<ul><li>Following the successful response to its recent brand films #AisiReachGaye and ‘Kalki Kal Dekhenge,’ OYO recently launched a new advertisement with Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor.</li><li>In the ad, Kapoor loses a bet to Chitrangada and plays golf while wearing a ghagra.</li><li>This unique set of ads from OYO has generated a lot of chatter on social media and has sparked a meme fest.</li><li>We speak to Mayur Hola - Head of Global Brand, OYO and Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO about the latest campaign, its target audience and timing.</li></ul>At a time when hospitality brands are observing a silent period, OYO rolled out a multi-film 360-degree campaign with Gul Panag, Kalki Koechlin, Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor. It was during the peak of COVID that OYO aired its first advertisement during the India VS South Africa ODI match. While it was a risky bet for the brand, especially before its upcoming IPO, to talk about travel without really propagating travelling, OYO’s new campaign has still won many hearts and has also organically trended on Twitter thrice for all of its ads. Last year in December, OYO saw its <a href="https://twitter.com/riteshagar/status/1479737071719759875">busiest month</a> as over a million people booked rooms with the brand for the New Year’s long weekend. We asked OYO whether this campaign was planned for December and delayed due to the sudden surge in cases, Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO said no, it felt like the right time now. Explaining why OYO chose January to roll their campaign out, he said, “December was one of the highest travel peaks for India and yet, that's not when you saw this campaign. You're seeing this campaign at a time when you're stuck at home, and you're thinking about being out there either for travel, leisure or for business. You're thinking about where else I could be? And it's at that point of time, we want there to be a recall and memory of OYO in their minds and for what could it be? That's when you zoom back into the features and say, it could be anywhere which is nearby, Assi Reach Gaye ad is about that; you don't need to reach anywhere, you could just stay here. We felt like this is a good time to just put them out there. People will love the films irrespective of the time we are in.” As the whole country relives 2020 and people are stuck at home yet again, they have the space and time to watch new content and absorb it. Mayur Hola - Head of Global Brand, OYO added that any consideration campaign needs to start a little bit ahead of when you want the customer to act, particularly when you decide that the consideration you seek is from a newer audience. “So our intent to do it now is to be a little ahead of the game and not just advertise when things open up and people have already made plans. And a lot of audiences today react spontaneously. Consideration takes a little more time, hence, the need for the campaign that we planned. I don't think anything else plays a role at all in our choice of timing. This is simply consideration and perception that we would focus on and are giving it the time it needs to bed in,” explained Hola. OYO’s first advertisement of 2022, ‘Assi reach gaye’ featured Gul Panag and an adorable kid who stole all the attention. The film showcases how a kid, who hasn’t had a chance to travel due to the pandemic, would react on a long road trip. It takes you through many stages of his journey, starting with the child enjoying the views of the scenic hills, turning to boredom and finally to restlessness after spending hours in the car. Hereon, the film captures the many quirks of a now impatient 4-year-old child, who incessantly nudges his mom from the backseat and asks, “Assi reach gaye?” With over 4000 tweets, this ad trended on number 2 on Twitter. <div type="Youtube" id="ZK7WgxuO6X8" title="Assi Reach Gaye | OYO Rooms Official" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZK7WgxuO6X8/mqdefault.jpg"></div> It is for the first time that the relatively young hospitality brand OYO is targeting Indian families with a huge media splash. Hola mentioned that OYO has seen some very unique use cases, which inspired its latest campaign to some extent, and realised that while the brand has a young perception in the market, it is used by audiences across age groups. Sharing a few examples, he said, “We live in small homes across the country and people sometimes just don't have the space to fight. So on the surface, you have a couple checking into a room but really they're going in there to squabble because they can’t scream at each other at home. I know that feeling. We have unique use cases of people taking a pitstop, studying, spending the night after a party, which is a big one for us; people just found it safer to check into a room nearby wherever they've been partying and not take a long ride by cab back home. So, we're trying to talk about the various audiences who own us already, and reach out to even further audiences, in terms of families and so on. In one way, it is reflective of usage already and in another way, we want to add more to that pool.” Following the successful response to its brand films ‘Assi Reach Gaye’ and ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/ZWt_6msbML0">Kalki Kal Dekhenge,</a>’ OYO released a third ad film last week featuring Chitrangada Singh and Kunal Kapoor. With this film, OYO highlights its app’s ‘search the view’ feature which enables people to discover stays with a view they would like. In the ad, Kunal loses a bet to Chitrangada and plays golf while wearing a ghagra. Within a few hours, this film also trended on Twitter on number three with more than 5,500 tweets. The idea behind these ads, Hola said, is to put OYO’s app at the heart of everything. It promotes different features that the app offers. It will be seen in multiple channels across GEC, News, Infotainment and the Kids genre. It will also promote the first film across its owned PR channels.

