Matthew Amroliwala, Presenter, Global - BBC World News and Kamal Bali, MD of Volvo India discuss Volvo’s philosophy, the auto industry’s future and marketing in the digital age at a ‘One On One’ conversation presented by exchange4media in association with BBC World News in Mumbai
By TEAM IMPACT
Brand building in a tech-propelled age – that was the point of discussion between Matthew Amroliwala, Presenter, Global - BBC World News and Kamal Bali, MD of Volvo India, at a ‘One On One’ conversation presented by exchange4media in association with BBC World News in Mumbai on Thursday, March 26, 2015.
It was part of a series of conversations titled ‘One On One’ that exchange4media is presenting in association with BBC World News. The latest edition of the show featured Bali of Volvo India. The format of the show called for a discussion between Amroliwala and his guest, with a healthy dose of audience participation thrown in. The topic under discussion was ‘How technology in media is fuelling consumerism and innovative brand-building’.
The discussion took off with Bali being asked about key challenges facing India with a new government in place, and the outlook generally positive. Bali stated that India faces eight major hurdles; the main ones being financial inclusivity and inflation. “We have probably the worst GDP per capita. Financial inclusion is going to be a core thing and it is good to see the government starting programmes like Jan Dhan Yojana,” Bali said, adding that with India going to 8-9 point inflation, the root cause needed to be addressed rather than just treating the symptom.
Here, Amroliwala asked Bali what India Inc. wants from the government, to which Bali replied that no company wants sops or tax breaks. “We want a level playing field, we do not want to go back to a license raj,” Bali stated.
Amroliwala wanted to know what it takes for a global brand like Volvo to reach across borders and overcome cultural diversity. “Volvo is a 90-year-old brand. Safety and sustainability are its core brand DNA,” said Bali. “When you go to 119 markets as a global brand, there are huge cultural issues. We keep the essence of the brand but we localize a few of our initiatives. We never compromise on the basic brand values,” he added.
The next question for Bali was about shifts in global marketing trends. Bali agreed that there has been a huge difference in how marketers interact with customers in the past 30 years. “Nowadays, the customer wants to engage with you,” he said, adding it was due to the prevalence of social and digital media.
When asked how important social media is for Volvo in India and how the company splits its budgets between traditional and social media, Bali said, “In India the penetration of digital and social media is still low. We are not able to reach everyone just yet.” He said that Volvo India spends around 50% on traditional marketing, approximately 30% in BTL activities and around 15-20% on new media. He highlighted the recent Volvo ad featuring Jean Claude van Damme that went viral with nearly 1 million views. “That video was about precision; something that Volvo survives on,” he said.
When the floor was thrown open for questions from the audience, Bali was asked whether with robotics and automation becoming mainstream, would it make sense for India to embrace it, given the high rate of unemployment? Bali called it a Catch-22 situation. “The Indian model has to be different. It has to be customized to India,” he urged.
When asked about CSR initiatives and whether they actually led to increase in conversions, Bali agreed that there is an absolute link with the kind of trust and faith you built with consumers and what you do for society. Amroliwala followed this up by asking Bali whether it made financial sense. “In the long run, you will be a lot more profitable but maybe in the short term you will not earn as much as your peers,” he replied.
In response to another audience question, Bali agreed that negative news always spreads quickly and social media could be a double-edged sword and even used for insidious purposes against the brand. “This will always be a challenge with any new technology. As marketers, the only thing we can do is seriously stand against it. It is definitely a challenge,” he said.
Amroliwala’s next question was about how difficult it has become to maintain brand loyalty. “There are limits to loyalty. If you do not listen to your consumer and if there is a better proposition available for them, you might lose them,” Bali said.
“The voice of the customer has become so real-time that the organization that does not listen to this changing voice will die out,” concluded Bali, adding that professional consumers or prosumers are very important, as they can bring a lot of knowledge to the brand and value to the table.
