Q] Havells #StopMeriGroomingPeAssuming campaign points out a very interesting human behaviour. Please shed some light on the campaign featuring actors Vicky Kaushal and Shraddha Kapoor.
We spend a lot of time when we design our products in understanding consumer needs, their wants, what are the kind of features and innovations that they are looking for, etc. We did a lot of research on millennials and the younger generation. We found that they are very self-assured, confident, and most importantly don’t seek social validation and approval when it comes to their looks. That’s where lies the core thought of the campaign ‘Stop Meri Grooming Pe Assuming’. The message is simple but beautiful, that one should not change the way he or she looks or dresses because somebody else will assume you to be a certain way. Millennials don’t need social validation on how they look.
Q] What was the marketing mix of the campaign?
When we look at specific categories of personal grooming, and when your target group is young, the focus on buying space is largely towards online and e-commerce. So, for about 60% of the industry, sales come from e-commerce and it’s very obvious that we go through an absolute Digital-only marketing mix. So, we focus on all Digital mediums where a millennial would be and hence the choice of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify. We are doing digital amplification of this campaign.
Q] Can you share an example where personal grooming was affected due to public assumptions?
There are several examples and personal experiences on this. In one of the campaign films, Vicky Kaushal is trying to help Shraddha wear a sari and Shraddha goes around and says, “With your beard look and features, I won’t have believed that you know how to put on a sari.” That’s a common assumption. Just because somebody looks a certain way, you feel that the emotive side of this person may or may not be there, and that’s a typical stereotypical way of looking at it. In the second film, Vicky Kaushal assumes that Shraddha wouldn’t know anything about tax and finances just because she dresses up in a certain manner. People try to assume that women are not good with taxes and finances just because of their dressing sense. These are some of the examples that we’ve brought alive in this campaign.
Q] What other innovative strategies has Havells utilised to increase its reach in the market?
We’ve communicated and spoken to consumers at the right places, and just to give an example, the Sunburn event that happens in Goa, we have participated in it for the last couple of years. In pre-coronavirus times, whenever the colleges used to open, we used to do a lot of participation in college fests. Further, we collaborated with celebrity stylist Jawed Habib for our Havells school of grooming campaign. Even during the pandemic, we’ve run campaigns where we talked about the products but went ahead and helped consumers realise the full potential of the product like DIY concepts. So, we’ve had very contextual engagement with the consumers at different points of time.
Q] Today, there are various Chinese electronic products available on e-commerce platforms. Whom does Havells consider its competition specifically in the Indian market?
There are multiple brands in this category. What we’ve always tried doing is to follow Havells’ philosophy or the core DNA on which Havells as an organisation today is. We have always valued our consumers and have found innovative ways to connect with them, and provide them with innovative products, even in the premium categories. We are carving out our own space which is a heavily cluttered category with so many lesser-known brands, and known brands.
Q] As you said about amplifying your product on digital platforms as a strategy. How important do you think is influencer marketing?
Today, influencer marketing is very important when you are looking at Digital, but it’s not from a validation perspective, it is from a confirmatory perspective. So, if you like a brand and the product, and you see an influencer also talking about it, you get a very confirmatory bias towards the product. And I think from that perspective, influencer marketing is important. It is a very contextual marketing that we need.
Q] At what particular point of time, which kind of an influencer will be able to get you right returns for the investment?
We keep evaluating, and we look at some of those micro influencers too. But it is very contextual, so we look at which region we need to focus on and for which product, and which influencer will give us the best returns.