OYO is now targeting families through its communications to ring in its next phase of growth

Don't moment-market this crisis; there's a special place in communication and marketing hell reserved for that: Mayur Hola of OYO

<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

<ul><li>As <keyword id="6354312" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> warms up, more and more brands will start coming up with campaigns to grab the attention of the league's audience.</li><li>During such a time, it is a pleasant surprise to see a brand swim against the tides and come up with a campaign talking about a sport other than cricket.</li><li><keyword id="5030059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mayur-Hola">Mayur Hola</keyword>, Head of Global Brand, <keyword id="7036155" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Hotels-Homes">OYO Hotels &amp; Homes</keyword> tells us more about the campaign and about why the brand keeps using Print.</li></ul>For the past week, cricket has been ruling our minds and our screens. There has been a bombardment of campaigns that are aimed at grabbing the eyeballs during Indian Premier League (IPL) and brands, like every other year, are going all out. Therefore, it came as a good surprise when we came across a Print ad by Oyo, not talking about cricket, but about <keyword id="6362179" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hockey">Hockey</keyword>. These few months that IPL is on, most other sports are completely neglected. Brands and consumers alike forget about the existence of any other sport, which is why it was a surprise, and a really good one, to see this ad from Oyo, just as IPL is starting to warm up. <div type="twitter" handle="oyorooms" handlename="OYO" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336945719781945344/WyBChLdY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="18" retweetcount="1" status="While India ODs on cricket, other sports will stay buried. But more than cricket, we love a discount. Use coupon co… https://t.co/ULtM0ogLLu" createdat="1618548368000" id="1382918205828517894"></div> The text and the message in the creative is pretty simple. “While the nation ODs on T20 cricket for the next few weeks, most other sports are destined to stay buried under run rates, slower ones and free hits. There’s just one thing we all might love more. A great discount. So here’s one. Go to the OYO app, apply the coupon code ‘HOCKEY’ while paying for a safe and sanitized room and you’ll get a flat 45% off. Why Hockey? Team India is playing Olympics champions Argentina in Argentina. And they have got off to a great start by winning the first two matches. That’s it, that’s the update. Hopefully we all remember this sport just a bit more now. 45% more maybe?’ What makes the ad great is, it is not being preachy, telling you that you should give equal importance to other sports. It’s a great example of why long-copies, when smartly done, are still effective. The messaging is clear and it hooks you, with the smart use of a cricket ball at the top of the creative and the use of the word ‘Hockey’ as the header. The ad was noticed, and appreciated by many on Twitter. <div type="twitter" handle="beastoftraal" handlename="Karthik" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1140493276316745734/WH-6N17h_normal.jpg" favoritecount="127" retweetcount="27" status="This caught my eye for swimming confidently against the current! https://t.co/rktbWOr0Lf" createdat="1618550631000" id="1382927698855481346"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="thefullmohanty" handlename="Some bits" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1273614433571356672/1LBFQM3H_normal.jpg" favoritecount="136" retweetcount="18" status="Been a while since I saw a nice print ad! Good show ⁦@mayurhola⁩ ⁦@oyorooms⁩ https://t.co/J2cVtWcqij" createdat="1618547101000" id="1382912890848436226"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="aniketrthere" handlename="Aniket Tamboli" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1246562298946301955/COM5T65S_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="1" status="Say &quot;long copy is dead,&quot; one. More. Time. What a brilliant ad! https://t.co/XiVtC6o81r" createdat="1618552154000" id="1382934086809907202"></div> We caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, OYO Hotels &amp; Homes to understand what it is they were wanting to achieve through the campaign and realized its part of a much bigger campaign. “As someone recently pointed out, many people don’t even remember this is an Olympics year. There are a lot of sportspersons out there putting in a lot of effort. Our Hockey team is in Argentina and they are playing the best teams in the world. Even our wrestlers are doing that. So, we thought it is important that people talk about sports other than cricket. So it is Hockey to begin with. During the seven weeks of IPL, you will find us covering seven sports, which we believe, needs our support for various reasons. As a nation, we can cheer for more than one sport,” he said. What was interesting is the fact that the brand chose Print as a medium. Considering it’s a digital platform and a lot of its users are young, and more tech savvy, we asked Hola about his choice of medium for the campaign. He said, “A lot of the times, when brands want to put out a reassuring message, Print becomes an important medium. The medium has worked well for us in the past too. And when a <keyword id="560709" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="print-campaign">print campaign</keyword> takes off, like it did today, it covers a wide spectrum of our audience. Let's face it: today we have two different sets of audiences, the ones who consume print, and the ones who don't. OYO is a brand that is used by people who go to work, equally it's used by young people who perhaps don't even read the newspaper. That's why we find print such an interesting medium as opposed to say social media. Social media helps us reach our bang-on audience really well but print helps us reach out to a much wider audience. So when we use Print, our intent always is either to make an impact, or come up with reassuring communication, be counterintuitive, as we are today, with people who will pick up the paper, and then hope as well as plan, to make it jump off from paper to pixels, which then means that our younger audience also consumed it. Paper to pixels is always our intent with Print.” Here’s to more such thoughtful campaigns and the effective use of Print!

