Unusual Faces a New Breed Of
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Product: ETNEWMumbaiBS PubDate: 19-08-2015 Zone: BrandEquity Edition: 1 Page: BEFP User: sandeepd0203 Time: 08-13-2015 23:15 Color: CMYK THE ECONOMIC TIMES AUGUST 19-25, 2015 n February 2014, a manager of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) do- ing his rounds in Medaram village in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh I(now Telangana) stumbled into Sammakka Sarakka Jatara, a bian- nual tribal religious congregation. Some 10 million people had gathered at the festival that year. The manager was quick to alert the head Managers’ day out office of the potential of the four-day festival. It fitted well with a new initiative that Sanjiv How HUL is countering regional competition by reorganising its army of marketers into Mehta, CEO since 2013, was planning to kick off at the home & personal care giant. Called clusters spread across the country. By Kala Vijayraghavan and Sagar Malviya price points were ‘Winning in Many Indias’, or WIMI, its objec- created in the tive was to transform HUL from a four-branch The new structure will see many HUL es; a new fifth branch for the central region laundry segment to structure at the front end into 14 distinct con- managers spending more time out of has been carved out from the Hindi heartland shift consumers from local brands sumer clusters. their cubicles to cover smaller mar- of central Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, to Rin in Uttar Pradesh; and detergent kets across India. The hope is that this Rajasthan, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, compris- brand Wheel, which was competing will make Unilever’s India subsidiary ing over 500 million people. The first step with a local label brand in the mass nimbler and more proactive in respond- for WIMI was a pilot that was done in powders segment in Telangana, was re- ing to insights from the market, and to the south branch by creating separate launched with an improved formulation, competition, particularly of the region- consumer clusters TA P (Tamil Nadu and pricing and communication customised al variety. Andhra Pradesh) and KK (Karnataka and for the new state. e The Jatara in Warangal was perhaps Kerala). “The numbers (of the June ended quar- Rishi S the first experiment with the WIMI The HUL mangers mobilised for the ter, in which total income grew by 5%, in Consumer initiative: HUL undertook a sampling initiative began to move quickly. For line with analysts’ expectations) reflects Cluster Manager, ` KK cluster exercise at the festival for 5 packs of instance, two of them on field duty in that the strategy is working in terms of Fair and Lovely that are meant for rural Punjab fed an insight about a significant volume growth and share,” says Mehta, markets. The stall activation, sampling mass market for tea in the ‘Punjab and who is keen to encourage a startup cul- and sales, say HUL officials, resulted Hills’ cluster. HUL was quick to respond, ture at the marketing behemoth and get in an instant bump in the franchise’s re-launching the Taaza brand young managers to keep their ears to the numbers (the company won’t share ex- after changing the blend ground across India’s diverse markets. act figures). By the fourth quarter of to suit the local taste, and “It is imperative to win in all parts of our 2014-15 (January-March), WIMI – along communicating aggres- business and across all channels and ge- with 2,000-odd HUL managers – was on sively on radio and in local media. This, ographies, in order to win decisively. its way. claim HUL marketers, led to a spike in Taaza We want to have the sou l of a smal l com- The 14 clusters are based out of seven volume growth. pany where speed is the currency, bias physical locations and five sales branch- Similarly, Pepsodent clove oil and salt tooth- for action is the norm, where people paste was launched in south India; small packs are empowered on the frontline,” adds of tea and unique sampling trade deals were Mehta. “WIMI has helped us under- offered in coastal Andhra Pradesh; variable stand finer nuances about local con- c sumers and provide us a more granu- Satyendu Krishna lar understanding of the market.” The Consumer Cluster cluster strategy is also leading to bet- Head, UP BORA ANIRBAN ter productivity and accountability of managers across branches. f At a time when rural markets – which Esha Chhabra bring in roughly a third of HUL’s top line Branch Customer Marketing Manager, – are experiencing a slowdown, HUL West Region claims WIMI helped 90% of the portfo- lio gain market share last year, much of it from regional brands. The marketer now has six brands that have crossed `2,0 0 0 crore in sales, five brands that are over `1,000 crore and six that have hit `500 crore. Long-time HUL watchers who have seen CEOs come and