What Asha Kharga teaches about brand purpose

So what we did was to actually package all these offerings, all these discounts together and brand them under a universal idea called Experience Access. What is your one or more than one kind of campaigns? This could be global, effectively, you know, something you would relate to and say, oh, my God, wow, this is something that we could have done. I would love to be associated with it or a global benchmark. So I think globally, one of my favorite brands is Dove. I think you must have heard many people talk about this and particularly women.

But I think it's a brand which is really authentic and honest and more importantly, consistent. And I think that's one of the greatest things for this brand, because when marketers change, they try to bring in, you know, new stuff and let's change the way the brand looks and, you know, and all of that. And I think the fact that the brand has managed to have one consistent, honest image from 1955 is quite incredible. So I would rate that as my favorite go to brand in the global world.

You were very integral part of the advertising ecosystem being a part of the agency ecosystem itself before you move to the brand side. So today, you know, you're a brand marketer. How do you think? Do you think the agencies are actually, you know, a partner? Do you think they've evolved with a lot of changes in technology and everything around us is changing? Everybody says integration, right? So what's your take on this? Agencies which have stood the test of time.

And here I'm talking about, for example, the top three agencies in the country and we partner with Lowe. Right. I think the the gravitas and the solidity and the expertise that they bring is is timeless. And it's not it's not one individual. It's really it's really what I call the ecosystem of the agency, whether it's a great creative head, a great a great planner, some wonderful servicing people. And the way they they own the brand is really important. And I think and I think I value that a lot.

So I think it's important to not get swayed by, you know, you know, fads or, you know, people who who seem to be dominating the moment. So I would always stay with a top line agency. I feel there are a lot of digital agencies which are coming into the into the fore. They understand social media really well. They are a young bunch of people and I don't see them replacing Lowe. I don't see Lowe replacing a digital agency. Both of them have their place. I think the digital agencies far more agile is able to interpret new media really well.

But I think when it comes to solid consumer understanding, consumer insights, building a strong brand idea, I think traditional agencies win any time. So, you know, while we have a conversation and we say we need more women leadership in management roles and corporate boardrooms, etc. We agree we do. There's no two ways about it. So what do you actually do as a large brand today, you know, to help do that? You know, what is it maybe one or two ways that is actually going to make this possible in your view?

So I think a lot has been spoken about the topic and I and I and I do feel that organizations today are are very conscious about gender diversity. So that that I think has happened in most organizations. And I think a lot has been spoken. I just have one thing to say, which is the most vulnerable period that we know when we when we lose women is really in the maternity phase. Yes, yes. And we do speak a lot about efforts being taken to make sure that their transition back into the corporate world helps them balance the home front.

But I think the important point I want to make is that to not that it's important to not treat women or mothers with the same brush. And I'm talking about women who are really, you know, who are really wanting to come back to challenging careers. And the worst thing you could do with a with with somebody like that is to give them a soft role. Right. And and that kind of keeps them, you know, it completely demotivates them because you start looking at them from the angle of, oh, now you're a mom and let's mummy track your career.

You know, so from a fast track when she moves to a mummy track. I love that. I think that's I think that's not very rewarding for her when she comes back. So I think it's up to the individual to choose whether she wants a softer option or whether she wants to come back to something really full fledged. And it's important that organizations respect that because otherwise you lose a great resource. So what is the most effective campaign at Access till date, both in terms of business performance and consideration?

We were late entrance into the credit card business. We got into the business in 2006. You had Citibank, which was launched in the 1980s. And then you had ICICI, which was again a front runner launched in 2000. So in that sense, we were playing catch up. So that's that's the first thing. Right. Today, for example, the way we have positioned credit cards and offers, which is really what consumers look out for, and everybody's giving discounts.

So what we did was to actually package all these offerings, all these discounts together and brand them under a universal idea called experience access. Actually asking people to shop, dine, eat, which people love and therefore experience access really was a way of humanizing the brand. That's the second bit. And with that, the kind of results that we have seen. Right. So just to give you a perspective, we were a number 11 player. And today we are a number four in the category. Wow. We have around 5.6 million cards today. Right.

The first 1 million cards took six years. And the last 1 million that we've achieved, we've got it in 10 months. So that shows the velocity of the business that shows the velocity of the campaign. And more importantly, it sets the tone for a brand which is growing faster than the category, has picked established brands like Amex and Citibank in terms of spends. So I'm really proud of that campaign because it repositions the way cards are looked at, the way banking is looked at, and at the same time, it's delivered for the business.

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