What Amit Sarda teaches about brand purpose

We went deep inside. We said what's your birth date? We understood you know our consumers birth date and we put up all these consumers in their star sites. So given the dynamic growth of digital, how is the market for organic products growing in India today? So the overall market initially was very small when digital was not available. Hardly people exactly had access to what organic is all about, where you can find an organic product.

Suddenly digital came up. Everybody started talking about being healthy, wellness and that's where organic growth started. Initially people used to just go to a regular, might be a chemist, might be a grocery store, they used to pick up products which were available. They were forced to buy those products which were available. But today it's not the same. Today is what the demand is, the consumer is looking for and that's how the growth has been happening. So if I look at overall growth, I think it is growing at a 300% plus every year as an industry.

It is such a high growth because so many new number of players are coming in. Everybody is talking about organic, everybody is talking about the freshness and natural products. That's where people are tending to. And people are looking results, seeing those results that happen, what they derive from that product. Has there been any example of where consumer feedback, you know it could be through social media, you spoke of digital right now. Yes. Has helped you kind of evolve, tweak your existing marketing strategy?

I'll give you a simple example. So when we were looking at long time back query searches and on a very large platform, the largest platform in India. They shared some data with us saying that, you know, these are the queries people look for about hair products. So there was a query, oil for hair. People were landing on other products, other brands, other things, but not really buying. And we figured out it is very interesting what is happening. People are coming, searching oil for hair and not buying for that.

Then we realized something interesting. We said from where these people are coming. So it was Maharashtra, then Andhra Pradesh, you know, part of Gurgaon, NCR region, Haryana. So it was something interesting. We realized it is not oil for hair, it is oil for facial hair. People were looking for oil for eyebrows, people were looking for oil for the beard. That's where we started our beard oil years ago when nobody was there. And we realized some product which is needed for people to grow their eyebrows. A lot of people are looking for eyebrows growth oil.

And that's where we launched our castor oil, which actually became a game changer on most of the platforms. And so many players have now started selling those kind of products. So that is one thing which we saw. Second interesting thing which we saw was because it is digital, you can map lots of things to people, you know, what are your likings, what you are, from where you come. We went deep inside, we said, what's your birth date? We understood, you know, our consumers birth date and we put up all these consumers in their star signs.

Very simple. It is nothing to do with astrology, but it is just to do with the pattern. We started looking at things, what people are shopping, what are these stars and people are shopping from our own side. Then we started looking at what time they shop, what products they come for, what products they come for and what's their journey, where they end up. Interesting facts came up, 72% pattern we could find. Simple thing that most of the Leo's shop late in the night on my website. Why go on?

Most of the people who are shopping early morning are Virgos, my number one customer. Second is my Capricorn, third is my Libra, depending upon, you know, some time to time. Now interesting thing in Virgos, they buy maximum three products. One is a Bryngras oil of mine, second is a Langlang oil, which is a calming oil, third is a lavender oil. These are the three products which they consume a lot. Now why is it so?

Then again we got something more interesting. We look at NPS, we look at word of mouth and we realized that how this whole word of mouth happens. And that's where we saw Capricorns are the best word of mouth people. When they relate to the product, they actually go out and talk to the people saying that this is a great product. And that's how we get more business. And that is what digital is all about. There's a lot of power with digital. Right. Having said all this, who do you consider your biggest competitor today and why?

So we have different categories. So we have soaps, we have air oils, we have aroma. Everywhere in every platform competitors are different. So let's say in hair oil category, Indiulikha is a very big competition to us. In soap category, let's say on a platform, even dub might be my competition. But if I get into mall, then forest essential is my competition because that is what consumer understands. That is what consumer knows about. That is what the awareness is all about.

So people who seek something. So for me, a very interesting thing when we do our surveys with our consumers and we ask them why you really buy this soap of 400 rupees of ours. Most of the people actually come back and tell us this soap changes the smell of our sweat. And that is what the whole intent of that soap is. The soap actually works on the physiology of skin. And people actually buy. So it is actually a replacement for an anti-prespirant.

People don't need to really go and use a duo when they use a soul flower product. So that's the beauty of the product. So there my competition is not a soap, but it is actually a perfume. So Amit, when you, when you, you know, I, I'm, what I'm understanding is you do a lot of research and you get a lot of consumer feedback. Yes. Right. That's the funnel. So what is it? You do it via digital, you do it on a one-on-one. What is it that's worked for you the most?

I think for us, it's again how the consumer wants to engage with us. If somebody is happy to do it digitally, yes, that's the first preference. Second, if somebody says, no, I want to talk to someone on a phone, that's also fine. There are some people who are very happy to welcome you to their homes. Really? So that's, what's the most effective or what's the largest kind of buy in terms of methodology?

So I'll tell you the best buy, the best way to do it is, which was taught to me long time back, my, one of my mentors. And he explained it to me. He said, you know, when I was looking for, you know, same thing. And we went to some agencies to look for some surveys. Right. Big budget they gave us. And then everything happened. And one day I was sitting on a meal with this gentleman. I was talking to him in Marathi. And he said, you know, balik kam kar.

Whoever buys your soap, which is 400 rupees, let them buy, let them do the bill. You know, the invoicing part. Later on, ask them, why did you buy this soap? And that is the time you'll actually get answers. And don't go to them as a brand person, go to them as another consumer who wish to buy this soap. You know, that is where we understood every possible feedback of a consumer, why the consumers are actually buying the product. And that's what we used in our whole marketing campaign. Right.

And that could relate to the consumer because it was a similar consumer. It's like a cohort, you know. Right. As an entrepreneur, what keeps you excited and passionate and looking forward to each single day? So I work seven days a week, you will see me either on a Sunday at a store level somewhere meeting my consumer, talking to them. That's what drives me. So for me, that intimacy with my consumer's thought process is what drives me. And that's where I belong to. That's where I belong to.