‘Why wait for light at the end of the tunnel, light up the tunnel right away’

The marketing and advertising industry like all other sectors has been hit by the difficult times brought by COVID-19 and the lockdown.

In this segment called ‘Beating All Odds’, we interact with industry leaders who are trying their best to navigate their ships through the COVID-19 storm.

Today we have with us Rohit Ohri, Group Chairman and CEO, FCB India.

We are living in unprecedented times. Tell us how has the lockdown been for you so far?
From an organization perspective, I think one of the big things is that is we were lucky and I think that worked to our advantage. We actually went into Work From Home a week before the lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister. So, we had a whole week to actually test and experiment with how we're going to transit to work from home. We were able to kind of help all our employees, get WiFi connections in their houses, move the equipments - the laptops and desktops and high end machines - to people's homes. We also did trainings on Microsoft meetings, team meetings, so everyone figured what platform to be used. Of course, Zoom came in as well.

So we kind of prepared people for the trauma, and the resources and technology perspective to move to work from home. But work from home is a challenge for many people, right? Because few of us, we live in a large apartment and so it's easy to find isolated places. But, it's difficult for a lot of people to find a place in your home where you can have a Zoom meeting. We have tried to actually help people through this. I sent everybody on email at the very beginning where we said that the family is part of the team. So you don't have to lock away your children or your pets into different rooms all day. So, if the child walks into the meeting, peeps into the laptop, it's fine. So I'm saying it's important for us to make it as easy as possible for people to do. But the amazing thing is that I didn't think quite honestly for a long time as we've been thinking what about work from home and people kept saying that - Is work from home a possibility at all. And we all felt that, it's a very hard thing to do. Maybe people won't be so responsible about work as work from home is a holiday kind of a thing.

But I'm actually surprised on how well every single person working in FCB has taken to work from home, the kind of work that we're churning out for clients. There's been a lot of requests on adapting as we say, brand pivoting on to be more helpful on the platform that the brand occupies, but to move that and really to look at how in a brand can react and be sensitive and helpful at this time. So there's been a lot of work there. I think people are doing enormous amounts of work. That has been great, very heartening. And when you talk about the new normal, one of the things we all say that maybe work from home will be part of the new normal, for sure, going forward.

While your agency has been quite responsible, work from home may not have come without its own share of troubles. What kind of problems did you end up troubleshooting?
The big thing that was top of mind for all of us was really the impact that would have on the business right? Because this is an unprecedented Black Swan event and many of our clients have had to shut down plants and factories and there is no production. Obviously, people can't come out of their homes so the need for advertising is also becoming less because what are you going to be advertising?

I'll give you two or three examples of what we're doing, basically to look at and reduce the economic impact that this is having on the agency. So one of the big things that we've done, and that I believe will be an interesting part of the new normal is our collaboration with this company called XP&D Be.Live. We did a conference and a launch of this whole technology platform which will help and enable brands to move offline experiences online. So you could do like a big launch online. We've just recently worked and done the Sangeet Setu, which has been a supremely successful music concert over three days. And the Prime Minister also tweeted about it, which basically had 17 celebrities who all came online, and we had a concert over three days. So that worked out very well.

I think that's been a great experience for everybody. And what that does is, it helps and enables clients to think differently because in times like this, you have to be creative, you have to be resourceful, you have to think out of the box and I think this solution is something that is great, and you're looking at really now taking this to the next level. So that's one part of the thing that we've done.

We've also done an initiative in FCB called "ideas unlocked". Basically, what we're saying is that our factories don't have to be locked, because our factories are in our heads, we manufacturing ideas and, and at this time, we are the only industry actually which has got millions of factories all active. So these factories really need to actually produce new ideas and new ways of thinking which will help clients and brands actually transit into the post covert era. And I think that's something that we created this whole initiative and every week, there is brainstorming in the agency and we go back to clients saying that what are the new things that they can do?