go don’t rule this out as yet another ‘do, delete, redo’ strategy of a new CEO. For instance, if MS Banga (CEO between 2000 and 2005) had his ‘power brands’ strategy, his predecessor Keki Dadiseth almost single-handedly pursued acquisition-led growth. “Every new CEO brings in a new style of functioning, but I guess so long as the long term results are positive, it is good for all stakeholders,” is how an HUL veteran puts it. Continued on Page 4 >> TrendSpot A new breed of PREPARE FOR THE performers is taking over ‘UBERISATION’ OF BUSINESS, Unusual Faces the world of advertising SAYS MAURICE LÉVY AMIT BAPNA Explains Kari Krishnamurthy, vice independent agency. By using some of Recently when Stockholm- president, growth and partnerships, Asia these unconventional people creatively, FRENCH ADVERTISING MAGNATE TALKS ABOUT THE STATE OF BUSINESS IN headquartered Truecaller decided to & country manager, India, Truecaller, brands can still get their message across HIS CHARACTERISTIC UNFETTERED MANNER roll out its first ever brand campaign, it “We all have our own stories. It’s impor- and get credibility and recognition too. zeroed in on India. The company funded tant how we relate our stories to a larger For instance, online furniture and home by the likes of Sequoia Capital and audience and that is what worked really products brand Pepperfry cast Radhika SHEPHALI BHATT Atomico opted for an unusual choice of well while choosing Nawazuddin.” His Apte, Shahana Goswami and Shruti When you are used to inter- brand ambassador. Instead of the dolled own life story of the one call that he got Seth in three separate films for its re- viewing goliaths who always up glamorous heroes, starlets and (much before the days of Truecaller) fit cent campaign. The script showed three keep their cards close to their fading stars who are endorsement’s into our brand story like a hand in glove, young urban couples where one of the chest (understandably so), it’s stock-in-trade, Truecaller opted for he adds. The brand currently a free ser- spouses was doing the talking for both. an absolute delight speaking the relatively commonplace looking vice is looking to reach a user-base of Explains Kashyap Vadapalli, CMO, to someone who quotes French Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The actor known 150 million by December 2015. Pepperfry, “We realised that everyday poets while talking shop. Meet for his offbeat characters and roles will There is a rising trend of brands look- models while good may not be good Maurice Lévy, chairman and now be the face of an 80 million ing for unconventional, real and relat- emoters as demanded in this case. So it CEO of Publicis Groupe - the strong market that accounts able endorsers creating an increasing was basis their capability in acting that third largest holding company for over 50% of Truecaller’s demand for Irrfan Khan, Siddiqui, Kapil they were cast for the campaign, and not in the communication busi- global user base. Sharma and Radhika Apte among oth- necessarily because of their celebrity ness. We caught up with him ers. Vinil Mathew, director, Breathless status.” over breakfast towards the end Films, attributes this to advertising The well-recognised comedian Kapil of Cannes Lions’15. This was We have to become moving to a more ‘real’ space. From just Sharma is much in demand amongst the time when every media more selective being aspirational the focus now is on brands and his portfolio includes honcho, who didn’t have the in entering and making characters credible. As society Honda’s family car Mobilio, classifieds foresight of hiring a private evolves, stories are increasingly about brand Olx and most recently policyba- cab, was hassled by a taxi attending. Cannes day to day life. Which explains the ap- zaar.com. In most of these he gets to play strike that had ensued dur- shouldn’t become a peal of many of these names at the cost his well-known tongue-in-cheek avatar. ing the festival owing to local Irrfan Khan in a cost issue c of the more ubiquitous and expensive Says Naveen Kukreja, group CMO, drivers’ protesting against the still from IndiaMart TVC Maurice Lévy Khans and Kapoors. Policybazaar.com, “We looked at the likes Uber taking away their Chairman and CEO, A few months back, when the online A-listers from Bollywood but for the hu- business. So, when we asked marketplace brand IndiaMart decided mour laden route that the brand wanted Lévy about the new skills cli- Publicis Groupe PHOTOS: BHARAT CHANDA to go in for its full-fledged brand to take, Kapil Sharma made sense.” ents need to imbibe to brave the campaign after being around for [email protected] current market challenges, he own business, is all a result world are gaining strength is nearly 20 years, it chose Irrfan used this incident to elucidate of their unpreparedness, he because they’re killing inter- Khan.