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<ul><li>Parle-G registered its best sales figures in over eight decades during the COVID-19 lockdown period. </li><li>We caught up with Mayank Shah, Sr. Category Head, Parle Products to understand how the brand managed to meet the ever-increasing demand, secret behind hike in sales, its shifting focus on digital mediums and overall marketing strategy. </li></ul>We all have grown up munching on Parle-G, dunking it in our chai and savouring the half-tea-soaked cookie everyday before rushing to school. The five-rupees pack came to the rescue yet again, cured the lockdown blues when our migrants trekked hundreds of kilometers back home. As a result, while many businesses struggled to survive, this home-grown glucose biscuit hasn’t seen its sales dip even for a day. In fact, Parle-G broke its own sales record by selling the maximum number of biscuits during lockdown in eight decades. Parle saw its overall market share increasing by nearly 5% in May and 80-90% of this growth came from Parle-G sales. “We have witnessed that during natural calamities and during COVID, there is an urgent need to supply rations to people and Parle-G has always been the go-to product and comfort food in any situation or location. It has a longer shelf life and the packaging keeps the biscuits fresh, thereby making it an ideal storage item,” said Mayank Shah, Sr. Category Head, Parle Products. Various NGOs and welfare organizations included Parle-G in their donation kits when Cyclone Amphan hit West Bengal and Odisha. Many people stocked it at home for emergencies. Another reason why Parle-G saw an uptick in sales is because the whole country was home and needed something healthy to snack on. “Today, most spending is happening on food and given the behavior, we are noticing people buying all sorts of biscuits, not just for snacking but for preparing various dishes. This is one reason why the demand went up. The second reason being staying at home has increased the consumption drastically. Typically, at the workplace the focus remains at work, at school focus is on studying but at home 24x7, consumption of food and snacking goes up. This is the reason why we saw uptick in consumption and we expect that this momentum will continue going forward as long as there are some or the other form of restrictions and also because of the concerns that people have in consuming outside food,” tells Shah. Challenges of meeting the market demand But how did Parle manage to meet this ever-increasing demand with scarcity of labor? “Right from day one, we were on the job in terms of ensuring that we get permissions to operate our plant, to ensure that the people are taking care of supply chains so any issues coming at any local level, there was a team that was functioning and taking care of those things to ensure smooth operation. Right from sourcing to manufacturing and supply chain, there were partners and teams already taking care of it. A big challenge was, a paucity of labor and the government additionally declared that offices will not operate with more than 50 percent capacity, which has changed today, initially it was even less than that,” said Shah. He added, “Depending on how a particular zone is affected, we probably have 20-40% labourers. To inspire and get laborers on board, we had to make them understand that it was not just a commercial activity rather it was food security of the country because of the sheer volume and consumption by people.” Shifting focus on digital mediums The lockdown has pushed even a traditional brand like Parle to embrace digital and explore the options available to reach out to its customers. While its ‘G Maane Genius’ iconic tagline continues to be a part of popular culture, to make it more relevant today and increase its recall value, Parle recently partnered with Amazon Prime Video for Shakuntala Devi. Talking about this partnership, Shah said, “This partnership celebrates what sets us apart, which is the generations of children that go above and beyond exploring possibilities in a way that makes their little world and imagination better.” Shah told us that the brand shifted its lion’s share from TV to digital during the lockdown because there was no fresh content on TV and on the other hand, there was a disproportionately higher rate on digital. “We would be investing a good amount of our budget into digital. Pre-COVID, the investments were typically 10 to 12% of the budget. During the initial part of the COVID, not just ours but many companies invested almost one third of the budget spent on digital. Now within a year or two, we will see almost about 20-25% of the total advertising spend happening on digital. Secondly, associations on OTT or TV only if we see a good synergy with our brand. So unless and until there is no great synergy in between our brand communication or brand proposition and the medium or rather the property with which we are associated, we normally don't associate,” said he. Tweaking marketing strategy to stay relevant This 82-year-old brand has grown to become a feeling in our country, it is not just any a cookie you dip in your chai. There is immense nostalgia associated with it. And to resonate with its consumers in gloomy times, Parle tweaked its overall marketing strategy. “We ensured that Parle remained part of consumers' life. Although we observed advertising by many brands, we opted to stay relevant and sometimes out of it. Rather, we continued talking to consumers about inspiring in these times, making them appreciate the role of the frontline workers and ensuring that they understand how the lockdown is beneficial to everybody. So they were not only public service ads which we executed, but ads of our products which talked about how we are part of their life by sharing their concerns. So, most of our communication was topical in nature.” When asked what keeps Shah motivated and at it, he said, “Today we are seeing many companies in the same category, same sector, who are giving up saying that it's the time of lockdown and nothing can be done. On the other hand and extreme, we can see companies that view this as an opportunity to rise up and go all out and carve out an opportunity out of constraint. We have seen both sides of the spectrum. A positive frame of mind, a positive bent of mind and a motivated team is something that makes all the difference.”

