It has been nearly 3 months since the country went into lockdown mode due to the pandemic. The country is now slowly opening up, but WFH is the new normal during this pandemic and this lockdown has also changed the way organizations are thinking, the way they work, etc.The recent outbreak of the COVID –19 is also seeing a tectonic shift in most people’s lives. There are so much stress and anxiety about job losses, loneliness, and other factors. The outbreak of covid-19 is bound to make some significant and everlasting change in the way brands communicate with their consumers and their stakeholders.
Medianews4u spoke to Hari Krishnan, CEO, Mullen Lintas, on what is their plan to strategize on the communication for their brands.
It has been 90+ days since the lockdown, how are you coping and boosting the morale of your team?
Most people accepted the new reality and embraced WFH so that made it a lot easier for work to continue smoothly. Also, Our HR team has been doing an outstanding job of conducting diverse learning sessions every week and that has done a lot to keep the enthusiasm and motivation levels up. Apart from that, our leadership team ensures that they are in regular touch with everyone in the team through informal sessions. All of this has helped keep the morale up.
The Lockdown is slowly easing out and the country is slowly opening up, the agency handles some major clients, what is your way forward strategies for them?
While some categories are seeing increased relevance, some others are identifying new opportunities and latching on to that. In some cases, there could be newer consumer segments opening up for an existing product. Or in some cases, there are untapped opportunities in a post-COVID scenario. Our role as a partner is to help arrive at the right brand communication and go-to-market strategy so we’ve been busy with that.
What is the strategy for Mullen Lintas to stay ahead of the curve?
Stay humble. Stay Nimble. Challenge the status quo.
Globally, we are seeing an economic slowdown. How are you envisaging India’s ADEX growth Post COVID-19?
Ultimately, brands and categories need to generate demand so that is likely to happen post-September when brands would hopefully reach 100% production capacity and distribution. After that, begins the task of injecting demand. In the post-Covid scenario, for some categories, reach could be sacrificed for frequency due to a digital led strategy. But overall, Adex will remain flat or negative in the initial month’s post-lockdown and will hopefully see a spike after 6 months.
What is that one special mantra you want to give to the millennials?
Be ready and open, to mutate & evolve.
As a new reality emerges, conventional roles could get re-defined and functions could merge – from an individual’s perspective. From a brand’s perspective, storytelling could at times, require a new thinking, newer sensibilities.
Post-Covid what would be your advice to your clients on ways to do effective communication?
Pre or Post Covid, a relevant, powerful, idea expressed in an entertaining manner, will always remain effective.
Some of your clients have invested in big ticket events, now with them cancelled what will be the way ahead for the spends?
Digital will make a lot of gains as far as share of spends is concerned. Some of the sponsorship deals are long term and I don’t see them being suspended but only getting postponed.
