So which is they have taken a game that originated from India, made it sort of fast paced, and then started marketing and building it like a new category.
Three takeaways worth carrying forward.
- 01
Recently, in fact, I have picked up, I've started watching content on like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
- 02
So midway in the campaign, we decided to actually dump some of that content, right?
- 03
So has there been an activity, and you can tell me from your Unilever days to your Castrol as well, that you've kind of, it's underway, feedback from consumers shows you differently, and it has been course corrected.
Connected to the DMAasia operating frame.
Proof
This episode connects brand purpose to credible evidence, leadership archives and field-tested marketing practice.
Access
This episode connects brand purpose to routes into communities, councils, juries and senior conversations.
Ascent
This episode connects brand purpose to learning, recognition and the next generation of marketing leadership.
AdChoices / DAA
This episode connects brand purpose to privacy-first marketing, consumer trust and responsible data use.
Unfinished Business
This episode connects brand purpose to open industry problems that still need senior participation.
Durable lessons from the record.
- Start with the consumer problem, not the channel.
- Treat digital transformation as a behaviour change, not a software purchase.
- Measure effectiveness without losing the brand story.
If brand purpose is now table stakes, what will make the brand genuinely harder to ignore?
Take it into Unfinished Business →READABLE TRANSCRIPT813 words
Every year I go to at least a couple of new countries, meet new people, observe the cultures. I think that's extremely enriching. How do you measure? What is the measurability of associating with sports today? So is that a challenge? And what's your approach to it as a marketer? Yeah, I think for every activity that a marketer does, measurement is always a challenge. But I think the trick is really to have measurement metrics in place. And while there are measurement metrics like brand health, which keep on happening,
I think the key for a brand marketer is when the campaign starts, is to go to the market, you and your team go to the market, speak to consumers, see if it is getting fed through your customers. I think that's really the true test. So while we should always have matrices, but some of them come with a lag, right? But idea is to go to the market and almost do a strategic timeout as they call in sports. So get together in four or five days after meeting a lot of consumers and customers
and see if the campaign is getting picked up and then do course correction if required. Is that something you actively do? Oh yes, absolutely. So has there been an activity, and you can tell me from your Unilever days to your Castrol as well, that you've kind of, it's underway, feedback from consumers shows you differently, and it has been course corrected. Can you share some instance with us like that? Yeah, we did actually. So we were activating a big ICC property, a T20 World Cup, and we had already shot a lot of campaign with a cricketer.
And when we started the campaign in two or three days, we started getting trolled, saying, you know, does he really mean it? Is he reading the dialogues? What poor acting? And so on. So midway in the campaign, we decided to actually dump some of that content, right? And started afresh. It was difficult because a lot of times marketers are very close to the campaign. They don't want to make changes. But there's an example in which you're listening to consumers and did course correction quickly, and of course it worked.
So Castrol has also been an avid supporter, if I may put it that way, associating with sports from IPL to PKL to F1. Do you believe as a marketer today that India has evolved into a multi-sport nation and we are looking at other sports seriously besides cricket today? Till a few years back, till five to six years back, India was a one sports nation. And I see that changing rapidly. And I think a lot of credit goes to some broadcasters for starting leaks and look at what Star has done with Kabaddi. Right.
It's classic category building that we call in marketing. So which is they have taken a game that originated from India, made it sort of fast paced, and then started marketing and building it like a new category. They're also targeting women customers. They're targeting children. And I think targeting children has worked really well. So I had gone for a PKL match once and next to me were a father and son. And actually the son was educating father on the game. He knew all the players. He knew all the games.
And I think what Star is doing by capturing an entire generation of children is really amazing. I know now football is becoming bigger. Kabaddi is of course now the most watched sport after cricket. A lot of people are watching other sports like even motorsports. Right. They do some events around MotoGP and so on. Right. The target audience is limited but there's a lot of passion. It also gets a lot of traction. Right. And I'm really delighted to see we're not a country that watches one sport but multiple sports.
And if you look at Asian Games that just happened, a lot of people were following everything including even athletics. Right. And I think that is really heartening to see. What do you do when you're not working? Well, I watch a lot of sports. Recently, in fact, I have picked up, I've started watching content on like Netflix and Amazon Prime. And actually that's something I was missing out. I just picked up like three months back. And after that, I finished some, you know, web series back to back on weekends during my travel and so on.
I also like traveling a lot. So every year I go to at least a couple of new countries, meet new people, observe the cultures. And I think that's extremely enriching.