How Parle-G continues to exceed its sales record despite a recession

<ul><li><keyword id="29464" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle">Parle</keyword>, founded in 1929, has been able to reinvent itself over the years, while keeping its legacy intact.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="120094" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mayank-Shah">Mayank Shah</keyword>, Senior Category Head, <keyword id="235733" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle-Products">Parle Products</keyword> about all that the brand has been doing, to further grow its presence in the market. </li></ul>Every time someone says Parle-G and we bet you cannot help visualize yourself dunking one in a steaming cup of chai (and at times losing half of it too). For decades now, Parle-G has been our favorite tea-time companion, the most affordable ‘snack’ that got many of us, from the previous generations, through college, and well basically a comfort food, that is so nostalgia-inducing. Much before Oreo popularized dunking it in milk, we had been doing it with Parle-G. <div type="image" title="Parle Products Creative 1" msid="84131808" hostid="261"></div> Parle, founded in 1929, first started manufacturing orange candies. It was only 10 years later that it manufactured its first biscuit, coming up as an alternative to the more elite British biscuits. From there to now, this homegrown brand has come a long way. While entering the premium segment with <keyword id="4498428" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="parle-platina">Parle Platina</keyword> in 2017 that comprises products like Hide &amp; Seek biscuits, Milano cookies, Mexitos nacho chips and Nutricrunch range of nutritious products, it recently further diversified its offering, with the launch of its <keyword id="480300" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle-G">Parle G</keyword> Chakki Atta. The aim was to cash in on the momentum that branded atta consumption has been witnessing, since the <keyword id="43587" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="pandemic">pandemic</keyword>. <div type="image" title="Parle Products Creative 5" msid="84131819" hostid="261"></div> Last year, Parle made headlines when they spoke about a surge in sales of Parle-G biscuits during the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword>. This demand was a result of people stocking up on biscuits. It also became the most affordable ‘meal’ for thousands of migrant workers, who we saw with distress, walking back to their villages. It makes for an interesting case study, to understand how this brand, that was started 82 years ago, has stood the test of time. Despite being eight years short of a century old, Parle has tried to reinvent itself over the years, while keeping its legacy alive. A lot of the love for the brand comes from nostalgia, and also from the fact that despite entering newer categories, launching premium products, it is still looked at as an aam-aadmi product. How they react during a crisis also says a lot about the ethos of brands. The pandemic and Parle Last year, even before the pandemic hit India in full force and the government announced its first rounds of lockdown, Parle was prepared. Observing how things were in other countries, it had increased its production, just to make sure that the market never ran out of its biscuits. “What happened after the pandemic was something completely unprecedented, but we had been studying what was happening in neighboring countries, or in Europe, and we decided to double down on our production,” shared Mayank Shah, Senior Category Head, Parle Products. They also started shipping the products, keeping the stocks closer to the market, to minimize supply chain disruptions. As a result, when the lockdown was announced, and most brands were caught unprepared, Parle had its products, and especially Parle-G, in shops across the country. Having said that, Parle did meet with its fair share of troubles. With the sudden lockdown and with uncertainty looming large, there was a shortage of labor which the company was able to tackle by prioritizing its production; it stopped producing many of its offerings that were more labor-intensive. “As a result of this prioritizing, we were able to meet maximum demand. If at normal times, the demand is at 100%, during this time we saw between 160-170% demand, firstly because people were pantry-loading and secondly because of speculative buying,” explained Shah. However, this was also the time for the brand to give back to the society. The brand won a lot of love when it donated close to 3 crore biscuit packets to the government and NGOs. “Parle G is a brand that stands for goodness, in all senses, and we are more than just a corporate brand that is only interested in profits. We have always been a brand for the common man. Last year, raw material prices were going up and we could have easily taken a price hike, we never did that. I have been a part of this company for 20 years and I was surprised when my management came and told me we should be helping people. So each and every employee in the company lives by the philosophy of doing something for the greater good. Parle was launched as a Swadeshi brand to take on global biscuit brands, and this was during this last one year that I saw those philosophies come in play,” said Shah. “We saw so many posts on social media talking about us saying they were proud to see a brand go out and service consumers in the time of their need, it was a very moving experience for us,” he added. Entry into newer segments Over the years, we have seen Parle innovate and expand its portfolio to enter premium segments too. But why did the company, which primarily produces biscuits, decide to launch an atta brand? Shah said that the company has been producing atta for years now, but the product was exported to markets like the Middle East, UK and USA. “The packaged atta segment in India is worth around Rs 20,000 crore and only Rs 10,000 crore out of that is for branded packaged atta, which are either national or regional brands. But the overall atta market is much larger, and that is mostly people going out, buying wheat and getting it milled. During the pandemic however, we observed that people wanted to buy products that they thought were safer and we saw many switching to packaged atta. Penetration of packaged atta in the market is still very low and there is a huge opportunity for growth, so we thought this was the ideal time for us to launch it here,” explained Shah. He is not even worried about the more established players as he feels there is a huge, unpenetrated market for the brand to capture where people who used to buy loose atta are now converting to packaged, trusted brands. Parle had launched its premium range Platina three year back and now wants to focus on it to grow its market share, and to build relevance. “There has been a bit of a slowdown in the growth of our premium products in the last 1.5 years, so we will renew our focus on the segment with the opening up of markets,” explained Shah. <keyword id="6354839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing">Marketing</keyword> during the pandemic During times of crisis, marketing budgets are usually the first to get slashed.While Parle did not cut down majorly on its spends in the last 1.5 years, it did rationalize its spends, shared Shah. “During the pandemic, we did two things, firstly, we increased our digital spends, which helped us a lot, while also continuing to advertise on TV. Secondly, we also tweaked our creatives. Our communication in the last one year has been very different from what we usually do. All our communication has been about what has been happening around us. We paid tribute to the known and unknown frontline workers. That communication also sent a strong signal to our internal stakeholders that its our responsibility to rise to the occasion because so many of them were risking their lives in working during those times, and we wanted to acknowledge that.” Meanwhile, brands like Parle G also gain a lot from nostalgia. The last year has seen people take to social media to talk about their love for the brand, come up with content using the product and also coming up with innovative recipes using the biscuits. “That’s the thing about Parle G asa brand, everybody has their own way of eating the biscuit and they have their own stories. I have my Parle G story too; I stayed in a hostel for about 10 years. For anybody who has stayed in hostels knows how the food is. So we would eat the hostel food at 10 and then get hungry by 12. So we had a routine of having chilled milk from Aarey at 1 pm, we used to add a packet of Parle G to it, mix it and have it as a slurry. That was our lunch for 10 years. It was not just me, I know many people who did it. So we have always had a lot of user-generated content but the pandemic took it to a whole different level. It was heartening to see that kind of response from consumers,” he added. On where the next phase of growth for Parle as a brand will come from, Shah said, “It will come both from our biscuits and non-biscuits portfolios. While the penetration of biscuits is high, the per capita consumption is still lower, compared to Western markets. So I feel there’s still a scope of growth in the <keyword id="11569298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="biscuits-segment">biscuits segment</keyword>.”

