How did you enter the world of marketing? The challenges you faced?The accolades you received?
Rahul Pansare : I started my career with sales in 2002 immediately after completing my MBA. That experience taught me much more about consumer behavior than any textbook in my MBA course could have taught. I spent 7 years in sales in different positions. Retail marketing and organizing consumer events were part of my key deliverable during those years.
Those were my first steps in the world of Brand & Marketing.
I count the successful launch of brands like Marlboro, Volkswagen & Jeep into the Indian market as my achievements.
I was lucky to have had diverse experiences in the fields of FMCG, Entertainment and Automobiles and that too during the start-up phase of the companies. Having spent 7 years in sales the challenge was to adapt to the new & creative world of marketing. It was also challenging to understand consumer behavior in these businesses and the way these varied industries work. The advantage of working across such diversified industries is that you always feel you are new to the business and realize that there is a lot to learn. It also helped me to break stereotypes and do things differently.
What are the unique aspects of your marketing and branding strategy?
I believe in being innovative and having a strong consumer connect in my marketing approach. We make advertisements so that people watch them, like them and remember them, and this is possible only if we can differentiate, innovate and connect with the right audience. The advertising spaces in all media are becoming cluttered day by day and the millions of rupees spent by brands go unnoticed because they are not innovative in their approach and hence fail to differentiate themselves.
The characteristics of a strong brand and your advice on how to build a strong brand?
A brand needs to be true to its core values and be honest about its offerings. A brand today is successful not because there is a need in the market but because it has successfully created the need in the market and tapped into people’s wishes and aspirations. Today the consumer is very conscious about what the brand does for him and for the society and hence it’s become important for brands to be transparent and honest in their offerings.
Has the age of the Internet changed the way we build brands?
Today brands are built by positive word of mouth (WoM), online reviews and customer ratings. As people spend more and more time on their mobiles, tablets and laptops the challenge for a brand is to connect with its target customers in real time through all these devices and create communications that work across platforms. I think the biggest change the new age of Internet has brought to marketing is the speed & relevance at which we respond or communicate with our customers. Digital marketing helps brands to respond to relevant audience/customers in real time; and helps target messages to very specific groups offering them relevant content, something that traditional platforms fail to do.
Has the Internet changed consumers? Made them more price sensitive, less loyal, more demanding?
RP: As I said earlier, today brands are built by online reviews and ratings. Customers changing their buying decision after reading online reviews are as high as 65%. I don’t think loyalties have shifted but yes today consumers have more choices for their single requirement and that too without moving out of the comfort of their homes. However, marketers can use this as an opportunity to highlight key USPs of their product and use differentiation as the influencer.
Consumers now have the option of reviews, offers and free home delivery at their fingertips. Hence consumers have become more demanding for sure with e-Commerce sites becoming discount destinations where consumers look for best options at lowest prices.
How challenging is it to build a brand in the very diverse Indian market place?
I don’t think there is any other market as dynamic as India. On one hand, we have such regional diversity in terms of cultures, beliefs and languages and on the other the constantly changing consumer behaviors and patterns. In the past, we have seen consumer preferences changing due to social and economic reasons. Today we see it changing for emotional or psychological reasons.Who would have thought that global FMCG giants with the best marketing campaigns, global expertise, massive distribution networks and market share would face intense competition from a start-up like Patanjali?
This dynamic nature of the consumer mindset and the ever-changing economic landscape makes India a very challenging market place. It’s difficult to identify patterns or trends and forecast future opportunities. However, given all these challenges I feel India offers great opportunities because it is constantly developing & innovating. Customers are trying new things, there is a whole new generation who is extremely techsavvy, knows what it wants and has the disposable income to make the purchases. Young India is the opportunity.
Brands you admire and why?
I admire Nike & Apple – for their product innovation and performance; Amazon for effective communication & service which changed the Indian consumer’s mindset and Jeep for being consistent and staying true to its core values of – Passion, Freedom & Authenticity.
Complete the sentence “The future belongs to………”
The future belongs to brands, which are authentic and genuine in their offerings & communication. Brands must be more transparent in a genuine and authentic way—must stay true to the core values and what they stand for. They need to walk the- talk. If they do so, they will win both the hearts and the minds of consumers. People in future will not necessarily want to be marketed to, so brands must create engagement and conversations at every consumer touch point. Content will be the key tool of communication, especially user generated content. With product life cycle getting shorter and product development timeframes shrinking the future belongs to brands, which consumers feel are transparent, trustworthy and responsible.