OYO’s ‘Hockey’ print campaign is winning the internet; there’s a lot more in store, says its head of global brand Mayur Hola

<ul><li>Seven years after being launched, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>'s app has crossed the 50 million <keyword id="1489786" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="app-downloads">app downloads</keyword> mark.</li><li>While India is leading in terms of download, it is followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the USA, and Brazil.</li><li>In 2020, on average, the company witnessed 32 app installs per minute.</li></ul>Homegrown <keyword id="29913" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hospitality">hospitality</keyword> chain OYO has crossed the 50 million app downloads mark today, with India leading with the most downloads followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the USA, and Brazil. OYO came into existence in 2013 and has now become a truly Indian brand that put itself on the global map. Here is some more interesting trivia on OYO’s app downloads milestone: <ul><li>In 2020, on average, the company witnessed 32 app installs per minute</li><li>Across India, the top five cities with the most downloads include New Delhi, Pune, Kolkata, Lucknow and Hyderabad</li><li>The app data reveals that Delhi ranked as the city with the most active consumer base in India</li><li>This year, January saw the most downloads globally, indicating traveller’s aspirations for the holiday season, prior to the pandemic</li><li>The OYO app is available in 9 languages across the world, including English, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, Bahasa, Arabic, Japanese, and Vietnamese.</li></ul> Commenting on the milestone, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, India &amp; South Asia, OYO said, “We, at OYO, truly believe that the pandemic has transformed us for the better, as it forced us to think ahead of time, re-tool and introduce several initiatives to cope with the new normal. We have directed our efforts in continuously innovating ways to ensure the best customer experiences, be it rolling out Yo! Help, our realtime assistant, or partnering with Unilever to enhance our Sanitised Stays initiative.” “There couldn’t have been a better time for us to have hit the 50 million app downloads mark this year. We’re thrilled and humbled at the same time. Since Unlock 3.0, OYO has managed to reach 30% of the pre-Covid occupancy levels with bookings led by millennials and small and mid-sized businesses across 20+ states and UTs. This is a positive sign showcasing consumer intent to travel again. It is also a testament to OYO’s resilience, ability to adapt, and most importantly, our strengthening consumer confidence. We stand ready to welcome everyone who is looking for quality accommodation at affordable prices, making it accessible to one and all. In the past six years and especially this year, we’ve worked across the length and breadth of the product to ensure that we become a truly customer-obsessed organisation that cares about delivering the best experiences to our guests every step of the way.” OYO rolled out several initiatives to ensure the health and safety of its guests with the introduction of Sanitised Stays, thereby implementing minimal touch policies, enabling digital payments, contactless check-ins, and check-outs. OYO also joined forces with Unilever, the global consumer goods company, to further enhance its sanitisation efforts across OYO’s properties. Unilever’s R&amp;D team is also working with OYO to co-create Standard Operating Procedures for cleaning to maximise the positive effects of its products. OYO properties where these operating procedures are used will display a tag on booking pages to show Unilever products have been used in cleaning services. This global partnership began in India and is scheduled to go live across Indonesia, Vietnam, the US, LATAM, and Europe. Recently, understanding that during such times, when the world is adapting to newer ways of living alongside the virus, through digital and tech-based solutions, OYO launched Yo! Help, a 24*7 real-time chat assistant for guests with a valid booking across its hotels and homes globally. Through this technology, the hospitality chain is set to enable seamless experiences throughout the consumer journey, right from the post-booking to post-checkout or cancellation phases.

