Empathy is very important for business in these tough times: Abhishek Ganguly, Puma

“Before COVID-19 hit us, we had a fantastic year in 2019 with 22 per cent growth," said Abhishek Ganguly, General Manager, Puma India and Southeast Asia. Ganguly was in conversation with Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media & BW BusinessWorld, during the latest edition of exchange4media’s webinar series, India Brand Conclave Dakshin Virtual Series.
The topic of their discussion was 'Staying Forever Faster with Puma India'. When Dr Batra asked Ganguly how the marketer is dealing with the pandemic, the GM of Puma India recalled, “Last year, we became number 1 in India in the space of footwear, apparel and accessories in sports and lifestyle category. The team was excited to have another 20-25 per cent growth this year. We had a fantastic January and February as well, but then in March, within the matter of few weeks, everything started shutting down and in April, the business was zero.”
He added, “Since our launch in India in 2006, we have never seen a year of blip. And it was very difficult for a team full of enthusiasm, wanting to do more, to manage this downfall. Tough 70 days. But hope is something that keeps us going. We have to change our outlook in business"
When asked if the increased focus of consumers on health to build immunity will help the sports apparel brand, Ganguly said, “I’m very lucky to be in a business which is about sports and business. One's health is the most important thing and we have to protect that. We need to build our immunity"
He said that through the sales and performance of their brand in India, he’s happy to see a lot of new entrants in the world of fitness, both kids and young adults, who are following the home fitness routines.
Encountering a question about change in consumer behaviour post Covid-19, Ganguly said, “The consumer behaviour is changing. A lot of e-commerce utilisation is happening. The digital penetration will increase more in future. Many people who initially just bought essentials online are buying non-essentials online as well. Endorsement and adoption of e-commerce is necessary.”
“One needs to follow consumer trends strongly because people are changing buying behaviour promptly", he added.
Ganguly believes brand have to be flexible and nimble enough to adapt to new things. “This was true as well for new India before COVID-19, but got expedited now. Long term strategy is passé. Long term vision is possible."
When asked about if the brand is working on building am omni-channel approach, Ganguly said they are tapping omni-channels and trying to get in new ways of business. He added, "There has to be a strong integration between all channels. Offline, online, e-commerce, and social media, all need to come together. Consumers are phygital and will look at all channels while deciding on purchase pattern”
"Consumers today will probably consume information somewhere, buy it from somewhere else. Lots of operational hassles need to be addressed in business", he said.
Talking about the importance of millennial focus in business, the GM said, “50% of India is below 25. Youth is our biggest strength from a consumption stand point. As a brand, we appeal a lot to the younger audience. It's bold, on the edge, colourful and style centric"
He added that brand’s marketing and product strategy is completely aligned to the youth in India.
Dr Batra made an observation that, “This world is now a 3C world- Collaborative, Caring and Contactless," and asked Ganguly's opinion about the same. Replying to Dr Batra, Ganguly said collaboration is extremely important for Puma. “We have collaborated with Curefit, MakeMyTrip etc. in the past, and we have designed the strategy with a mutual benefit. We will continue to follow the approach in future as well," he said.
Talking about the role of messaging in communication, Ganguly said more than a commercial objective, businesses today will be the ones who’ll survive the pandemic. “Consumers have a lot of options. It's extremely important to have purpose in business. Caring, post COVID will become even more important," added the GM.
Elaborating further, he said, "Empathy is very important for the business. Whether its leadership, way in which you have the company's purpose laid put."
When posed with the question about how he’s dealing with COVID-19, Ganguly explained. "A lot of our focus if going to be on surviving on minimal impact and injury whether its cash flow, using channels for marketing and focus on keeping the business going. Surviving the pandemic is about suffering the injury lesser than the others."
He added that he has announced in the company that there will not be any head count cut or salary cut this year. “These are the employees who got us to no.1 position so they need to be taken care of too. They’ll value the company more which stood by them in tough times," said Ganguly.
Facing an audience question about the impact of ‘work from home' on the brand’s business, the apparel brand's GM said, “I think the challenge is for categories in formal wear, wedding outfits, business-oriented suits and dresses, stilettos, heels, party wear. Those will need a longer period to recover.”
"We're in a better zone because our brand fits the work for home favour. People want to be comfortable and that's where we come in," he added.
Ganguly further talked about the need of being sustainable in post-COVID world, he said, "We really believe that we need to reduce our impact on the planet. We need to be able to use resources at best and convert them into fabric so that there's good utility."
He added, “As far as sustainability is concerned, it has been inherent to the brand since 2015. Almost 90% of fabric is coming from sustainable sources."
He also believes that communicating the brand's focus on sustainability is important as young consumer value sustainability more than their predecessor.
Concluding the session on his hopes about future, Ganguly told e4m that, "One year down the line, I want to achieve, as a company, the same levels of compassion and aggression we had six months back.”
He further said that the next six months are going to be treated in a different manner. “By spring next year, we're hoping to be back to the old ways & getting the business back. Till then it’s about sustenance, hope & getting our company employee strength," he said.