We have moved our focus to digital investments & product innovation: Rajat Vohra

The rapid digital adoption and the growing demand for online education have brought about a change in the consumption behaviour of consumers whether it’s students or working professionals. Most brands, especially stationery brands that have been traditionally brick n mortar have had to adapt to the shift to the digital ecosystem. Rajat Vohra, Country Head - India & South Asia, Reynolds Pens shares evolving strategies, shift to an omnichannel business model, insights behind the ‘India For India’ campaign, R&D centre in India, marketing strategies, and more.

Edited Excerpts Below:

How have you strategized to keep up with the changing consumer behaviour?

With the changing industry trends, our focus is to conceptualise products that cater to these trends and provide a better consumer experience. We have enhanced our product portfolio and launched seven products in the first quarter of 2021. We have also entered into newer categories including Markers, Correction Pens, Three Pencils, and Vista RT this year. We have also expanded our presence across e-commerce platforms to cater to the younger generation. We have moved our focus towards digital investments and have revamped our website to give a better understanding of our products to our customers. Our R&D teams are committed to innovating, even in the fields of colour expansion and ink development, to continue offering exciting products to our customers. 

What were the challenges in re-strategizing your business model from primarily being an offline retail business to an omnichannel business?

One of the biggest challenges in the writing instruments industry is getting the entire ecosystem in place and making the products available for the last mile. With a clear strategic imperative, we aligned our efforts towards creating innovative solutions for the same. Another challenge that we overcame was the lack of online presence by launching products across e-commerce platforms in India this year. Our digital business is on a growth path, and we are looking forward to a great year ahead.

What has been the insight behind the ‘India for India’ campaign and your R&D centre in India? How have these helped strengthen your positioning in India?

India has been a key market for us and under this campaign, we have been focussing on innovating products suited to the needs of the Indian customer across different age groups. With India for India campaign, we continue to offer best-in-class products with the strictest quality norms supported by extensive engineering and procuring resources that keep the cost level intact.

Since its inception, the R&D centre has been contributing to developing and delivering innovative products not just for India, but for global markets as well. Our R&D teams have been able to collaborate and design products with carefully sourced raw materials leading to cost efficiency and speedy delivery, which is a differentiator for India and the key reason behind making this an innovation hub for Reynolds. The R&D centre also enables quicker decision making and faster speed to market, giving us an edge over the competition. 

What has your YoY growth been like? Which products/categories have driven growth the most?

Barring the pandemic year, we have seen a significant rise in numbers getting back to pre-COVID levels once unlocking began. Our sales on e-commerce portals also saw a great response in terms of demand. Our writing product range contributes most to our overall sales. One of our flagship products, Trimax - a first free-flow ink system pen, has been a major contributor and is witnessing steady growth in terms of volume, driven by the student category. Apart from this, we have also witnessed increased demand for Sharpie in the arts & crafts category. 

What is the core of your marketing initiatives to connect with consumers? How do you leverage the different mediums for marketing?

Reynolds is one of the oldest players in the stationery and writing instruments market and has become a trusted and household name in India. Hence, maintaining the trust, reliability and quality of our products, with the essence of nostalgia, is core to all our marketing initiatives, across mediums. With traditional mediums like TV spots and billboards becoming less effective and intrusive, we have moved our focus to social media and other digital channels. This is mainly since our TG is heavy digital platform users, therefore it is necessary for us to be present and communicate with them, in a language they understand.

The pandemic had limited our options for all kinds of marketing initiatives that we had in mind for the years 2020 and 2021. Digital was the only platform left for us to play on. We took huge advantage of the situation to improve our digital presence which was not so great prior to the pandemic. Today, we have established ourselves as an industry player in the stationery market and digital has been a prime contributor in that. Moving forward in the year 2022, we see a lot of involvement of Reynolds on all mediums of communications to reach out to our audiences. 

Looking ahead, what can we expect from Reynolds in terms of innovation, expansion, product launches, campaigns etc.?

We have already launched 10 products to date and we have two launches planned for 15th November 2021. There is also a range of products in the pipeline. We are expanding in India and South Asia with our other known brands. We are constantly tracking consumer trends and developing products accordingly. We already have a centralised design centre in Michigan, US, which handles design and R&D in France. In the coming months, we will continue to innovate and enter newer categories and launch new products. We have already expanded our distribution network by 30% and our retail network by 40% along with entering newer categories. Moving forward, Reynolds will actively be entering more new categories and segments with its unique range of products.