The new normal in a post Covid-19 world include one major shift in the way business will be conducted. There are a lot of new businesses have been created and the key to survival is classical segmentation.
Businesses and brands are now are making their way back into the business; planning their communication plans for a new world post the covid-19 lockdown.
In this story of Medianews4u’s super successful brand series, Back to Business, we spoke to Rajheev Agarwal, Director & CEO, Nilon
It has been six months into the crisis/ lockdown, how has it impacted your brand & the Organisation? How effectively have you used the lockdown period?
The impact of this crisis due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have been multi-fold:
a) There was a lot of confusion and chaos in the beginning. We had to involve the senior management and top management of the company to get up and running in record time.
b) We had to help our suppliers of raw material and packing material in getting permissions to operate.
c) Elaborate arrangements had to be made for workers’ boarding and lodging and safety arrangements to follow guidelines.
d) Logistics has to be figured out and put in place.
e) Worked out modalities of work from home [WFH] and made them effective.
We used the time in lockdown to revise our processes and procedures and adapt to the new normal.
The quest for a solution to a particular crisis helps invent new business opportunities and sometimes leads to a revision of existing business models … What sort of innovation has or will the Covid-19 pandemic bring to your brand & industry?
The crisis certainly threw new opportunities to find solutions to work under severe constraints and maintain the growth momentum. The Nilon’s team did this very effectively by serving our retailers and wholesellers by working from home and ensuring last mile delivery which was not easy. It also threw higher sales opportunities for ready to eat and ready to cook items for the industry, which was happily taken.
The lockdown is at its 5.0, how are you planning to resume business across cities that are still under complete lockdown?
In lockdown 5.0, we are operating in all areas including areas under complete lockdown by collaborating with agencies and shops who do home delivery, while following the guidelines and directives of the local administration.
What will be your communication strategy post the opening of the lockdown? Understandably bringing customers back to you would be difficult… What will be the objective of the communication/marketing strategy?
The communication strategy will centre on social media and digital platforms. People are spending more time on digital platforms in the current situation and we are getting good success through our social media campaigns.
How did you keep the morale of the employees during this lockdown period? On a personal note, what kept you positive?
We maintained and increased the morale of Nilon’s team by taking away the insecurity very early on 24th. March, 2020 by announcing –
a) Nobody will lose their job
b) 100% salary will be paid without any deduction to everyone
c) Company will put their safety first
d) Company will pay for taking a big life insurance on each one of them for their dependants in case of any unfortunate incident
By nature, I look for positives even in situations where there is no hope. This attitude helped me in growing this company by 55X in the last 15 years. By putting employees and their welfare first, I kept myself positive. I kept telling everyone -“This too shall pass.”
What are some of the post-lockdown business strategies that you will use to bring the business back on track or at least get it in the right direction and also create demand for yourself?
We remain committed as a team to work very hard to serve the entire distribution chain and our valued consumers who love Nilon’s because of its quality. We will go all out to increase our service levels and communication.
Is there anything else that you would want to add?
In the lockdown period so far, with the Grace of God and intense teamwork – we have grown 33% compared to same period last year. Touch wood!