How Parle has stood the test of time

<ul><li>Parle is considering laying off 10,000 employees, thanks to the significant slump in sales, according to an ET report. </li><li>The auto industry has already laid off nearly 350,000 employees in the last four months. </li><li>Rural wages hit the lowest level in the last three years in May 2018. </li></ul>Every economic slowdown hurts the poorer people the most. It’s no different this time. The cash crunch rising out of a slowing economy and rising unemployment is biting budget households in India so bad that they are cutting back on biscuits and that is leading to more job losses at manufacturing plants. India’s largest biscuit maker, Parle is considering laying off 10,000 employees, thanks to the significant slump in sales, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/drop-in-demand-may-force-parle-to-lay-off-up-to-10000-employees/articleshow/70763132.cms?from=mdr">according to</a> an ET report. Parle’s products are mostly consumed by people in the lower rungs of India’s economic pyramid, people in smaller towns and villages. Parle, which makes Parle-G, Monaco and Marie biscuits records an average sale of over ₹10,000 crore annually with over 100,000 employees. “The number of shops stocking these products is the same, but the number of products being sold from these shops is going down due to weakening consumer demand,” Mayank Shah, category heads at <keyword id="235733" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle-Products">Parle Products</keyword> <a href="https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/after-britannia-now-parle-hit-by-slowdown-says-gst-responsible-for-it">told </a>National Herald. Higher tax and lower incomes It doesn’t help that biscuits are taxed at 12-18% in the goods and services tax regime. ““These biscuits were taxed at only 12-14 per cent under the previous excise and value added tax regime. Under GST, they are priced at 18%. This forces companies to increase prices, impacting sales,” Shah had added. The slowdown is getting increasingly visible in consumption. It started with trucks followed <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/hul-volume-growth-slowest-in-7-quarters-q1-profit-in-line-with-estimates-119072400067_1.html">by car sales</a> and then two wheelers and now it has hit even products <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/hul-volume-growth-slowest-in-7-quarters-q1-profit-in-line-with-estimates-119072400067_1.html">of daily consumption</a>. The auto industry has already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-auto-manufacturers-have-laid-off-350000-jobs-in-four-months/articleshow/70563890.cms">laid off nearly 350,000 employees </a>in the last four months. Job cuts in companies like Parle will only make the situation worse. People are increasingly worried about the prospects in the coming as signalled by the Reserve Bank of India’s co<a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/consumer-confidence-for-the-month-of-june-drops-thomson-reuters-ipsos-survey-1563012458113.html">nsumer confidence index </a>that fell sharply in June 2019 and has stayed near that level since then. The falling biscuit sales only confirm that the country’s rural distress is far from abating. Rural wages hit the lowest level in the last three years in May 2018. “The turmoil is in rural, the turmoil is related to agriculture, so because of that the issues are happening in the value segment, right. So obviously it's affecting every segment but the biggest issue is happening in the value segment because that's what sells in those markets,” Varun Berry, the MD of Brittania said adding that people are shying away from buying <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Forget-cars-Indian-consumers-are-wary-of-buying-a-5-biscuit-packet/articleshow/70638256.cms">biscuits packs that are worth a mere ₹5</a>. Richer the better However, the richer Indians may be shelving plans for a new car but they aren’t cutting down on biscuits yet. So, the more expensive packs of biscuits are still selling well and that’s where <keyword id="6359432" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="britannia">Britannia</keyword> has not had to resort to job cuts yet but Parle has. “With around 65-70% of the portfolio in the premium space, the company plans to introduce variants with protein, gluten free, whole wheat, seed, nuts, etc., and also a niche offering catering to modern trade and e-commerce channels,” said report on consumer sentiment by SBI Caps. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/britannia-md-says-consumers-think-twice-before-buying-a-5-biscuit-raises-concerns-about-indian-economy/articleshow/70638256.cms">Forget cars, Indian consumers are wary of buying a ₹5 biscuit packet</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/kishore-biyanis-big-bazaar-wants-to-take-hindustan-unilever-and-procter-gamble-to-the-cleaners-with-its-own-laundry-brands/articleshow/70173836.cms">Kishore Biyani’s Big Bazaar wants to take Hindustan Unilever and Procter &amp; Gamble to the cleaners, with its own laundry brands</a>

India’s biscuit crisis shows slowdown is hurting the poor more — and job losses are making it worse

<ul><li>India’s largest retailer, <keyword id="44949" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Future-group">Future Group</keyword> is set to scale up its share in laundry market with new liquid and powder detergent brands. </li><li>The move is set to cut shelf space by a third and hit <keyword id="6365619" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-unilever">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> and <keyword id="316422" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Procter">Procter</keyword> &amp; Gamble’s market share. </li><li>Future Group owner <keyword id="44950" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kishore-Biyani">Kishore Biyani</keyword> announced his company’s new plans. </li></ul>India’s largest retailer, Future Group is planning to scale up its share in the laundry market with its own line of liquid detergents and powders. The Founder of the group, Kishore Biyani said that he wants to take on giants like Hindustan Unilever and Procter &amp; Gamble (P&amp;G) by cutting their shelf space by a third in the segment, says an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/kishore-biyani-sees-bright-future-in-own-brands/articleshow/70166924.cms?from=mdr">Economic Times</a> report. The Group’s Future Consumer (FCL), the consumer arm of the group which runs <keyword id="6357823" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="big-bazaar">Big Bazaar</keyword> stores, already launched its own liquid detergent brand, Voom. It soon plans to come up with a powder format of it, in two weeks. On the Shelf Biyani wants to gain disproportionate share in the market, building on its vast retail presence. “Consumers will finally decide which brands to pick but we have to push our own brands on shelves too,” Biyani told ET. The Future Group operates around 1,500 stores across supermarket chains like Big Bazar, Easyday, <keyword id="162215" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hypercity">HyperCity</keyword>, Easyday and Nilgiris. Together, they account for around 5% of the HUL and P&amp;G’s annual sales worth ₹4,000 crores. FCL is leaving no stone unturned to get its brands into the market. It is planning to stock its new laundry brand Voom across fashion stores too owned by the group like FBB, <keyword id="370284" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Brand-Factory">Brand Factory</keyword> and Central stores. Ambitious targets Laundry is the biggest market category for both HUL and P&amp;G. The largest segment in the home and personal care space is worth ₹24,000 crore. HUL and P&amp;G have flagship brands like Surf, Rin, Ariel and Tide, which control more than half of the market. But, Future has set ambitious targets to get 70% of sales from their own brands in the next few, said the ET report. Laundry is a big part of this grand plan. Biyani restructured his retail company into a fast moving consumer goods company (FMCG) company, nearly a decade back. Future Consumer has its own brands and private labels. FCL already has a 20% share in the biscuit segment. It is also the third largest player after household brands like <keyword id="6359432" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="britannia">Britannia</keyword> and Parle. Within their own stores, FCL has a majority share in the body wash segment and also snacks.

Kishore Biyani’s Big Bazaar wants to take Hindustan Unilever and Procter & Gamble to the cleaners, with its own laundry brands