What are the ways that they can communicate with consumers at this point in time - which is tone sensitive, which actually creates a special bond with the consumers? I think that is really, really important. One of the things that I keep talking about is that there are lots of brands and marketers and we all know that this is a long, dark tunnel that we're walking through. So we have two options right now to wait for the light at the end of the tunnel. And there's another option, which is really about lighting up the tunnel. And I'm saying that the most important thing at this point in time is that if you wait for light at the end of the tunnel and say, okay, let this thing pass and then we will start something it's just the wrong strategy because this tunnel is very long and we don't know when we will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

What the consumer needs right now is to brands to light up for them, light up the tunnel with creativity, with ideas, with helpfulness, with connections that are truly special. And that whole thing of walking this journey with the brand, walking this journey with the consumer is very, very important for brands. And that I think is our approach. And we've actually brought that approach to a client saying that let's light up this tunnel together for consumers.

The third initiative that we are going to be launching very soon and you're the first person I'm talking to about is really to look at contactless connections with consumers and how do we provide that to some of our clients. So whether it is a contactless way of actually selling a automotive - how do you actually do that entire chain from end to end; from actually searching to your test drive to actual purchase and post purchase. How do you make it a completely seamless, zero contact kind of programme?

So that's something that we are looking at for different industries and seeing how we can actually create that because zero contact will be another reality post COVID. So whenever the lockdown is lifted, it's not that we will all start coming out into the streets and they'll be back to absolute 100 per cent normal. That's not going to happen. So there will be a phase opening out, there will be the continued concern about social distancing, so that I think something that brands will need to take into consideration for a period of time because we don't know when the vaccine is going to come in. So till the vaccine comes in, there will be an imminent threat, there will be a threat of sudden spikes back again, and you've seen some countries where this has happened.

So that whole thing of maintaining social distancing, and how brands will actually then connect with consumers, whether there are some needs of brands to get physically connected, because if I'm buying a car, I will want to test drive it right. So how do you do that in a way that is totally sanitized? It totally works to reassure consumers that's something that is great.

And finally, a big research which is actually looking at what are the consumer big shifts that are going to happen? In my opinion, there will be a line drawn in the sands of time of the mankind, right? So, there will be a pre-COVID and a post-COVID era. This will mark a whole new way in which we consume in which we connect in which we communicate about our brands. I think that is something we as advertising agencies really need to understand - what are those big changes, what are those big triggers that will actually spark off each category or brand to talk about their benefits in a way that is relevant at that time. So, post-COVID health is going to be a very, very important part of the narrative right for every brand. Health and your safety is going to be very, very important. They will be the top concern for everybody. And how do brands actually take that on in their communication programme in their connections and interactions with
other brands.

But once the lockdown is lifted will agencies become that much more important for brands or will advertising take a backseat till production is back on track?
My sense is that every company will want to spark off the consumption again? So there are two ways to approach it - you can't shrink yourself to greatness, right. You have to aggressively tackle this huge issue. We're looking at a huge depression, it's not a recession, right? So, if we're looking at that, how do you kick yourself out of it is really important to actually find the right ways, the right mechanisms, the right offers, the right opportunities in which you can actually restart and kick start your brand’s demand, the category’s demand and the category’s growth.

So, they are obviously very, very important and we've seen this historically, whenever there has been a big crisis - whether it's 09/11 or the Spanish Flu - that there may have been many cases where brands when they come back, they come back with a very strong voice, they come back to connect and reignite the demand because just retracting and going into a hole is not really going to help. So the important thing is brands need to have a voice and they need to continuously connect and reassure customers and walk with them through this journey. But the agencies still have relevance and creativity will be really important because finally, at the end of the day, in a crisis, creativity shines and creativity is really what comes to the rescue of people.

And today, I mean, forget about advertising agencies, people are being creative. So every person is being creative in the way they actually source, the supplies. The way they keep themselves entertained the way, they're educating the kids the way and doing physical activities. Everybody's thinking creatively, right? So there's so much of stuff happening online, and then there's so much of creativity you could do like now. Yesterday evening I was doing a safari live of the Serengeti Plains. So they have a camera mounted on the Jeep, and they're taking you through the Serengeti plains, and they're showing you different animals and it's like virtual kind of Safari, which people hadn't heard of before. But it's just being creative. So you can do a pilgrimage online as well. So, I think the Good Friday, long weekend, saw the masses being done online so these are new things.

You think in the face of adversity, we're seeing better ideas emerge?

Creativity comes alive in a crisis, Creativity is sparked off by crisis in a way. That is truly an inspiration.

