Pushp Raj Singh, President Marketing, JK Cement Ltd. (Grey Cement Business) speaks about the brand’s recent campaign film, the realty market scenario and more JK Cement’s recent campaign film #YehPuccaHai, conceptualised in collaboration with Social Cloud Ventures, has garnered over 1.5 million YouTube views and 25.5 million Facebook and Instagram impressions. The campaign has also crossed over 31 million impressions across all social media platforms. Commenting on the campaign, Pushp Raj Singh, President Marketing, JK Cement Ltd. (Grey Cement Business) says, “One of the key insights behind the campaign was to showcase how JK Super Cement as a brand always stands for building safe structures with a solid foundation. JK Super Cement’s mission is to provide safe homes for all which is in line with its brand slogan “JK Super Cement – Build Safe!” The word “Pucca” has been creatively used in all its brand positioning, emphasising on JK Super Cement’s commitment to strength, consistency and durability.” On highlighting the contribution of construction workers, Singh said, “In addition to this, we also wanted to bring out the toil of our construction workers who work day and night to ensure that we live in safe homes. With this campaign, we wanted to highlight the social and emotional quotient associated with the labourer. The construction workers are the ones who are at the base of any construction cycle and often their work is not given the credit that it deserves. Workers are the pillars of a safe nation and it is only their hardwork that ensures all of us can live comfortably and safely. #YehPuccaHai highlights the strength and determination of these construction workers who are devoted to their work. This campaign shows that we stand in solidarity with all the workers out there who are putting everything at stake to perform their duty. Through #YehPuccaHai, we want to focus on the dual aspects of strength and safety, and reiterate JK Super Cement's commitment to build strong and safe homes for all.” Targeting Rural Markets Typically, JK Cement’s media mix employs a 360-degree strategy consisting of OOH, print media, electronic media, banner ads, etc. However, due to the lockdown its efforts became more focused on digital media strategies. Another focus area was rural marketing and the company identified the strategies that would work with the target audience. Says Singh, “Digital penetration has also increased in rural areas due to the lockdown. We are aligning our marketing strategies to cater to the same. We launched the #YehPuccaHai campaign keeping our rural audiences as well in mind. We saw that people from the rural areas had a great engagement with the campaign with over 600 self-made videos across social media platforms.” Talking about creating a positive impression, Singh said: “Today’s customers and clients look for an understanding of what a brand stands for. The only way to accomplish this is with a strategic and consistent representation of the brand in every channel. Having a positive impression in the minds of our target audience and businesses translates directly into stronger brand equity.” Looking ahead at how marketing will evolve, Singh says the biggest shift has been the increased usage of digital marketing by all businesses, be in B2B or B2C. With digital consumption rising across all sections of society he sees digital marketing strategies playing a crucial role in growing the business. He says, “Among marketers, from the traditional ATL and OOH marketing strategies, digital marketing strategies such as digital promotion, press conferences and campaigns are significantly rising. Hence, we think that even in the current scenario and the post Covid-19 era, digital marketing emerges as a strong contender amongst marketing strategies.” Realty Market: Looking Up? The real estate sector in India has been in a downturn for an extended period of time. The lockdown further hit the realty and infrastructure sector and was a difficult period for the sector. However, with Unlock 1 bringing an ease in restrictions, construction activities started and Singh says the company has witnessed good demand from the rural areas. “The urban demand and the projects continue to remain subdued, which we hope will improve considerably in the coming months. With the easing of the lockdown restrictions, the transport sector is also improving, and we hope that we are able to see a boost in our business for the upcoming months.” However, even though business operations are gradually picking up, Singh says, “The demand is expected to be subdued throughout this financial year.” In such a scenario, JK Cement has been working on cost optimization by taking some healthy measures such as going paperless. In addition to focusing on the welfare of its employees, the company ensured that new employees joined the company virtually through e-joining. The biggest challenge for the company was safety and running the business operations smoothly. JK Cement took some important decisions and made changes both for the business and their employees. He says, “It is and has been a learning experience for us. We connected with our on-ground teams regularly through the online medium. Now, with the country being in the unlock phase, we have been ensuring that our ground force team is taking all the necessary precautions while going to the market.” When asked on the year ahead for the company, Singh says, “We are very hopeful that the market will revive in the coming months. The past two months were really good for the industry in terms of cement consumption. Under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana, we see major infrastructural activities taking place like road projects and housing for the underprivileged. This will definitely boost the industry and cement consumption.”