<ul><li>Like humans, do brands also straddle between Mrityu and <keyword id="12853" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moksha" source="Orion">Moksha</keyword>? Find out in this 2 part article series by <keyword id="9324569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shashwat-das" source="Orion">Shashwat Das</keyword>, Founder, <keyword id="7465777" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="almond-branding" source="Orion">Almond Branding</keyword>.</li><li>In the second part of his column, he shares how brands can resurrect themselves.</li></ul>Before fighting the real battle at Kurukshetra, Arjun had to fight another battle that was raging in his mind. Thankfully, he had Lord Krishna on his side to help him win that battle. This is how the Bhagvad Gita was born. But when I read the Gita, the preaching of Chapter 2 left two crucial questions in my mind: <ol><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/why-do-brands-die/articleshow/87309993.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Why do brands die and</a></li><li>How can brands become immortality or achieve Moksha?</li></ol>After much search and interactions with experts, I did find the answer to the first question, but the answer for the second one had still eluded me! So I continued my quest for the second question the same way as I did for the first one and was fortunate to get an answer for this question too! Here is a curated list of ‘Dos” that might help brands to attain Moksha. <ol><li>Become a part of your customers life</li></ol>Breaking things is quite common in our homes, especially if you have kids around. One of the most common things in every Indian household is a small tube of FeviKwik. It comes in handy when you have to stick something. Besides its innovative packaging, FeviKwik is appreciated for its fast action and usability over multiple surfaces. This versatility makes the brand irreplaceable. Can you name three alternatives to Fevikwik? Never mind, because even I can’t! FeviKwik has moved beyond being a simple product to becoming an integral part of everyday life. 2. Become a fable Amul butter was launched way back in the year 1955. Since then, Amul has become synonymous with butter in India. You go to any restaurant and order for a Pav-Bhaji. Chances are that the waiter would ask you “With Amul butter or with ordinary butter?” The brand Amul butter has achieved such a status that not only does it create product differentiation but can even get you a premium over ordinary butter! Brands should strive to reach that stage where the user feels that the brand adds real tangible value. Since its launch, Amul butter is probably witnessing the third generation of grocery decision makers, but even today, no grocery list is complete without it. With such a strong fan-following, Amul butter has truly achieved brand Moksha! 3. Keep innovating There was a time when chocolate was considered as kid’s product. This not only restricted the market size but also consumption opportunities too! But Cadbury’s challenged this belief and innovated itself in two ways. First, it broke the myth that chocolate is meant for kids alone by positioning it as the ‘real taste of life’. This broke the age barrier. Second, it created new avenues for consumption by saying “kuch meetha ho jaye”. This multiplied the consumption avenues for Cadburys. Today, Cadbury’s is not only relished by the entire family but is also competing against traditional Mithai’s when it comes to gifting. Cadbury’s did not discover chocolate, but it innovated the occasions when chocolate can be consumed and widened the customer age group. It even introduced a lot of product innovations too. Bournville, Silk, Choclairs, Gems, and the list goes on. Infact, today Cadbury’s has reached such a stage where no matter what the age-group or the occasion, there is always a chocolate for you! So as long as you are allowed to eat chocolate (from the health perspective) or if you are celebrating an occasion, Cadbury’s will always top your wish list! 4. Extend your brand, but don’t dilute your identity India first started using Dettol as the main component of their first-aid kit. For many years Dettol was the only anti-septic liquid known to Indians. Sensing stagnation, Dettol decided to spread itself to other categories. But while doing so, it took care of not diluting its anti-septic identity. It first became an anti-septic soap, then a hand-wash, a floor-cleaner and now it is a general disinfectant that can be added to water to be used over any surface! Everything about Dettol is new, but its identity as an anti-septic has remained unchanged. Infact it has become stronger with every product category added. Now with multi-category presence and a stronger identity than ever, Dettol is on its way to Moksha! 5. Freshen up the message but don’t forget the messenger There was a time in India when you just had two means of communication – Mass Media (TV, print &amp; outdoor) and Point-of-Sale. But today, newer and more powerful options like digital media have emerged. Most brands focus on getting their digital inputs (SEO, Social Media presence etc.) right and ignore the fact that even media channels have their own important place in the process of communication. While their messages keep evolving with changing customer sensibilities, most brands still fail to unleash the full potential of the emerging new media channels. The belief that appealing message will work wonders was OK till the choice of media channels, the messenger, was limited. But the moment new messengers were added, new brands emerged out of nowhere and today are appealing the might of older established brands. Every messenger (channel) has its own requirement, e.g. Twitter takes just 280 characters, whereas YouTube can take a video of much longer length than conventional TV commercial. The better brands use these channels, the better connect thy can create with their customers thus going a step closer to Moksha. 6. Keep appealing to your customer’s eye There was a time when the world’s largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, sported a butter packaging and an infant on its pack. This visual identity has become so deeply entrenched with Indian consumers that most ‘me-too’ biscuit brands that were launched in the country sported a kid on their wrappers. Realising this shortcoming and to remain relevant to the times, Parle-G shifted to a plastic sheet wrapper and even replaced the kid with a caricature. However, apart from these two changes, the visual identity of Parle-G has remained unchanged by &amp; large. But, not changing with times is a liberty only legacy brands can afford! Today, remaining relevant to the sensibilities of the customers is a must for every brand. With evolving customer behaviour and thinking, brands too have to change. Earlier you could see the salt inside Tata Salt, today you don’t. Earlier Nirma was a simple semi-transparent pillow pack, but today it is a lot more colourful. Even some of the biscuit brands of Britannia keep on evolving their visual identity in order to remain relevant to the customer’s sensibilities. While the biscuit inside remains the same, the outer visual identity of the brand keeps evolving! 7. Be an active contributor to the society Besides helping you with your everyday life, brands aspire to emulate your personality. Eventually, brands want to become you. They want to appeal to your “Do-Good” spirit as they know that this is one hidden facet of your personality. For instance, a brand like the house of Tata spends a lot of resources, monetary or otherwise, on social activities which may not give it a direct benefit. But people remember and appreciate such philanthropic efforts made by brands that not only make their lives easier, but also that of the society at large too. They even show their appreciation by endorsing such brands. Even P&amp;G brands like Ariel make such attempts to give back to the society. Brands that think beyond achieving their own sales targets are not only remembered and consumed by the current generation, but are also appreciated by the next ones. If a brand was a person, normally it would die a natural death after some years of existence. But unlike us humans, brands don’t have a physical form and hence can theoretically become immortal. There are ways and means of achieving immortality or Moksha. The association of colour Red with danger is immortal and so is that of White with Peace. A smiling face always puts you at ease over a frowning one. Or, lullabies are always sung before going to sleep instead of rock &amp; roll! These things have achieved Moksha. So, if you want your brand to achieve Moksha then better start working right now as it might be too late tomorrow! <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="87309993" title="Why do brands die?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

How can brands achieve moksha?