What about now, have majority of your clients put a stop to advertising owing to a halt in production, and others because they are not able to get customers to complete the purchase cycle. Or are they rising up to the occasion to engage with or help consumers in such testing times?
The thing is that , there's a first phase of a shock, where you go into a freeze moment, right saying that, Oh, my God, what's going to happen? If the factories are down and the sales are down? so there's that shock moment, I think every brand and manufacturing and companies coming out of that shock moment saying, Okay, this is the new reality, we need to figure out now in this new reality, what do we need to do? That's what I was saying earlier they were pivoting on on their promises, right. So, for instance, Domino's, which we handle now, their core is always been delivery, right? So Domino's delivers. We know that it's something that Indians have grown up with for the last 25 odd years. So Domino's decided to partner with ITC and deliver essentials, right? Even though their orders were coming down, but they wanted to still be helpful to consumers and say that okay, if delivery is what we are known for, so if you go to the Domino's app, you can actually buy dal, atta, rice, oil, also. So that can be delivered to you as well. So I'm saying that's something we haven't really communicated. But you know, there's been a lot of brainstorming around how you can do that in a more effective manner. Also zero contact, right. So the whole thing of the zero cost pizza delivery. So we have done work around that as well. So how do you actually promote that, so there's all obviously work even in a you know a time where things are not looking so good and things are under this enormous amount of challenge so each of our brands are looking at how they can be still connected with consumers, obviously not at the same level that they were earlier but really maintained a dialogue.

Even the brands which are currently advertising, how heavily are they cutting down on costs, is your agency suffering?

A lot of our clients that are doing really well like for instance Amul for instance. But the thing is, that's a small thing I mean advertising plays a very small part in this whole thing, when Amul says "Doodh Peeta Hai India", if you look at it today, they are maintaining the milk availability in large parts of the country wherever they were, they are distributed, there, they are working night and day to make sure that milk is available. the essentials are available to all consumers. So, that is something that is truly, remarkable for an organization to to bring all the resources together to make that happen. So many other clients are doing this like Mahindra's manufacturing masks and other equipments in preparation of the COVID crisis, so that's something that everybody is doing and thinking. And I think now, all clients are thinking about what's the big comeback strategy going to be right? So what do we need to do? what strategy do we make to have the fastest recovery that possibly we can do under the circumstances. Otherwise, 2020 will be a year which needs to be erased from the world timeline.

So are pay cuts and lay-offs imminent as far as FCB India is concerned?
Honestly, right now what we're doing is we are preparing for different scenarios and different things that the way we're looking at it, it all depends on what the recovery and how long and how big the recovery is going to be. So, you know, luckily for us this time, the festive season is pretty late, Diwali is in November, so there's a chance that the Q3 and Q4 could see a good recoverY, I mean, it's not going to be back to normal, but, but we see a relatively improved situation there. So to that extent, I think it's important for us to maintain the resources and the people that we have, because if we want to come out of this hole, then we have to have the talent and capability to do that, right? It can't be that you have a weakened organization or a weakened creative agency. And then hope to deliver extraordinary results, because it will be extraordinary time when we come out of this people will need to be really smart and clever and resourceful and effective and conscious of the fact that there will be limited resources, but how do you maximize impact and positivity with that. So that is really important. Depending on what the scenario is, obviously, right now, we are only restricting cuts to discretionary expenditure. We've always meant without, obviously, travel and all discretionary expenses have been cut, but any case movie can travel so that's that works out quite well.

FCB was a surprise element as far as Cannes 2019 was concerned, and you brought home India's only gold. You had great ideas like Project Streedhan, Out and Proud lined up for this year, so how did cancellation of Cannes Lions this year affect you?
Yes. "Out and Proud" was supposed to go this year, we also had "Punishing Signal", and "Project Streedhan”. So we had many big bets for this year. But I think the decision that Cannes lions took was the right decision. I think it made sense from this perspective. Also the thing is that, like what we said was we're looking at completely containing discretionary expenditure. So, I would rather not have cancelled award entries than have job cuts and salary cuts for people, right. So If I had to make a choice, then I would stay away from entering Cannes because that's glory, but we stand behind it and that's the most important.