Homegrown OYO sees 50 million app downloads globally

<ul><li>Internet harassment against women is at an all-time high in India. </li><li>To help address this issue, OYO is discouraging smutty comments directed towards women on its social media tactfully. </li><li>This initiative also led to improved behavior on the company’s social media, with a 42% drop in negative sentiment towards the brand in less than two weeks (precisely 11 days). OYO also observed some users deleting distasteful comments.</li></ul>“Have we ever come across a woman who hasn’t faced online threats, trolling or harassment at least once in her life? And how are we as members of a responsible society tackling this menace?” These were some of the questions that Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, <keyword id="4964826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-hotels">OYO Hotels</keyword> &amp; Homes pondered upon. The answer came to him through a quick scan on social media. As internet harassment against women reaches an all-time-high in India, OYO Hotels and Homes decided to tackle this situation tactfully by using Online Relationship Management (ORM). In OYO’s efforts to make online spaces safe for women, the startup took on online harassers across its social media platforms by identifying offensive or vulgar comments directed towards women and reinforced trollers to spread positivity and cheer. To achieve this, OYO’s in-house Brand and Social Media teams creatively leveraged ORM. A first responder function that is used to curb negative sentiment, and instead got it to motivate users to respect women. <div type="Youtube" id="AaZYkS8P8oI" title="Making online a safe space for women every single day" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AaZYkS8P8oI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Not only did OYO discourage users who left smutty comments, it’s initiative also led to an improved behavior on the company’s social media -- with a 42% drop in negative sentiment towards the brand in less than two weeks (precisely 11 days). OYO also observed some users deleting distasteful comments. Additionally, post-OYO’s active outreach campaign, the company’s social media platforms are now witnessing a higher share of positive or neutral speech at 26% and 62% respectively in comparison to only 12% comprising negative comments. Hola said, “As a hospitality chain, it is our responsibility to provide safe spaces for all our guests and especially women, be it offline at our hotels and indeed online on our social platforms. With this core thought, we mobilised ORM, usually, a function that deals with consumer complaints and transformed it into a first responder that supports women and corrects lewd behavior. This is brand building at its simplest yet deepest level. This campaign started out as a Women’s Day initiative and has now become a policy at OYO. We are now tackling this issue on a daily basis by identifying lewd trolls targeted towards women and schooling them through positive reinforcement.” Talking about how brands can use their power to spur a change, Hold added, “A brand has to influence behavior, both within the organisation as well as our consumers or external audience. We as a brand want to set an example and not stay at the surface level. This policy does both. It essentially walks the talk of our content. We’re super thrilled to share that since the past couple of weeks since this has gone live, there’s been a significant drop in <keyword id="1423058" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-harassment">online harassment</keyword> of women on our platforms. Similarly, we will continue to mobilise every part of our organisation to address various issues that exist in the social media world. This is a first but very important step in tackling lewd behavior against women. By creatively addressing such social issues, there is a lot more we will continue to fix going forward.”