<ul><li>Brands often leverage the occasion of Independence Day to mull over pertinent questions such as freedom from gender discrimination or plastic pollution.</li><li>With Independence Day around the corner, we look back at campaigns from the past five years that nudged us to question the status quo or took us down the memory lane.</li><li>So, here’s to the past that made us and the future in the making.</li></ul>Every year on 15th August, India celebrates its independence. This earmarked day brings along an opportunity to reminisce over our past, remember the struggles of our forefathers, be grateful for today and set new goals for the future. As India completes its 75th year of independence, the levels of pride and excitement is high across the country. This year, brands have united to bring our attention to issues that we are still not independent from like racism, gender inequality, ignorance and power play, that we encounter everyday and choose to ignore. They are also using this opportunity to thank our frontline warriors, who have held the country on their shoulders for the past two years. Tricolor is already splashed all over the digital media with patriotic gusto riding through people’s hearts. Last year, the theme for Independence Day 2020 celebrations was 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' or self-reliant India. As a result, brands dedicated 2020’s Independence Day to our indigenous artisans and karigars who have been affected due to the pandemic and health workers’ resilient spirit. This year, the theme of Independence Day celebrations will be 'Nation First, Always First.’ We bring to you a list of advertisements from the past five years that celebrate the heroic sacrifices of our armed forces to tales of unity today: Tata Tea | 2021 TATA Tea Premium celebrates this Independence Day by bringing out a unique <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/deshkakulhad?__eep__=6&amp;__cft__%5b0%5d=AZX1hEgfv7TRbIexWSPxxUMn5vkbLYu_DwjWCPnzxisjYWTgqZ9lBKAktvBvCbZ2eh7UOVA-wuj8R9e9GMmM3fWDJ-mCAULDLtP0mb8QXeQboHNiXqTKvs9hfMq1jwTTRQsNrivPHRZKiagHhn-VAVu7SDSVvd2gtwmjBgx-wPJZnw&amp;__tn__=*NK-y-R">#DeshKaKulhad</a> collection in partnership with Rare Planet - a startup that promotes the work of local Indian artisans. The proceeds of the sale of these exquisite hand painted Kulhads will help to lend support to the artisan community that has been severely impacted by the current times. <div type="Youtube" id="VlKZgxB53r0" title="Desh Ka Kulhad – Celebrating India’s rich diversity | Extended" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VlKZgxB53r0/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Cadbury Unity Bar 2020 In 2020, Mondelez India’s special limited-edition Cadbury Unity Bar caught everyone’s attention. This very special Cadbury bar – a combination of dark, blended, milk and white chocolate united in one bar, epitomized the common sweetness that defines us in India, even during the not so sweet and difficult times. It celebrates our Unity in Adversity – showcasing the inherent sweetness in every Indian that has united us during these tough times. <div type="image" title="Product shot - Cadbury Unity Bar" msid="85273725" hostid="261"></div> Tata Salt | 2020 Tata Salt urges the nation to unite with the same fiery patriotism as shown during the Indian Independence movement to take efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The spirit is brought alive through an emotional digital film using the premise of the original poem, ‘Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna’ by Ramprasad Bismal, featuring a veteran of the 1971 war. The brand appeals to the nation to employ healthy practices such as wearing a mask, washing hands and maintaining social distance. <div type="Youtube" id="9Rb429CNELs" title="A Retd. LT. Colonel asks you to join the new fight for freedom" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9Rb429CNELs/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Liberty Shoes | 2019 Liberty Shoes partnered with Piyush Mishra to mirror the reality of today’s world in 2019. It came up with an action rather than a solution to evoke the sense of urgency and seriousness amongst the audience. They took examples from everyday life like racism, gender inequality, disrespectful behaviour towards women that we encounter and choose to ignore. It’s not the actions we blame, but also the mindset we carry. <div type="Youtube" id="HUgFTKGsh7Q" title="#InTheNameOfLiberty" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HUgFTKGsh7Q/mqdefault.jpg"></div> United Colours of Benetton | 2019 This campaign showcases how a simple act of compassion and mutual understanding can allow a nation as diverse as India, to co-exist in harmony and peace. <div type="Youtube" id="G2kMVgMzEzI" title="#UnitedByHarmony" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G2kMVgMzEzI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Bajaj Allianz | 2018 Created by WATConsult, the campaign expresses a ‘special emotion’ of freedom embraced by the LGBTQAI+ community on Independence Day. The video highlights this community coming together, cherishing and celebrating their true freedom to love, highlighting the sentiment of Independence Day that resonates with every Indian. <div type="Youtube" id="kg8GABxUOpM" title="Pyaar Ki Azaadi - An Independence Day Film" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kg8GABxUOpM/mqdefault.jpg"></div> United Colours of Benetton | 2018 This social experiment #UnitedByHope, featured older India where people talk about the importance of religion and the importance of accessories associated with religion like kada (bangle), pagdi (turban), rosary, burkha etc and compares it with younger India. It highlighted how kids can subtly lead the older generation along the path of unity irrespective of religion or caste, and slowly but surely paving the way for a united future. <div type="Youtube" id="fNOpZvXI8eM" title="#UnitedByHope: A social experiment conducted in India" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fNOpZvXI8eM/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Vivo | 2018 Made by advertising agency Bang in the Middle, the video features a young woman driving on a highway when her car breaks down. It portrays her innate fear of being around unknown men at an odd hour of the night. The subtle message embedded in the film is revealed at the end. Even a harmless helping hand induces apprehension in an Indian woman instead of a sense of comfort. With this campaign, Vivo asked an important question: do women feel safe in today’s Independent India? <div type="Youtube" id="BIFjHEJa954" title="Happy Independence Night" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BIFjHEJa954/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Parle G | 2018 The digital campaign was created by an agency called Thought Blurb, and was marketed under the hashtag ‘#YouAreMyParleG’. The emotionally provoking film not only details on the real-life life of Ankit Singh behind enemy lines but also gives sentimental insights about his familial ties. The micro-movie ends with the message that some people turn into the whole nation’s packet of Parle-G. The final message makes a fitting end that also encapsulates the spirit of the hashtag ‘#YouAreMyParleG’. <div type="Youtube" id="yPgpLV9VIcU" title="Parle-G | Armed Forces Film" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yPgpLV9VIcU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Airtel | 2018 Two days before India’s 72nd Independence Day, Airtel India gave the country a new rendition of our beloved national anthem <div type="Youtube" id="vH1jLzINhqY" title="EXCLUSIVE: National Anthem by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan &amp; Ayaan Ali Bangash" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vH1jLzINhqY/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Bajaj Avenger | 2017 On the occasion of Independence day, Bajaj Avengers released their communication titled #RideyourIndependence which equates freedom of our country with women liberation. It ends with a powerful message from Mahatma Gandhi, ‘The day a woman can walk freely on the roads at night, that day we can say that India has achieved independence’. The film had clocked more than 7.2 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours. <div type="Youtube" id="BtPpnOKDo4g" title="#RideYourIndependence - Bajaj Avenger Independence day Film" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BtPpnOKDo4g/mqdefault.jpg"></div> iD Fresh Foods | 2017 This campaign intended to spread awareness around the plight of the families of our army martyrs, encouraging the public to pledge their support to the well-being of these families. It highlighted the hardships that a martyr’s family undergoes. <div type="Youtube" id="qVPReTYAlkE" title="#iDPledge - iD Independence Day" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qVPReTYAlkE/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

