The lockdown has been an inflexion point for marketers and brands: Rohini Saldanha
Saldanha, Director, Corporate Communications - South Asia at Wunderman Thompson, talks about her journey, female leadership, as well as challenges and opportunities in times of COVID-19
Women have been at the epicentre of the communications industry owing to their innately empathetic and multitasking nature. Female leaders have been at the forefront combating the COVID19 crisis too.
Rohini Saldanha is an experienced communication professional with a demonstrated history of working in Public Relations, Marketing Communication and Advertising industry. She proudly boasts of creating brand campaigns with purpose-driven communication enabling them to reach their key audiences and attain their business goals. Skilled in brand strategy, content development, media relations and corporate communications, Saldanha is currently Director, Corporate Communications - South Asia at Wunderman Thompson.
In today’s edition of our Women Achievers Series, we talk to Rohini Saldanha about her journey, challenges and opportunities in a time of COVID-19, female leadership and more.
Edited excerpts:-
How has your journey been? If you look back, what would be the most defining moment of your career?
I believe that nothing worth having comes easy. I look back at my career with pride, love and happiness and have enjoyed every bit of the ride. Public Relations (PR) usually tops the list of the most stressful jobs in the world and to survive in this industry one needs to possess self-belief and an indomitable spirit to overcome any problem. It is about deep diving to understand the nature of your clients’ business, mapping their industry landscape and devising a communications strategy that will effectively address their stakeholders.
Some memorable moments would include triumphs such as winning new business, handling tough clients and speaking at FICCI Frames early on in my career.
On a separate note, success is personal and can be defined by one’s own measures. The goals we set out for ourselves and the benchmarks we identify is very subjective. I am a big believer that the human mind is stronger than the human body and has the ability to adapt ever so beautifully and be resilient through the darkest of times. That’s the reason, in spite of the current crisis, most of us have fallen very well into a routine and carved out rituals that bode well for us, be it for work, exercise, prayers or relaxation.
COVID-19 has presented a plethora of challenges and opportunities to businesses. How has it impacted your business and what are the opportunities that it has created for you?
This lockdown period has been an inflexion point for communicators, marketers, brands and consumers; helping them assess how they want to move forward.
Take, for instance, brands have had the opportunity to connect with consumers at a deeper, more meaningful, authentic manner than ever before. By developing a content strategy that evolves with changing behaviours of customers, they have never had a better time to make their brands more relevant.
It has encouraged communicators and marketers to seek ways to raise the bar of creative excellence by thinking out-of-the-box and embracing an interactive digital approach that makes consumers feel involved and cared for during a difficult period. It has allowed them to pivot their strategies to bring a brand’s purpose to life thereby building trust and increasing brand loyalty.
It has given us time to reflect and deep dive into what we want to change in our personal and professional lives. Be it honing our skills, passions and talents to understanding how we want to add value to the work that we do. I see this as a much needed, and useful, learning and rest period for us all.
Why do we observe attrition in women's leadership as we go up the ladder?
There is a universal belief about the work/family narrative being the prerogative of women, and it is this unconscious psychological defence mechanism that forces women to constantly assess whether they need to ratchet down their career aspirations owing to the competing demands of work and family. But the real issue is long hours and overworked employees with the work/family narrative merely serving as a smokescreen, thereby locking gender inequality in place. So, while some working mothers succumb to ‘mom guilt’, the emotional experience of parenting is not relegated to women alone, in fact, women and men suffer alike, feeling guilty of how little time they spend with family. Instead of focusing on women struggling to balance the demands of work and family, the focus should instead be on attaining work-life balance where neither a man or woman needs to take a call between sacrificing the home or the work domain thereby enabling workplace gender equality.
How important has communication become now in these unprecedented times?
With fake news doing the rounds, and with anxiety levels through the roof, there has never been a more urgent role for communications than now. Brands and leaders have a certain responsibility towards consumers, employees and stakeholders, to communicate information in a timely manner that is relevant, positive and succinct in a consistent, transparent, authentic and empathetic manner.
Recent findings of research agencies indicate an uptick in digital subscriptions for all newspapers, websites and magazines, which reveal that people are on the lookout for credible sources of information to help them manoeuvre the current crisis.
While external communications are important, internal communication cannot be ignored. During these unsettling times, many people look to their leaders to assuage their fears, inspire and motivate them while being informed about important company developments. The need of the hour is for heads of organisations to ‘check-in’ with employees through emails that share important company updates, while encouraging them to stay positive and strong.
Women leaders are paving the way forward now. How have you contributed to this?
Being a total feminist, I love hearing that women are succeeding at the workplace. I guess I’m a little biased in thinking women make better leaders. I have realised that when given a task, women have this innate ability to be diligent, focused and persevering. Coupled with their skills to be empathetic and caring, puts them in a position of strength. Moreover, they are on this perpetual mission to prove strongly held ideologies wrong and challenge the status quo of women’s stalled advancement.
On a personal front, I strongly believe in building people and mentoring whenever the opportunity has presented itself. Good leaders know that by sharing information and empowering people, you create an ecosystem of continuous learning and build a culture of trust. Plus, you’ll be surprised by how much you learn in the process.
A lot has been said about the pay gap but is there something called value gap to be talked about?
Most companies are very thorough when it comes to hiring talent for specific roles. Moreover, the value and pay gap have no correlation and are gender agnostic. The only thing I see changing is that with most businesses drastically cutting down their budgets, leaders and HR heads will be closely evaluating how best to restructure teams in line with business targets and revenues.
What do you think the post-COVID world would be like?
I see the post-COVID world as one in which:
- There will be a greater demand for transparency from consumers which will provide brands and marketers with an opportunity to build trust and create a cache of goodwill.
- With people spending more time online and with different motivations and behaviours seen across platforms, brands will need to be more agile and responsive with their digital communication strategies.
- There will be a greater emphasis on innovating through interactive digital technology solutions targeting different age groups, with everyone embracing technology so adeptly.
- While WFH has turned out to be a viable work model for companies, it may take on a new ‘blended’ form going forward which may require teams attending office on a rotation-wise roster or implementing flexible work hours depending on the nature of the business.
