From association with Kolkata Knight Riders to shifting focus to communicate with the youth, Medimix marketing strategy involves going big on social media. We look into why.
Medimix is a brand in transition, working towards creating a stronger digital presence. They are pivoting their communication to become and stay relevant among younger audiences. Social media, digital, and e-commerce are some of the most important tools at their disposal to do so. We talk to Ashish Ohlyan, Head of Marketing, Cholayil Pvt Limited to understand the Medimix marketing strategy in-depth.
In 2019, Medimix relaunched its face wash range with a shift in its brand positioning. Could you tell us about the efforts that have been put into this and if they were impacted due to the pandemic?
The relaunch of our Face Wash range was planned for the beginning of 2020 but due to pandemic, it was kept on hold. We have a big marketing push lined up in the coming financial year with a 360-degree campaign online and offline. E-commerce will also play a significant role in promoting this new range of Face Wash. Recently we had launched our own e-commerce portal, which will also play a key role.
Medimix is a legacy brand — ow does this impact your marketing communication and strategy when you are talking to Gen-Z?
A brand has to constantly evolve itself to remain relevant across target groups. We have planned our repositioning in such a manner that our relevance among younger consumers improves without alienating our loyal users. We are on a journey to achieve this with our constant endeavours in this direction, including aggressive digital marketing and e-commerce.
How has the association with Parineeti Chopra benefited the brand?
Parineeti is a youth icon today with a huge fan following on social media. As a brand associated with such an icon, we have seen positive results because of it. Not only in business but in brand imagery also. Medimix has started gaining popularity among younger audiences as they relate to the young brand ambassador.
What is the significance of influencer marketing for Medimix? Could you tell us about some of the recent initiatives/campaigns?
The general perception is that big influencers bring credibility to the brand. However, off late, we have seen that influencers are losing their sheen as they endorse one brand today and another tomorrow. It seldom helps a brand gain an advantage. Therefore, we want to rely on small influencers for promotions as they give our brand better results. We haven't invested much in this direction but going forward, we have big plans to constantly engage these smaller influences to build genuine credibility for Medimix.
What is the significance of trending formats in the Medimix marketing strategy?
Moment marketing is a great way to build instant recall and place the brand on the surface. However, all trending formats do not suit a personal care brand. We critically evaluate before participating so that it does not hurt the sentiments of our customers.
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Could you tell us about Medimix's association with Kolkata Knight Riders? How did it benefit the brand? Was there something unique about the team or the city that made it a good fit for the association?
KKR association was primarily to promote our brand in eastern markets. Our presence in the east is not big and as a business strategy, we wanted to focus on that market and build a strong presence there. We promoted our association with KKR heavily through a multimedia approach and we got a great response from the market.
What role did social media play for Medimix through the pandemic?
Social media played a huge role for us as we had launched two products during the pandemic — Hand Wash and Hand Sanitizer. Since TV had no new content and the viewership on GEC was not performing, digital and social media was the only way to reach out to potential customers and create awareness about the new product launch. The demand for soap went up significantly during the lockdown and we also supported our best-selling product category through social media by releasing multiple digital films and various other content pieces.
How do you measure RoI for your marketing communication, especially on social media?
The best way to judge ROI is to see the kind of brand love you get through the quality of engagement on your posts. We do evaluate our campaigns on various parameters like engagement and CPC too.
What kind of content worked best for Medimix last year on social media? How did the brand align its communication to the needs of the people? What are some of the things you had to keep in mind?
The content that worked best were self-care tips. As most people were at home and products were not easily available, we released a series of self-skin care tips involving homemade ingredients. As a responsible brand, consumer’s interest came first and hence rather than promoting products like soap and taking advantage of the situation, we relied on consumer awareness activities on how to remain safe during the lockdown.
Which are the products you focus on the most when it comes to social media marketing?
All the products in our product portfolio are promoted on social media. We recently launched a campaign urging customers to ditch their normal soaps and switch to Medimix Glycerine soap. To intensify the campaign reach, we also collaborated with popular fashion and lifestyle influencers such as Kusha Kapila, Niki Mehra, Saloni Sehra and Aashna Malani to drive a movement against the use of chemical-based products. Besides, the brand is consistently running a #MedimixSoftSkin Challenge across social media platforms, urging consumers to try out the product.
There has been a hike in the number of brands selling organic and ayurvedic products. Do you see this impacting Medimix and its market share? Does being a legacy brand help in such a scenario?
Medimix is a more than 50-year-old brand and has remained one of the most known brands in the Ayurvedic space. There has been a greater amount of awareness about Ayurveda in the recent past and consumers have also started preferring natural products. This has helped Medimix to grow, same as other brands. Having said that, there’s still a huge scope for everyone to grow and increase the size of this segment.
What does 2021 look like for Medimix, in terms of marketing initiatives?
We have a slew of products lined up for launch and the new year looks great. The pandemic effect is slowly reducing and normal life is coming back on track. We are working on our Face Wash relaunch and a few other products with a multimedia campaign. Digital marketing, direct to consumer and e-commerce will be pivotal to drive the growth in this year and we are investing heavily in these areas.