Top Independence Day ads from the last five years

<ul><li>EIH Hotels which operates the Oberoi, Trident chain as well as one of Delhi’s oldest hotels – Maiden, has seen its stock price battered since late February. </li><li>Chalet Hotels, which runs – Marriot, Hyatt and Novotel in India, saw its profits jump three times in Q4FY20 but even then the market fears saw its share price down by 2% on June 9.</li><li>The hospitality, travel and tourism industry being severely impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic.</li></ul>From Oberoi to <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword>, the Indian hospitality industry opened doors for business on June 8, but the market is still skeptical of people booking rooms. The latest trigger for panic selling in the shares of hotel stocks came was the delay in declaration of earnings by EIH, which operates the Oberoi, Trident chain as well as one of Delhi’s oldest hotels – Maiden. <div type="image" title="EIH shares." msid="76281467" hostid="261"></div> However, EIH is not alone. Chalet Hotels, which runs the premier hotels – Marriot, Hyatt and Novotel in India, saw its profits jump three times to ₹42 crore in the quarter ended March 31. However, even then the market fears saw its share price down by 2% on June 9. With the hospitality, travel and tourism industry being severely impacted due to the coronavirus pandemic, almost all of India’s listed hotels have seen their share price tumble since February. “It is well known that the hospitality and tourism industry is the worst affected by the outbreak of COVID19 (coronavirus). This has been reflected in the stock prices of hospitality stocks, which have declined by 62% to 82% from their 52 week highs,” said a report by Nirmal Bang on the hospitality sector dated June 2. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hotels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Share price change since the beginning of 2020 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chalet Hotels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-53% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">EIH Hotels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-48.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Indian Hotels Company Limited </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-37.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Lemon Tree Hotels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-60.4% </td></tr></tbody></table> India’s hotels were shut for almost three months due to the coronavirus lockdown, and only some opened up as quarantine centres for international returnees in May. Sanjay Sethi, MD &amp; CEO, Chalet Hotels while announcing initiatives like sanitized stay, deferred hotel construction said they will help in the near mid-term revival. “With the new regulations to open up the economy we are gearing‐up our portfolio for a quick scale up and eagerly waiting to welcome our guests,” said Sanjay Sethi, MD &amp; CEO, Chalet Hotels. However, the optimism of the hotel industry still faces a challenge – whether travel will actually resume anytime soon. With work from home and video conferencing being the new norm, business travel could be impacted. “Leisure demand will likely be the first to bounce back. Domestic corporate travel will depend on the economy,” said a recent report by STR realty. And the economy isn’t looking good. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76274381" title="World Bank projects global economy to shrink by 5.2% in 2020" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> For leisure travel, hoteliers are excluding ‘airline travel’ and are looking at weekend getaway spots or ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/oyo-mahindra-holidays-emirates-and-boeing-agree-people-wont-fly-for-a-while/articleshow/75731204.cms">driving destinations</a>’ as India opens its state borders. The hope for budget hotels Corporates, who are cutting down costs, could now turn to budget hotels that they consider safe and hygienic. And that’s what budget hotels like Lemon Tree, OYO, <keyword id="2870818" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="FabHotels">FabHotels</keyword> are betting on. OYO Hotels &amp; Homes, FabHotels have all launched a spree of initiatives for sanitized and clean hotels to bring in consumers. “It has been a long wait, but we’re delighted to welcome our guests once again to our select hotels across India. All you need to do is look for a #SanitisedStay tag &amp; we’ll take care of the rest. #AtitiDevoBhava,” wrote OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal on Twitter. OYO’s rival in the budget hotels space – FabHotels too has gone in the similar route advertising “100% Safe Place to Stay” hotels. “From an economic standpoint as hotels and tourism in India have suffered unprecedented financial damage over the last 70 days, losing more than 20% of the annual business already, with a prolonged recovery expected now,” said Vaibhav Aggarwal, Founder &amp; CEO, FabHotels. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/parle-g-clocked-record-sales-in-may-it-may-be-because-broke-and-starving-migrant-labourers-could-barely-afford-anything-else/articleshow/76280162.cms">Parle G clocked record sales in May⁠— it may be because broke and starving migrant labourers could barely afford anything else</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/anand-mahindras-sanjivani-solution-for-cos-think-like-a-startup-and-do-a-marie-kondo-style-clean-up-of-portfolio/articleshow/76275190.cms">Anand Mahindra’s Sanjivani solution for cos – think like a startup and do a Marie Kondo style clean up of portfolio</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/titan-company-profit-revenue-growth-for-fourth-quarter-ended-march-31/articleshow/76266434.cms">Titan tightens cost enough to clock a 21% growth in profit⁠— the best in five quarters</a>

The owner of Oberoi and Trident defers results triggering a sell-off in India's hotel stocks

<ul><li>Experts tell us how due to the pandemic, brands are trying to make changes in their packaging and design, in an attempt to make it safer. </li><li>The adage that ‘health is wealth’ seems to be truer like never before as experts said the focus is more on health and hygiene. </li><li>However, as the importance for immunity, safety and one-time-use packaging grows stronger, concern for sustainability seems to be getting thrown out the window for now. </li></ul>After the outbreak of Coronavirus, many brands have tweaked their products, marketing strategy and what they offer to their consumers to cater to their evolving needs due to the ever-changing macro factors. Just yesterday, KFC decided to press pause on its iconic tagline ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ in a few markets because it doesn’t quite fit in with the current environment. Similarly, brands have also tweaked their <keyword id="413897" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="product-packaging">product packaging</keyword> and designs to highlight what matters the most today -- building immunity, hygiene and safety. Post lockdown, consumers realised the importance of always being prepared and putting health first so they started stocking products. As a result, demand for packaged products such as Maggi, Parle-G, etc went up. Swiggy also introduced double-layered packaging that keeps the food fresh and safe. Packaging, therefore, is now being seen as a vital bridge between consumers and brands to effectively communicate that <keyword id="503925" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hygiene-practices">hygiene practices</keyword> are maintained, consumer safety is prioritised and slapdash delivery doesn’t affect the core product for consumers. <keyword id="9822538" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ronita-mukerjee">Ronita