am PDT

Over the years, Tata Tea’s Jaago Re campaigns have nudged us towards social awakening and the brand has used this property to catalyse change around important issues like women safety, representation of women in sports, voting, corruption, etc.

We caught up with Puneet Das, Vice President Marketing, Beverages-India, Tata Consumer Products, who looks after Tata Tea, Tetley, and Tata Coffee Grand to further understand what the past few weeks have been like for the brand, discuss its latest campaign for Tata Tea and a few things Das has learned in this time.

Excerpts:

Q. How have the past few weeks been for the brand, considering the country has been in a lockdown?
The past few weeks have been about following all local administration guidelines and taking precautions to ensure safety of our employees & teams while trying to also ensure supplies to trade, and meeting demands of consumers affected due to the lockdown.

We have also utilized this time to work towards spreading awareness and facilitating change for the cause of the elderly who are the most vulnerable during these times, through our social initiative, Tata Tea - Iss baar #BadonKeLiye #JaagoRe.

Q. What is your marketing strategy right now? How have you been trying to continue building a connect with your audience?

In wake of the novel coronavirus, it becomes important to stay relevant to our consumers by facilitating and inspiring genuine change. And that it is our endeavour with our social Initiative “Iss Baar #Badon ke liye Jaago Re” which aims to spread awareness and sensitize youth to support the senior citizens during this time.

The initiative involves spreading awareness about the need to support the elderly, providing relevant tips, tying up with NGOs and providing a common platform for people to connect with them, and share stories of volunteers to inspire others to act.

It encourages individuals to connect with senior citizens next door or in their neighborhood and help them overcome any challenges they might be facing during this crisis and restricted lockdown period. A simple action like checking on them to see if they need anything and taking steps to help them will make a big difference (Of course, all this needs to be done keeping in line with the COVID 19 guidelines, as provided by the local administration).

We’re also tying up with NGOs and providing information so that people can reach out to them and volunteer, in case they want to further make a difference in supporting this cause of the elderly.

Q. Has there been a change in your media mix?

The endeavour is to spread awareness amongst the youth and drive genuine change for the cause for supporting the elderly. Considering the current consumer behaviour of increase in time spent online and on social media, the initiative is also largely focused on leveraging these mediums to drive awareness on our latest campaign.

The initiative is also being supported by influencers, NGOs and experts in senior care management.

Q. If the lockdown is further extended, will you be tweaking your marketing strategy further?

Right now, our efforts are to ensure that we spread the message and drive genuine change with our social initiative. Since it is aimed at supporting the elderly, who are most vulnerable due to their decreased immunity, this initiative will remain relevant irrespective of the lockdown conditions. In fact, if the lockdown is further extended, then it is even more important to understand and address the medical, psychological and social needs of the elderly whose routine life will be far more disrupted leading them to be most prone to confusion and helplessness.

Q. What are a few key learnings for you as a brand in the last few weeks?

The most important learning for brands during this crisis is to do something that can genuinely make a positive impact to their consumers/society. During times like these, it becomes important to consumers on ‘how you make them feel’ and whether you can genuinely make a difference in their lives in a meaningful manner.

The other learning is to be agile and adapt to changes in consumer patterns which has drastically changed due to ‘restricted lockdown’ conditions but may also continue to evolve and become the ‘new normal’ (even when the lockdown restrictions are eased).