The pandemic may have hit us hard, but our spirit stands strong, this was the sentiment shared by the panelists in an uplifting session on Regional India and the new spirit of celebration in the new normal organised by Reputation today in partnership with Fuzion PR. The panelists included C Leekha of IndiGo, Rakhee Lalvani of IHCL, Himanshu Kapadia of Grasim Industries, Puneet Gupta of INOX and it was moderated by Mukesh Kharbanda of Fuzion PR.
Giving a brief insight on effects of lockdown and shift in the mode of communication in their specific sectors, all the speaker’s emphasised the move from traditional to digital platforms to communicate in these hard times.
C Leekha from the aviation sector (IndiGo) said, while the situations are tough, it has given space for innovation and their new line of cargo and charter business grew manifold during these times. She also reiterated that it is easier to reach more people over social media platforms like Twitter and how in the last 6 months 75-80% of their communication has been done over social media platforms.
Rakhee Lalvani from Taj Groups (IHCL), shared with us how IHCL innovated and forayed into online gourmet food delivery with Qmin during lockdown and other emerging trends in the hotel industry. She mentioned that have had almost the same number of queries for marriage bookings as marriages in India are a festival of their own kind. This period has not been all dark, they saw little lights in the form of staycations, short drive vacations, celebrating personal milestones. She strongly believes that it’s a brands reputation that drives people to trust brands and keep going back to them even in these times.
Himanshu Kapadia from Grasim Industries shared, that the trust factor has to be very strong among the customers, because for them customer is the king. Stating his strong concern on the GDP of the economy he says “Dynamics have changed but people haven’t stopped living. In India celebration is circulation of money and festivals is the trigger that navigates demand and supply chain of products. Focusing on satisfying the changing demands of customers can keep a brand’s demand up.
Punnet Gupta from the entertainment industry (INOX) stated that entertainment is very inclusive in today’s world, explaining how usually first films reach theaters, then digital platform and then satellites, but off late, to make up for losses, films are directly being released on digital platforms, and this has been the most vibrant change in today’s time. Talking about regional influencers he mentioned, “Regional influencers are relatable to the audience and that they play a massive role in trust building “. He claimed that festivals and entertainment go hand in hand for the public as a whole. Reminding the audience how some of the amazing bollywood movies like ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’, ‘ Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’, among others, were released during the festival of diwali and how it creates a hype and demand among the public.
After one hour of an interactive session I believe that even though a lot of sectors have suffered during the pandemic they are coming back strong with a lot of innovation and hope. We could feel the positive vibes and motivation from each panelist and their hope for a better tomorrow.
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