Mukerjee</keyword> – Executive Director, Client Services, Landor, said, “Health, Hygiene and Immunity are key drivers of modern day consumer needs. Brands are taking lots of proactive measures to convince consumers of utmost safety. Double layered packaging by restaurants who deliver via Swiggy is a great example of “innovating on the move.” On the other hand, modern grocers like Nature’s Basket are switching from cloth bags to single use paper bags that can be disposed of immediately after use. Sanitizers with goods delivered are thoughtful and effective. On pack communication around appropriate sanitization methods, immunity and health claims have become very popular. From dairy brands, staples to even cleaning agents; the emphasis has been on immunity building as well.” As the pandemic spread, people’s focus on immunity grew. Search in volumes for recipes of immunity-boosting foods and benefits of natural products like turmeric, ashwagandha, etc., has surged manyfolds. <keyword id="9324569" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shashwat-Das">Shashwat Das</keyword>, Founder, Almond Branding said consumers are also paying more attention to what they are eating and how it affects their health so, brands have tweaked their packaging to convey the same. Das said, “Due to the extended period of lockdown, consumers have been preferring to stockpile convenient packaged food products and hence brands are focussing on packaging that supports longer shelf-life. This is a big shift from earlier consumer trends for fresh produce and minimum preservatives. The adage that “Health is Wealth” seems to be truer like never before. Consumers are more concerned about their health and are now more involved in what they are eating. This has given brands the opportunity to relook at their portfolio in newer light. Some are just tweaking their packaging communication to include Immunity while others are bringing some changes in the actual product formulations or entirely new products that can boost immunity.” To ensure that consumers avoid physical contact as much as possible, brands have added options on their packaging to payment gateways. <keyword id="652941" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashwini-Deshpande">Ashwini Deshpande</keyword>, Co-founder and Director, Elephant Design said, “Many brands are introducing various ways to facilitate e-payment by either introducing QR codes or partnering with payment gateways. Some have boosted their own ecommerce home deliveries. They have even created specific packaging for e-commerce.” How to win consumer trust with new, safe packaging? Given the current apprehensive scenario around safety and hygiene, brands are going the extra mile in communicating the practices they follow to make their products. However, is that enough to gain consumer trust? Das said brands can come up with more innovative solutions to convey how hygienic and safe their products are. “While it’s a good step to update your <keyword id="1255903" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Packaging-Design">packaging design</keyword> to include those health and safety benefits that you offer, please ensure to stay within the government guidelines for the claims that you can make. Do not stamp every product of yours as an Immunity Booster,” said Das. Giving an example of an innovative solution, Das added, “Just like the Hot Dot sticker can assure if your Pizza is delivered hot, in coming days there will be packaging seals that will tell you if your parcel has been opened during delivery, to reassure consumers that their food is untouched and safe to consume. There is an increasing need for such innovation.” Deshpande also advised keeping it real. She said, “Real solutions that work hard to deliver peace of mind to the consumers is the only way forward. I would never advise anything that is superficial because that will not last and will do no good.” Arnab Ray, Creative Director, Landor said that there is a lot more that brands can do to establish trust. He said, “Brands can invest on on-pack interventions which call out precautions taken across the supply chain level, seal of trust to call out hygiene at manufacturing levels, responsible pack disposal callouts, with physical absence of sales persons packs can have DIY instructions on usage etc to name a few. Another important intervention is Brand Voice during these times. Brands can adopt a more empathetic tone to ease the minds of the consumers. For most brands, packaging has been designed keeping a brick and mortar experience in mind, but brands should do well to modify or develop secondary packaging that caters well to ecommerce and other online delivery models.” Have brands forgotten about the environment? For the last few years, we have seen many brands become more environment-friendly. There has been an increasing focus on sustainability. Globally, brands like Diageo, Unilever Limited have started reevaluating their packaging to put the environment first. However, the pandemic has forced many brands to prioritise consumer’s safety and keep their concerns for the environment and plans to launch green packaging on hold. From using gloves while cleaning surfaces to one-time packaging and even PPE kits, everything is made of plastic now. However, Das says that this is just a temporary phase and brands will go back to following sustainable practices post-COVID. “While the focus on sustainable, recyclable and reusable packaging has been growing over the past few years, the priorities have clearly been shifting during these uncertain times, though I believe temporarily. While we shunned single-use packaging due to its wastefulness, now consumers are more comfortable with it as it seems more hygienic because of lesser/limited human-handling involved and the potential risk of virus transmission is minimised,” said Das. Adding on how lack of infrastructure is the main reason behind this neglect towards the environment, Das said, “This only proves that the current infrastructure is unable to supply <keyword id="6660763" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sustainable-packaging">sustainable packaging</keyword> options to meet the increased demand. That doesn’t mean we should stop advocating sustainable and recyclable packaging. Covid has only reminded us that there is a long way to go on sustainability. With the lockdown in place and increased in-home consumption, there is also a possibility that consumers become more environmentally conscious as they see higher than normal packaging in their own home trash that cannot be reused or recycled.” Landor’s Ray opines that the pandemic has put sustainability on the back burner. “While everyone does talk about sustainable packaging, the increase in plastic due to double packing, home delivery in plastic containers etc is setting the efforts on sustainable packs a few years back. Brands focussing on sustainable products and their packaging are far and few in between. The world has other, more immediate and pressing issues at the moment,” said Ray. Deshpande said that the need for hygiene and sustainability is here to stay but India lacks infrastructure. “We have no choice but to migrate to sustainable solutions and circular economy. As designers, we are constantly in search of materials that provide long-term hygiene efficacy, materials or processes that do least harm to the ecology and propose them to our client partners. The key is in not just finding materials or developing solutions. The challenge lies in finding suppliers of sustainable alternative materials and convertors who can process large scale efficient print &amp; packaging output. This part is not aligned in India yet. So it becomes impossible for a large brand that requires very high output to align completely with sustainable solutions,” said she.