OYO aims to create a safe online environment for women with its latest initiative

<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.

As folks go about reviving life and business, we will scrub our spaces and protect them: Mayur Hola, OYO Hotels & Homes

<ul><li>2020 turned the marketing world upside down. All businesses had to adapt and relook at their strategies. </li><li>More traditional brands moved online and increased their investments in digital marketing. </li><li>As we end our series, in today’s feature, we speak to new-age brands to find out how the pandemic impacted their perspectives towards marketing and a few trends that they expect to see this year. </li></ul>The ongoing pandemic has revolutionised how businesses function in the entire world. While COVID-19 pushed Indian brands to move online, it also made them relook at the tone of their marketing campaigns. As consumers tried to adjust to the new normal and heightened stress levels due to an uncertain future, advertising became more conversational and empathetic in 2020. Brands reminded their consumers and even their competitors that we are all in this together. According to Zeno, when a brand is perceived to have a strong Purpose, consumers were four times more likely to purchase from the brand and 95% of surveyed Indian consumers were likely to continue to support brands in the event that they were to make a misstep or receive public criticism. The pandemic has given the brandverse some time to pause, reflect, rework their strategies and they even kept aside competition to prioritise consumer interest. Consumers have started appreciating <keyword id="10689248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="empathetic-advertising">empathetic advertising</keyword> instead of adversarial advertising, especially in stressed situations like extended WFH, threat of Covid and living away from their family members and friends. Apart from that, there was more conversation on AI, MI and XR. There will be more focus on videos, influencer marketing and hybrid events. With a new-found appreciation for life and altered perspectives towards marketing, we reached out to new-age brands to understand how did COVID-19 change their marketing approach and what are some of the trends that they expect to see in 2021. Here is what they said: Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, <keyword id="7036155" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Hotels-Homes">OYO Hotels &amp; Homes</keyword>: <div type="image" title="Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, OYO Hotels &amp;amp; Homes" msid="80636771" hostid="261"></div> I thought I’d do some research for this one and read pieces posted by global consulting firms, A&amp;M publications, gurus, digital agencies et all. They were all super and gave guidance on personalisation, look-alike cohorts, selling on social, VR, chat bots, influencer marketing, programmatic, omnichannel, SEO, mailers, PNs, video content and so many other helpful things. But. We’re doing all this already. So is doubling down on what’s already working the new trend? I thought that was called common sense. Here’s the one trend I see in 2021. Delivering on your promise. Brands will speak 1:1 with their consumers more than ever and look to deliver what is asked of them. Because false promises and random unconnected purpose is being seen through and called out. Doing right by your consumers. There’s your purpose. Now put out some awesome creatives based on that. Rahul Deorah, Vice President- Marketing at Urban Company: <div type="image" title="Rahul Deo urban clap" msid="80636860" hostid="261"></div> Marketing has always been about understanding how a consumer reacts to certain triggers and how brands can use that to influence them. The year 2020 made us all think on our feet. Everyone had to go back to the drawing board to think of how to communicate the “safety” of purchasing or availing their products and services. However, in 2021, the trend I foresee emerging is deeper investment in the core consumer offering and, with consumer media habits changing, a declining trend in the absolute investments by brands to reach customers, with deeper efficiencies in the media mix. Naresh Krishnaswamy, Growth &amp; Marketing Head, Cure.fit: <div type="image" title="naresh-krishnaswamy-curefit" msid="80636918" hostid="261"></div> We have seen massive upheavals last year in terms of marketing with consumer focus shifting primarily to digital channels owing to the pandemic. While such changes and shifts in trends happen each year, last year in particular saw a faster pace of change in marketing strategies and execution, opening up a great vistas for innovation and experimentation. Going into 2021, I expect the trends