Marketers have to promote a vibrant and inclusive society: Ruchira Jaitly, Diageo India

Addressing a special session on “Progressive Portrayal” at the e4m Pitch CMO Summit Bengaluru 2023, Ruchira Jaitly, Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo India, said, “We have seen a sea change in the way people look at their identities. There is a sea change in the way consumers and cultures shape identities.”

“It is not just global, it is happening in India. It has accelerated with connections. It is a movement of sorts and there are significant forces that are actually driving this, which is completely new for a lot of marketers today.”

Jaitly also shared data on how the number of gender non-conforming, non-binary individuals from GenZ is way more than millennials or baby boomers. She mentioned how this new generation of voters is driving conversations.

“The Chief Justice of India put out a paper on how stereotyping and stereotypes do not find their way into the language of judgments anymore. That was an internal paper circulated to his entire team to say, ‘when we write our judgments, we do not want to reflect stereotyping’. Now, that is massive and it is just the beginning of this massive tectonic shift that we are all going to be seeing,” she elaborated.

Giving the example of one of The Hindu’s ads and how it was shaping perceptions behind what Chennai as a city could be, she said, “We, as marketers, have to promote a vibrant and inclusive society. We have to put the picture that we want the world to look like, tell stories that shape what's acceptable to society, and also be aspirational to society. Recognize and elevate diverse voices. Don't let them be unheard. And embrace all kinds of people to elevate stories.”

She also pointed out that it isn’t just the right thing to do, it also drives stock prices and purchase intent. “This is financially a really smart thing to do. When Nike does what it does, it builds advocates and evangelists that go far beyond actual consuming audiences and that is what drives its share price.”

Kantar global data highlights that India is far behind in progressive marketing. Only 19% of ads represent people of different ethnic origins. Only 1% show people with disabilities and only 1% show overtly gay and lesbian characters.

“We are very far away from the desired representation that we need in society. That being said, there's another very interesting statistic. Representation does nothing, showing people does nothing. Showing the underrepresented groups, people who don't have voices, in a positive way, drives fantastic scores on brands and on short-term sales,” Jaitly noted.

The CMO gave a three-pronged strategy to build inclusive campaigns. “What are the must-do's for us? First, is to learn and understand. Don't be arrogant. Don't think you know it all or that just because you know one story, it is the story that has to be written. Second, collaborate and create. Collaborate probably is the word that comes ahead of the create. Finally, execute and lead. We truly believe we have to start leading in culture. We cannot wait for someone else to tell the story because we need to be safe. We have to be in the bounds of what's acceptable, but not just about that.”

Jaitley moved on to discuss various inclusive campaigns by Diageo India that gained critical and commercial acclaim.

The marketer closed the session by discussing how marketers and companies are no longer defined by that ‘one consumer profile’. “There is no ideal consumer. There is a psychographic, there is a taste profile, and there could be a sensorial profile. But we are not defined by ‘the one’ anymore.”