How COVID-19 has pushed brands to alter their product packaging and put their environmental concerns on hold for now

<ul><li><keyword id="758541" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime">Amazon Prime</keyword>’s latest <keyword id="878518" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Social-Media-Campaign">social media campaign</keyword> ‘Missing Me’ reminded us of <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>’s ‘WherestheF’ campaign from September 2020. </li><li>This made us wonder if <keyword id="6354632" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media">social media</keyword> has normalised stealing original ideas in the name of ‘trends.’ </li><li>We reached out to experts to understand what are the perils of working on such similar ideas in today’s world. </li></ul>In the social media world, brands often use a creative template that is conceptualised by one agency and tweak it a little to jump on the bandwagon. Brands don't just take ‘inspiration’, they use almost the same template and put their logo on it without seeking consent from the creator. We have normalised replicating one brand's idea for another by calling it a 'trend.' Nobody has a ‘unique voice’ anymore -- everything today is a copy of a copy of a copy. (For example, take Snapchat’s stories, Twitter Stories, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories) <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> (Most of us are pretty clueless about who started this ‘India vs US’ trend first) At the end of the day, advertising is a business of ideas and without ideas, no agency would exist. After the advent of social media, however, agencies have violated their own code of conduct about idea duplication that they have been following for years now. It has become convenient for brands to adopt original ideas and formats on social media, in the name of ‘trends’, to grab their consumer’s attention. While one might argue that a brand only draws inspiration from the original idea to jump on the bandwagon, the same format can help another brand become more popular and even viral -- leaving the brainchild behind the campaign’s idea feel betrayed and boiling in rage. The creative person behind this brilliant idea, in return, can only calm his/her rage by commenting on the post, “Hey, that was my idea” and the industry moves on. Another day comes by, another post is uploaded without credit and another brand goes viral for an unoriginal idea. At the same time, brands also consciously try to put out formats that can be deemed worthy enough to be picked up and go viral. In March 2020, digital agency Schbang had written an open letter to the advertising industry titled ‘It is time to kill that #trendingformat’ after it saw thousands of content creators following their formats and the agency even agreed to have jumped on the bandwagon in the past. It read, “Every day some of us have lost our unique voices to a trend. Not entertaining consumers anymore. Just high-fiving each other on the ‘earned media. Let’s make mediocrity unhappy and hard work great again. Let’s make art that’s tailor-made for brands.” <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Schbang articulated and reflected upon what we are trying to convey with this story, almost a year ago. It is about how social media has allowed brands and agencies to leech on each other’s ideas and breed mediocrity. This week, Amazon Prime India dropped 'Me' from its logo across social media pages and soon, everyone was talking about it. A few more brands like Dunzo, Pepsi, Parle G and Tinder India picked up on this and removed 'me' from their creatives, which was possibly a collaboration between the platform and these brands. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> But wait a minute. Did you also feel a déjà vu? We have heard of this before. Sounds too similar, doesn’t it? We couldn't help but compare Amazon Prime Me (Mobile Edition) campaign with Flipkart and Samsung's '#WhereTheF' campaign from September 2020 and spot the uncanny resemblance. Allow us to refresh your memory. For a few days in September 2020, Flipkart had tweeted without using the alphabet ‘F.’ Some of the words in its tweets were like ‘rom’, ‘itness’, ‘irst’, ‘inds’, and others. A-listers and brands joined in and started looking for Flipkart’s ‘F.’ Users were curious about what’s cooking and Flipkart later announced that it was a marketing ploy for Samsung's phone launch. Samsung had taken the front page of the Flipkart store to promote its Samsung Galaxy F41 and used Flipkart's social media pages to build some buzz around its launch. <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="371" retweetcount="18" status="rom early morning jogs to late-night workouts head to our app or all your itness needs!" createdat="1600583405000" id="1307567688756027404"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="167" retweetcount="16" status="We are still inding the solve. This is the irst time we are acing this problem, but i anyone knows or inds the miss… https://t.co/h2M3w97Aak" createdat="1600587024000" id="1307582870790090753"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="110" retweetcount="8" status="What seemed like un and games beore, has become serious now. Two whole days &amp; we have not been able to type the let… https://t.co/GfKY202Vkr" createdat="1600687963000" id="1308006236995149825"></div> And now, Amazon Prime got a few brands to tweet without the letters ‘ME’ to announce the launch of its mobile edition. Both of these campaigns have a similar strategy: make a typo to get noticed on the platform, edit your social media bio, support it with a hashtag and get more brands to tweet about it so that there’s a continuous momentum on social media to earn organic PR. While it wasn’t a trending format, it is a similar idea and template, executed a few months apart with little changes: brand name, colour and timing. Had it been a TVC or a giant billboard, Amazon Prime would probably have been accused of plagiarism. While on social media, it is okay to revise and pass the derivative ideas as their own. So, we reached out to experts to understand the perils of working on similar-looking ideas today and discuss if social media has normalised <keyword id="10590919" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="idea-theft">idea theft</keyword>. Here is what they said: Lloyd Mathias, Angel Investor and Business Strategist: I think this a cool twist in moment marketing, where brands pick on ongoing conversations and insert themselves with casual banter weaving their brand messaging. When brands indulge in casual repartee, it helps them come through as casual and friendly and in a sense endear themselves to their audiences. When Flipkart kicked off the #WheresTheF trend back in September the obvious reference was to the more commonly used WTF so part of GenZ speak. It also played on Flipkart’s logo that used the F! Brands like Samsung and Swiggy were quick to pick on this pitching their own lines dropping the letter F. Amazon taking this on with its own variant for Amazon Pri….with the ME missing now has other brands latching on taking the opportunity to up their social media game. This campaign - on the missing ME - that's creating immense curiosity, is driving both interest and sparking off reactions from other brands, fuelling the conversation. These catchy, smart, low coats conversation builders help boost excitement in social media platforms, helping the brand up it's salience and is a welcome trend in an increasingly digitally savvy society. Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru &amp; Founder, HarishBijoor Consults Inc: Good ideas have a restricted shelf-life. Once a brand has used it, it becomes part of used-lore, and loses its original sting. That is the risk of using ideas used once, time and again by others. Social media is really an anarchy. Ownership of ideas is seldom respected. People lift thoughts and ideas without a qualm. Chasing idea-theft is therefore a very laborious task out here. When a brand does have an original idea, the best way to protect it is to go hammer and tongs on it, and go to town with its exposure. If the exposure is large enough, the one who wants to copy it will think thrice before doing it. Abhik Santara, Director and CEO ^ a t o m: It is sheer lazy marketing - by clients and agencies. And both are to be blamed equally. If an agency goes with a new idea/innovation, clients are asking to see a reference. How is that possible? It's a new idea. Similarly, agencies are getting too comfortable to present ideas which have topicality built in. It is easier to ensure a certain amount of engagement on popular subjects. But does that create any difference or add to the core of the brand? Null! A good performance campaign should help the brand and a good brand campaign must deliver performance. It's not either or. Agencies which are equipped to understand and deliver this, will drive the future. The battle of communication between rivals is not new in marketing. It has been happening for many decades. But that was when communication was one sided, and markets were fragmented. Today, in the digital era, it is walking into fire. Consumers will pick it up, competitive brands will lash out. And probably the brand which is being copied gets more mileage out of it. Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands: I think the online world is all about conversations and fueling those conversations and making sure that you are the guy who's benefiting the most from those conversations. Couple of years back, if I came across a campaign that somebody else has already, we would put an end to ours. But what I see happening is, if I'm the originator of that kind of a thought, and lots of people wanting in on that one, you got a good thing going: you got a campaign you started off, more and more people joining in the conversation. The conversation that you started is actually working in your favor: the world is talking about it. They get some reflected glory, but the main glory, the guy who started off the conversation, that just exactly how the whole hashtagging of it or how you started all those conversations the way it works. Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang: Amazon’s campaign definitely feels similar right now, but how they take it forward might change everything. But yes, they've chosen a route that now begs scrutiny because of its obvious similarities to campaigns of well known competitor brands. Personally, I don't think following a trend is that big a deal. Almost every single thing we consume today is a copy of a copy. Of course outright plagiarism is wrong, but when it comes to creativity in advertising, it's not just the idea on a conceptual level that makes things happen. So yes, the idea might be similar, but how it's executed, in what context it's executed, the end objective, all of that determines the success of the idea. Even if we copy a Cannes winning idea and slap it on a random brand, it won't work if the rest of the aspects aren't fitting in. If Amazon is intentionally or unintentionally copying Flipkart - a) the consumers are smart enough to see through this and it won't appeal to people as much because the intrigue factor will be lost. b) if the consumers do end up liking it, it automatically means that they did something that stood out and made people like the idea despite it being similar to a competitor brand that is also equally well known in India. Basically, in the end, the consumers decide if the brand can get away with 'copying' or not. It would be a very different conversation for things like films, shows, music, etc. But this is advertising we're talking about. Creativity is simply an added layer in the process of marketing the product - the end goal is to generate buzz, get outreach, get sales, etc. If that happens, all is good. If that doesn't happen, even the most unique idea won't be appreciated. The Internet largely works on meme culture. This culture has now trickled down to digital advertising as well where 'formats' essentially become 'memes'. It's got its pros and cons. If your brand puts out an innovative format, and other brands end up using it as a trend, that's big validation for your own brand. Most brands wouldn't look at it as idea theft. In fact, brands today consciously try to put out formats that can be 'picked up' and go viral. But the flipside is that while some brands are pushing for innovation to be the leader of the trend, some brands are happy following trends instead of creating them. That comes down to the agency culture and the creatives working on these brands. It definitely doesn't feel like a case of idea theft right now. And where there have been cases of lazy plagiarism, like I said earlier, the consumers (and even agencies) are smart enough to call it out. P.G Aditya, National Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney: Similarities like these exist across the spectrum, everywhere. There are multiple campaigns over the years that have removed a part of their brand name/logo/core asset as a teaser to launch something (the most popular global example is the I-Hop, the pancake chain, which changed its name to I-Hob on the internet to announce its new range of Burgers). That campaign by Droga5, NYC, went on to become a huge winner at Cannes Lions a few years back. Check it out here: <div type="Youtube" id="shhowrlz318" title="IHOb, IHOP, DROGA5 New York" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/shhowrlz318/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On a side note, of course, all of us in the creative business can do a better job of celebrating our influences. Users applaud originality and inspiration with the same gusto as long as they’ve loved the work. Sure, we might not lose customers by being less original in our advertising, but we may gain a few more if we’re loud and proud about what’s inspired our thinking.

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