Source-backed interpretation.
Editorial interpretation is derived from the original DMAasia/WION video description and transcript. Statements by speakers remain attributed to the source; no unverified current-role or performance claim has been added.
The durable question is how storytelling should improve relevance without losing sight of personalisation.
Source signal, edited only for readability.
Three takeaways worth carrying forward.
- 01
Read storytelling as the primary operating question in this record.
- 02
Test its connection to personalisation and attention against the speaker’s reasoning in the transcript.
- 03
Keep the 2021 source context visible before carrying the lesson into a current decision.
What the transcript puts on the table.
A lot of people, because I was speaking to people as late as July and August 2020 and people were still seeing but that was not the response ever from Smur and what was really the focus was really seeing how customers are doing.
Because people didn't want to give up on hotel outside food or hotel style classic cuisines just because they were sitting at home and they were cooking at home.
Because definitely the ordering frequency had gone up because people were at home and not going out as much as earlier.
Original context. Current reading.
Recorded in 2021, this captures the language, platforms and constraints of its time. Read it now by separating those period-specific details from the enduring operating question: how should relevance and attention improve the decision?
Durable tests for the work.
- Start from the customer’s situation, not the channel.
- Earn attention with relevance before scaling reach.
What would you keep, change or measure differently if this idea were put to work now?
IP09 · READABLE TRANSCRIPT597 words
When the pandemic started, one of the key things which really happened was nobody knew what this was and how long it was going to last. And if you ask me almost a year down the line, I can say the difference between the ones who survived the pandemic and the ones who probably will not, is really people who acted fast and who didn't act fast. So the success story which I'm going to share is really of agility and it's something I have been personally involved with my client's mood. It was a luxury F&B chocolate chain, very well loved by people of Bangalore and it was always considered to be an experiential brand. So pre-pandemic, I don't think there was very high
focus on the digital channels because it was seen as an experiential brand and you know home delivery was not really seen as being able to take that experiment there. First is really reading the writing on the wall. A lot of people, because I was speaking to people as late as July and August 2020 and people were still seeing but that was not the response ever from Smur and what was really the focus was really seeing how customers are doing. So we also responded to trends. Obviously out online, we all know how the Dalgona and Banana print, but we looked into things like lockdown means, work from home means and a lot of new product ideas came from them. So for example, we have gourmet breads like sardo bread and hot dog rolls and pizza bases.
So we said, why don't we complement these with either cooking sauces or pestos and sell that. So one is we get the same customer to spend more and more importantly, we solve the customer's dilemma that what do I do every time I get the sardo bread or the burger bun? Can I make something different? Because people didn't want to give up on hotel outside food or hotel style classic cuisines just because they were sitting at home and they were cooking at home. But they also wanted to use their time and creatively creating those meats. So we actually started doing that. We realized that the market was no longer obviously having large birthday parties. So can we come up with smaller size cakes? Can we come up with more value pricing range, which would
work for frequent ordering? Because definitely the ordering frequency had gone up because people were at home and not going out as much as earlier. So those were the real focus areas. And analyzing every month because every two months, the customer was changing. It was like first they shifted from regular stuff to gourmet stuff. Then they wanted more indulgences. Then they wanted more flavors. They wanted more textures. So we had to be responsive. Today, 50% of the products which are there in the small range were not there pre-COVID. So that really shows how we responded to the customer. Simultaneously working on launching e-commerce anchored website to reach more customers.
And the end result is that a year down the line, we are reaching a lot more geographies than we would have reached if it was a non-COVID era. And we are reaching a lot more customers with different price segments and specific products than we would have again done in a pre-COVID area. So I would just say that people who acted with agility and people who read the writing on the wall earlier on benefited and have had success.