In his last address to the nation, PM Narendra Modi had made a clarion call to support local brands. ‘During this time of crisis it has made us realise the importance of local traders who have helped the country sustain during this long period of Lockdown due to the Coronavirus’ he said.
Healthcare and the associated industries stood up in the testing times during the global pandemic. India has produced PPE kits and masks and exported Hydroxychloroquine to the rest of the world. Related sectors like the preventive healthcare platforms have also stood and fought the pandemic with all their might to help the people of the country.
We at MediaNews4u have spoken to people from various sectors, startups, and brand consultants to understand as to what how they have interpreted the term ‘Be Vocal for Local’.
Today we speak to Arjun Vaidya, CEO, Dr. Vaidya’s, a 2.5 year old New Age Ayurvedic products startup, which endeavors to bring our rich, traditional Indian science of Ayurveda to today’s modern consumer- both in India and Worldwide. Founded by the Vaidya family, who has over 150 years of Ayurvedic heritage, our formulations have been passed from generation to generation, treating thousands in the process.
How do you interpret the term ‘go local for vocal’?
While we approach day 60 of the Covid19 lockdown a lot of us are feeling the heat in our professional or personal lives. As PM Narendra Modi said, this is our time to support our local Indian businesses and promote our MSMEs. For me, Be Vocal for Local means, to try and support local, Indian indigenous brands as far as possible and to be mindful and discerning in his process. It is a small effort but can go a long way.
From the day we started Dr. Vaidya’s: New Age Ayurveda (3.5 years ago) – our mission has been to take 5,000 years of #ayurveda to modern consumers. The picture below is the sleeve of the T-shirt that I wear everyday (for all of you who have seen me at work, I literally wear this every day) and a couple of our products. The mark of #proudlyindian is a very important part of our brand DNA and something we endeavor to see on shelves across the globe.
The difference between local and swadeshi
Actually, I do not see any difference. To me, India is one country and thus, local, regional or Swadeshi is all Indian.
How will companies which may be global but have been in India, produce here and employ locals, will consumers now stop buying these products?
Consumers will not stop buying anything, I think they will just be more knowledgeable and aware of what is Indian and what is not. This goes a very long way in advancing the “Make In India” initiative that the government had already started.
Are you seeing a spurt in buying of ‘Swadeshi’ brands?
Right now, there are trends indicating that consumers have been more conscious but, these are still early days. One will have to see what happens over the next 6-12 months as we have not had enough time to assess a trend. Having said that, I urge everyone to spread the message of consuming Indian products and supporting local businesses. I recently started a Linkedin thread asking people to share their favorite local brand – this way consumers will get more information and have the ability to discover more brands – this to me is the least we can do.