from 2020 to still continue. This coming year might mark a comeback for some companies who may up their marketing strategies in accordance with lessons learned from 2020. To solidify their positions in the market, brands need to focus on the development of a deeper level of trust with their customers. People will continue to place a higher premium on trust and transparency and companies need to be able to communicate efficiently with their customer base. Moreover, with some pandemic-related restrictions still in place, virtual events and platforms will continue well into the coming months. While there is some amount of burn out from online events, there is also scope for further innovation. Marketers will have to be prepared for technological advancements. Emerging technologies, automation, AI/ML, augmented reality, etc. can heighten the immersiveness of such experiences and create space for more one-on-one interaction with audiences. More marketers should shift their focus on creating more enhanced consumer experiences online while we wait to physically get back to our previous lives. Kartik Johari, Vice President, Nobel Hygiene: <div type="image" title="Kartik johari nobel" msid="80636931" hostid="261"></div> Consumer Trends: Consumer spending will moderately rise, but economic woes will start weighing down on people. So far, we have survived the lockdown and the macroeconomic situation by burning our accumulated wealth and health. Sooner or later, there is bound to be a deep impact on our collective national psyche, of worsening unemployment, of a worsening economy, healthcare, etc. Additionally, areas such as healthcare and personal care have taken an irrevocable step forward. We will see more growth on this front. People will focus on their physical health and will reorganize their time around it. There will be new problems to face, with a growing threat from medicine-resistant bacteria, growing now due to a heightened consumption of hand-sanitisers. Value-based spending and ecologically sensitive spending is here to stay. People will henceforth buy/support brands with a similar ethos (true or not, is immaterial). Similarly, brands' efforts towards minimizing their carbon footprint will be appreciated by consumers. Market Trends: Hygiene and FMCG will trend upwards, while other indicators will remain muted. Even IF the vaccine is successful, our market dynamics have not improved overnight. We are still an agrarian economy, without adequate public infrastructure on healthcare and education. We will require massive government spending to boost our market performance. Markets will remain in a state of limbo as they are now, wildly volatile and without impetus. We are now going into the 13th year without a market correction; at some point, this is bound to catch up. Online Trends: Video content all the way, and a permanent boost to eCommerce. People have become comfortable consuming content and making transactions online, including using E-Wallets. However, apart from the obvious, only time will tell which long-term trends will sustain. There will be a boost in services that can help effectively target individuals in this new crowded realm, and some that can help them make sense of the breadth of content and services available. Teaching and Training will have permanently moved online, and the sector will continue to grow tremendously, and will also help other sectors to aid in ancillary teaching services in person. Dunzo's brand team: <div type="image" title="dunzo mascots" msid="80636941" hostid="261"></div> One of the most important takeaways from 2020 for all content lovers has been the stories that uplift and inspire them. In a changing world, stories of the human spirit and the impact we as individuals and brands can have in our world, resonate most with users and customers. Going forward, we hope to keep that positive trend going with more stories from our community, touching on important human issues, and delivering some hope and delight with every post. Another trend we foresee is the continuation of moment marketing and putting our brand's unique spin on a viral sensation. It's always like an inside joke that is shared by a large audience, with no need for explanations or context. Finally, as we focus on quality over quantity, we plan to dive deeper into some of Dunzo's impact and inner workings through mediums such as podcasts and blogs. Using a combination of all three trends, we hope to expand our audience as well drive stronger engagement and shareability of content.

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As folks go about reviving life and business, we will scrub our spaces and protect them: Mayur Hola, OYO Hotels & Homes

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