Digitally influenced sales equal to 3 additional retail stores yearly: Gaurav Midha, Tanishq

Gaurav Midha sheds light on staying contextually relevant, Tanishq Marketing Strategy, and his views on the industry as the jury member for #SS30Under30.

Navigating various roles at Tanishq for the past 8 years and being a specialist for the brand, Gaurav Midha has come a long way since then. In an exclusive tête-à-tête with Social Samosa, the senior manager shares insights on the Tanishq Marketing strategy.

Excerpts

You have been a Titan-man since 2011. Tell us more about your journey so far? 

I'm a proud Titanian for sure. I joined Titan as a management trainee straight from MICA back in 2011 and since then there's been no looking back as opportunities and challenges have presented themselves at each step of the way. I started as an Area Business Manager for Tanishq and was responsible for overall sales, retail operations and network expansion in UP & UT.

My next stint was with Helios and Licensed Brands as the Regional Business Manager for North where I handled the complete operations and sales strategy development for the region. In late 2016, I moved to the Tanishq marketing team where along with leading the Digital Marketing Practice including the Omnichannel and e-commerce parts of the business, I also led the quantitative research and identified new segments and opportunities for the brand.

Tanishq as a brand has managed to break through stereotypes time and again. How has the Tanishq Marketing Strategy evolved over the past decade?

Tanishq as a brand has always championed the cause of the modern progressive women and it's been quite a journey where our communication and all our campaigns right from inception have focused on celebrating the evolved woman and their changing preferences and way of life.

All the campaigns which broke through stereotypes almost fell at the same pace as our intrinsic brand philosophy. In a way, they were disruptive and struck the perfect chord with the Indian audience. The key is to always keep your eyes and ears open and be aware of what is happening around us. All our campaigns are a result of thorough customer insights.

As a segment, jewelry needs high involvement and deeper engagement with audiences at large. What according to you is the secret sauce behind Tanishq marketing strategy?

Jewellery is a well thought through and considered purchase and brands definitely need to have a prolonged and deeper engagement with the audience so as to influence them.

The secret sauce as you say may lie in the fact that we are always listening to the customer and being contextually relevant.

That and definitely the right timing of them all. 

The Diwali and Wedding Season is here; how is Digital placed in the Brand's Marketing Mix for this prime season. What is the proportionate split when it comes to Paid Ads, Content and Influencer Marketing

For both, the festive season and the wedding season, the importance of reaching out to various segments of our audience through digital cannot be stressed upon enough.

The winning digital strategy for Tanishq lies in the right content, tying up with the right influencers and then leveraging the same with paid media.

Both of these are prime jewellery buying occasions where consumers already have the intent of buying jewellery and digital being the first touchpoint for the new consumers, can go a long way in creating top of mind recall and influencing them to aid in actual conversion.

There are more than 4 million searches on digital for jewellery during these peak seasons and therein lies its huge potential.

Digital is a very strong pillar in our brand's marketing mix since we can directly attribute digital spends to actual revenue.

To put it into perspective, the digitally influenced sales were equivalent to having 3 additional retail stores for the year!

The split between content and influencer marketing and paid media for digital campaigns honestly varies but I would say that a ratio of 35:65 has helped us achieve an optimum balance.

Also read: There is no one set approach to marketing in India: Sapna Arora, OLX India

Tanishq has been associated with quite a few Bollywood movies, do you see a spike in Brand Salience with such associations? What is the rationale behind these decisions? 

India's fascination and obsession with Bollywood is a well-established fact and has definitely been a winning strategy for us. Paheli, Jodhaa Akbar or Padmaavat have all proved to be great associations where our expertise in design and craftsmanship were exhibited and it definitely helped us break through the clutter, strengthen the brand and helped us in boosting our sales as well.

Which are your favorite Tanishq and Non-Tanishq campaigns to date?

It is really difficult to choose from all the path-breaking Tanishq campaigns and I would like to talk about 2 campaigns that really stand out. One is the Remarriage campaign from 2013 with a dusky bride which was daring, progressive and endearing all at the same time.

The other one is the more recent Dua Ka Sona campaign which talks about the goodness initiatives of Tanishq for the craftsmen, women, and children. It essentially communicates the fact that when our consumers choose Tanishq, they choose gold jewellery enveloped with blessings of every life it has touched!

There's this one non-Tanishq ad that clearly stands out and is in line with Tanishq's brand philosophy of empowering women as well. The Fearless Girl campaign for promoting female empowerment for International Women's Day in 2017. With the thought of "Know the power of women in leadership, SHE makes a difference.". 

3 trends in the Industry which brands should follow:

• The convergence of digital and physical shopping – Omnichannel is the need of the hour to cater to consumers who look for convenience in this fast-paced world.
• Responsible Consumerism - There’s growing ease and convenience of buying goods and consumers are now seeking out brands that help them make better and more responsible choices. Brands need to have a sustainable and regenerative mindset
• Diversity and Inclusivity – These are truly shaping the future and consumers of any gender, all sexual persuasions and every skin color are seeking to align with brands that understand their individual uniqueness.

3 Changes to bring about to build a Trusted Brand

To be honest, trust has to be ingrained into the very ethos of the brand end to end. It has to be a way of life. I don’t know if there is a process of building a trusted brand.

3 brands who are moving fast to adapt to the new consumer -

It is all about how the brands deliver and not just what they deliver. 3 brands in my opinion who are acing this are: Nike (Da Da Ding, Wonder Woman of Vogue, Equality Campaign), Ikea (which inspires consumers to be catalysts for social issues and environmental concerns, the Real Life series, the Steps campaign) and most certainly, Titan (Titan Raga #BreakTheBias, Titan Raga #FlauntYourFlaw, the series of bold campaigns from Fastrack etc.)

3 Marketers/ Industry Experts you follow for insights and mindshare –

• Robert Caruso – With his 20+ years of experience in the field of social media marketing, he is one of the most effective content marketing experts in the industry
• Piyush Pandey for his expert storytelling
• Prahlad Kakkar who showed that branding is all about taking risks

Closing advice/ tips for Social Samosa 30 Under 30 Nominees

If you’re confident of having done some great work then package it well!

What will you look for in the entries?

Essentially how relevant the work was in the category which would clearly demonstrate the proper understanding of consumers and the category. That and definitely authenticity.