Sign up for afaqs! Newsletters
“Call to action messaging in Q1, brand strengthening in Q2...”
Srinivasu Allaphan, Director-Sales & Marketing at JK Tyre & Industries talks about priorities, budget-cuts, marketing communication post lockdown.
Once the lockdown is lifted what will your top 3 big priorities, on the work front, be?
As soon as the industry regains normalcy, we would channel our efforts towards elaborating on call to action messaging in the first quarter and then focus on brand strengthening after the second quarter. Moreover, our aim is to improve our placement as a premium brand amongst our audiences. We also have new campaigns and product launches lined-up, however, they will have to be delayed until the market regains stability.
Will your market behave the way it was before the lockdown or will there be subtle changes? What do you surmise those changes will be?
We are currently facing an unprecedented global crisis and it wouldn’t be right to expect the market to stay the same after the lockdown. As cost-saving initiatives become more rigorous, there would be substantial reductions in marketing budgets and there will continue to be cut over the next two quarters. Campaigns with high production costs will be avoided and print mediums will see cutbacks at least till the first quarter. As a result, targeted marketing can emerge as a new trend in the market with digital platforms taking the centre stage. Brands will be creating maximum impact by focusing on creative digital messaging- enhancing shelf life and the outreach of the message.
Will your broad view of marketing communication be different from before in some way?
Currently, we are leveraging digital platforms to help the brand stay relevant to our target audience. Taking into consideration our latest online campaign, "Distance Ok Please," our aim was to create a lively campaign that would promote awareness among our stakeholders while also positioning JK Tyre as a young brand. Going forward, too, our focus would be aimed towards brand premiumisation and we will continue with our efforts once normalcy is achieved in the latter half of the year.