‘From an advertising perspective, empathy was most crucial during pandemic’

The e4m Health Marcom Conference, held on Tuesday, saw noted leaders from the healthcare industry come together to share their expert opinion and participate in engaging panel discussions. One such session deliberated on ‘health as a sellable asset for marketers and brands’.

Moderated by Rashmi Thosar, Founder, CEO, BrandCare, the panel comprised Abhishek Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance; Venkat Erpina, Vice-President, Marketing, Fast&Up; Samta Datta, General Manager - Marketing, Soothe Healthcare, and Samyukta Iyer, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Kaya Limited.

Thosar kickstarted the session by speaking about upholding brand trust during the time of Covid. She started the conversation on how the pandemic impacted marketing communications. 

Gupta shared, “During this time when everybody is feeling so vulnerable, trust takes a backseat – not in terms of importance but in terms of trust levels going down. During this time, according to me, the most critical from a communication perspective or an advertising perspective or from a brand perspective is empathy. This is the time to tone down all the tall claims. It is the time when one has to realise that people are going through a major problem and they are looking for a solution to that problem. If you think that you have a product, which offers a solution to this problem that people are facing, you need to talk about it empathetically. That is one part, especially for the life insurance industry which is heavily dependent on third-party distributors or insurance agents. While one part of your TG is the consumers who buy life insurance, as a brand marketer you also have to realise that the other set of TG is the people who are going out and trying to convince customers to buy life insurance. It is time to show empathy towards them too. It is time to ensure that they, too, are well-equipped to handle the changes that are happening.”

Speaking on the brand philosophy, Erpina said, “Three out of four athletes use our products. We have been successful in building brand trust and have also introduced several new technologies. The foremost among them is effervescent products, which has helped us stay ahead of the curve.”

Fast&Up is a seven-year-old sports and active nutrition brand. 

The session then moved on to the subject of feminine hygiene, in the context of Soothe Healthcare whose offerings include products related to women's sanitation. “Feminine hygiene is an area dominated by big players who have been in business for years. How does a local brand get close to the consumers?”, Thosar enquired. 

Datta said, “Interestingly enough, our GT presence launched in late 2015 and right after that the pandemic hit. Our challenge was that we were trying to introduce ourselves, that too in a category where not many people are willing to hear us. We are a young brand and the consumer does not talk about this product to the retailer. And that becomes a very big challenge.” 

“In the past couple of years, we have, in terms of GT, increased our distribution. We started with India two and now going to India one and providing solutions. That is what we are doing in terms of brand building and in terms of being present. And in terms of actually talking to the consumer, there are several things we are doing. One is, of course, advertising and like Venkat said, having a good vibe ambassador or social influencer. But I also feel that today's consumer comes across as very conscientious and we want to tap into that ideology of theirs as we speak to them. So, our product line and philosophy as well as how we communicate and go back to them is all about that. We have Jahnvi Kapoor right in front of the pack as well as we have Dr Kiran Bedi and Indian police officers endorsing the brand on World Menstruation Day,” Datta added.

On striking a balance between science and emotion, Iyer said, “Beauty in most cases is a reflection of good health. The pandemic hit hard but health suddenly became a prerogative in everybody's life. Skin and hair health became something to achieve and focus on. So, when you look at a very clear and dermatological approach, as we do in Kaya, we focus on health from within. We cure, we treat, we better because we have highly qualified doctors who are looking at your skin and hair and overall health. And the minute the skin issues are resolved, you start looking and feeling beautiful. And because science has been used from within to treat everything from the outside and it looks beautiful, the emotion that it manifests, as a result, is one of happiness and freedom and individuality.”