Q] Tell us about Voltas Beko’s new campaign #IAmEnough and what was the insight behind it?
Mother’s Day was extra special this year considering how mothers are nourishing their families during this period of lockdown. The #IAmEnough video campaign is our way of paying tribute to the single mothers who make invaluable sacrifices and embrace multiple roles in order to raise their children. Through this, we are celebrating the spirit of mothers and urging all of them to believe in the simple self-affirmation, #IAmEnough. We partnered with Momspresso, to understand some key insights such as the self-doubt that all mothers seem to be carrying around and the importance of affirmation for them.
As a company, we’ve always strived to understand mothers better.
Q] What was the media mix and budget you allocated towards this campaign?
The objective of this campaign was to create great content that reaches mothers through platforms that they are active on. Hence, this is an entirely digital campaign that capitalizes on algorithms that get higher reach in terms of virality that’s based on search or social media. In fact, we chose not to opt for banners or other such tools for advertisement as we want to be extremely subtle about what we communicate to our consumers and the society at large. However, to get the initial momentum, we invested some amount on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Virality is not based on the amount invested in the campaign, but on the quality of the creative and how well it resonates with the masses and that’s what we have tried to achieve with #IAmEnough. Out of our entire marketing budget, we’ve allocated around 12% -14% for all digital activations, way above industry practice.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Launched in 2018, Voltas Beko is a premier home and kitchen appliance manufacturer with a portfolio of products including refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves/ovens and dishwashers. With over 2,000 consumer touch-points, Voltas Beko has been consistently increasing its footprint in the Indian home appliances segment. In the past one year, the brand has positioned itself as ‘Partners of Everyday Happiness’ and ‘Tested by Real Moms’ in India.
FACTS
Media Agency: Havas
Creative Agency: JWT
Social media & Digital Agency: Interactive Avenues
PR Agency: Adfactors PR
Q] How did you manage to roll out the campaign amid the nationwide lockdown? What challenges did you face while creating the campaign?
We generally work around a robust calendar where we look at Digital as a completely separate medium which supplements and acts as a multiplier to the other mediums. In a situation like the lockdown, digital can also be used independently to push on messaging and that’s what we’ve done with our digital campaign, #IAmEnough.
Thankfully, we managed to complete the shoot before the lockdown. Considering this was a project that needed a proper shoot to show the dynamics between the mother and daughter, it was essential to capture the emotional exchange and the range of sentiments. However, all the post production was done during the lockdown.
Q] Voltas Beko had launched a similar mother-centric campaign called #KahaanGayaMummyKaSunday a few months back, so what makes this new campaign different from the previous one?
Launched last year, #KahaanGayaMummyKaSunday campaign largely focused on the role of mothers as nurturers and all-bearers. It highlighted the irony of Sundays for mothers, who are left with very little personal time even on the day of rest, due to household responsibilities. The #IAmEnough campaign, on the other hand, sheds light on mothers who might be overlooked despite fighting the battle alone in this world. We wanted to share this untold story of single mothers
with society. Through these campaigns, we wish to strengthen our positioning as ‘the partners of happiness’ for mothers across India by showcasing that we truly understand their unstated requirements.
Q] COVID-19 has hit almost every business, how has it impacted the consumer durables industry in general and your brand in particular?
As we are all aware, Covid-19 has caused an unprecedented disruption in our day to day lives. Sales of consumer durable products like any other products have been hit during these summer months. However, we anticipate a positive pickup in consumer demand for products that make life at home, more comfortable and convenient owing to the pent-up demand from these past few months. I do expect there to be a surge in particularly in the demand for automated home appliances, especially in the absence of domestic help. With reference to the industry, there have been reports of an expected overall decline of 25%-30% decline in consumer durables sales. However, like I mentioned before, the surge in demand post the lockdown should partially make up for the sales lost during these
peak months
Q] Since the onset of summer is considered to be an important time for the electronics industry, how is your brand coping up with the current situation?
This period of lockdown is a difficult time for everyone. Brands need to be mindful of their marketing outreach but also ensure they communicate that they are there present for their consumers. During this lockdown, campaigns like #IAmEnough works well for as it strikes a chord among the audiences. As the Prime Minister has emphasized, India should be self-reliant for the future; we at Voltas Beko are fully geared for ‘Made in India’ products. This will be supported by our in-house R&D initiatives based on consumer insights of this new era. We will continue to leverage this through our manufacturing plant in Sanand and take it forward by our strong digital initiatives in Sales, Service and Marketing.
Q] As the lockdown is nearing an end and restrictions have already been relaxed in some parts of the country, how are you planning to go forward with your marketing activities after the lockdown is lifted?
We are ensuring that we are omnipresent on all digital platforms. Once the lockdown is lifted, we are anticipating a spike in demand for automated home appliances that ease the lives of the consumers. We are well prepared to handle this pent-up demand through our digital channels in a post-covid world. Once it is safe to resume, we will continue rolling out various marketing campaigns at the local and national level while ensuring all guidelines of social distancing are being followed effectively. We are also looking to work with media houses to drive programs. This could include identifying homes that need dishwashers and coming up with solutions to solve that.
Q] What will be the consumer buying behaviour post-lockdown? Will the home appliances category see a rise in demand or will buyers be subdued due to low purchasing power?
While the lockdown has forced people to take up household responsibilities, they are certainly trying to become more self-reliant and well-prepared to face such adversities in the future. Thus, we are also anticipating a change in consumer behaviour, where consumers will invest in automated, technologically superior, cooling and comfort products to ease their lives. There is no doubt that the
demand for consumer durables will always be there. In the past couple of months, people have been wanting to buy refrigerators, ACs, washing machines, dishwashers and other home appliances that are essential for their comfort in the absence of house help.
As the lockdown starts easing, there will be a very peculiar way in which consumers behave. They will start adapting to the ‘new normal’. The whole consumer buying process is bound to change as consumers make greater use of social media and e-commerce touch-points, leading to the digitisation of the consumer’s shopping journey.
PROFILE
As the Head of Marketing at Voltbek Appliances India Ltd, Prasenjit Basu drives all the marketing activities of the brand. With a career spanning over 18 years, Basu has worked across industries like Media, Consumer Durables, Retail & FMCG. He was associated with companies like Videocon, Ten Sports and Reliance Digital. The marketing veteran has a distinguished track record delivering on all fronts – sales and revenue impact, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, innovative marketing, media production, new media, etc.
MARKETING TIP
Adapt to the changing consumer behaviour; consumers will change the way they research/buy and experience the product before making their final decision.
