Godrej's Sujit Patil Reveals India’s Creative & Altruistic Side

The pandemic and the resultant lockdown has been one of the biggest disruptors of human life in the recent decade. It not just changed how people perceived health but also triggered a huge change in the human behaviour.

To understand this, and as part of its research-driven narratives, Godrej Group unveiled its research ‘Little Things We Do’ which highlights how the lockdown revealed India’s creative and altruistic side. The study analysed the daily routines, habits and gestures adopted by people to make their life more tolerable during the 10 months of lockdown across 13 cities of India. Moreover, it throws light on how did India coped-up with the new ‘touchless’ and ‘digital’ world.

Delving deeper, we spoke with Sujit Patil, Vice President and Head Corporate Brand and Communications Godrej Industries and Associate Companies on the rationale behind conducting this research. "The ‘Little Things We Do’ research essentially stemmed from a campaign that we had initiated before the pandemic. We had launched a video campaign with the same tagline ‘Little Things We Do” to connect and humbly show our gratitude towards our customers. 

When the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns hit the country, we realised a gentle reminder of how even little contributions can lead to big transformation was much needed to infuse a sense of hope among people. Through this study, we highlighted how little contributions by individuals and organisations have made a long-lasting influence on the lives of people around them. The aim is to project ‘good’ things that folks have done to lighten the threats of the pandemic," he says.

Excerpts:

On the kind of disruptions that the pandemic has brought in overall 

On the communications and consumer behaviour front, the pandemic triggered two big changes – increased fear psychosis resulting in a fall in trust, and gravitation towards experience-driven authentic communication. 

Consumers today are substantially more motivated by a brand’s transcendent purpose (how it improves lives) than by its transactional purpose (how it sells goods and services). 

Similarly, in times of shrinking editorial spaces and rising fake news, media put its trust in data-driven stories. In parallel, the new era of a ‘touchless consumer’ pushed brands to look at creative digital solutions to drive experiential engagement for consumers.

All these trends led to the increased thrust on research-driven narratives and owned media platforms. 

On the changed face of responsible organisations and citizens

Purpose, empathy, and authenticity have taken centre stage during these trying times. It’s no more acceptable for a brand to have an inauthentic, pompous, or indifferent approach to its customers. They need to be more agile, empathetic, responsible, and authentic in their communication. 

Old communication handbooks and rulebooks went under the scanner. The new ones will have both concrete and fluid parts – things that are core beliefs, and things that need to be monitored and amended as per evolving communication environment. The communication team gained more voice both within and outside the organisation 

On consumers’ side, the sensitivity threshold fell remarkably during this time and any form of vulturism, cause-washing or slacktivism proved counterproductive. Thus, it was incumbent on brands to wade through an increased volume of (mis)information, data, and noise. 

Thus, when the pandemic hit the country, we went back to our drawing board to analyst ‘what matters’. It further validated the ethos of our communication strategy which is built on the pillars of ABC -- Authentic narratives, Bi-directional communication channels and Co-creation of content. 

On the key insights gathered

Some of the key insights from the study are: 

• Hand sanitisation: Despite rampant awareness drives, only 86% adopted hand and product sanitisation in their lifestyle to remain healthy
• Exploring the altruistic side: 55% donated ‘little things’ such as sanitizers, food packets, old clothes, blankets, medical devices, etc. to those in need
• Millennial’s love for environment: 52% became conscious of the environment – including growing plants, become more prudent on purchases, and conserved energy. Younger millennials (25-34) were the most environment conscious amongst all age-groups with 54.83% giving top-most priority to growing plants at home, being conscious of energy consumption and of the environmental impact of the products they purchase.
• It’s all about loving your family: 36% now spend more time with their families because of the absence of long commutes
• Dial social media in pursuit of happiness and creativity: 46.42% remained connected with friends and family through social media
• Health above all: Almost three out of five millennials adopted a physical or mental fitness activity like yoga, Zumba, walk, meditation, etc. in their lifestyle to keep themselves healthy and happy.
• Quit vices: 36% have quit unhealthy habits. Age-group wise insight- Gen Z (34%), Gen X (35%)
• Fresh Food Consumption: Three in every four Indian gravitated towards healthy home-cooked food. One in every five started cooking as a form of positive therapy

On marketers utilising the study findings

The Little Things We Do serves as a litmus test for understanding consumer behaviour today. Brands can use the study to understand and further sharpen their engagement strategy. Let me share some quick highlights from the study which will help brands to engage the audience better. 

Despite rampant awareness drives, 14% of the consumers have not adopted hand and product sanitisation in their lifestyle to remain healthy. This means that we need to make concerted efforts to engage consumers and raise awareness. This is not the time to drop the guard, and hand sanitisation is one of the strongest tools against pathogens. 

Younger millennials (25-34) were the most environmentally conscious amongst all age groups with 54.83% giving top-most priority to growing plants at home, being conscious of energy consumption and of the environmental impact of the products they purchase. Brands therefore must highlight the environmental impact of their products and services to engage the audience group. 

36% now spend more time with their families because of the absence of long commutes. Walk to the office and hybrid workplace culture will be the direct result of this trend. 46.42% remained connected with friends and family through social media. Brands must utilise social media to co-create content with their audience and influencers. 

Three in every four Indians gravitated towards healthy home-cooked food. One in every five also started cooking as a form of positive therapy. Brands that are in the food space are using their owned media channels to not just promote their products but also recipes that can be easily made at home. 

Brands' changed narrative and communication strategy in the past 2 years

As I mentioned, the pandemic was the time when brands had to re-evaluate their communication strategy with respect to messaging, tonality, and channels. Brands were at the risk of being called opportunistic or insensitive for any out of the line communication. The margin to make an error in some cases was very thin. Therefore, brands tried to build a strong and direct communication channel with their audience. People now expect brands to be more empathetic and authentic. Communication narratives today are humbler, fact-based and research-driven. There is absolutely no scope for fake news and propaganda. If a brand weaves a narrative that is built on authentic brand connect and experiential engagement, it surely finds a connection with the audience and increases the chances of share-ability. In the current times, engagement and experiences are the two most important currencies for any brand. 

Being heard today is one of the most precious values that audiences seek today from brands. Therefore, do the RECCE (Relevance, Engagement, Content, Community, Experience) well! Customer experience and brand ethos form the core of owned media strategy. It pushes brands to create Relevancy among its target consumers to drive Engagement using interesting Content which eventually leads to Community building through Experience (RECCE).

The critical questions one must ask are: How does the audience perceive a brand? What are the expectations in terms of value, narrative, and experience? A robust owned media strategy fills this gap between the brand and the audience. Once you figure out the answers, each channel warrants a different content strategy and tonality. Like the 4 Ps of Marketing, the 4 Ps of owned media channels is People (audience), Platform, Participation, and Perseverance. Understand your audience, choose the right platform, make them participate and persevere towards building long-term connections with them.