 Hello and welcome to Exchange for Media. COVID-19 has put the entire nation under a lockdown. These are indeed very difficult times, not just for us, but for many countries across the globe. The impact of such a lockdown on economy and business is inevitable. While each one of us is doing our bit, there are leaders who are strategizing to ensure that the impact on business and economy is contained to a large extent. We at Exchange for Media, over the next few weeks, will bring to you leaders who we believe are beating all odds to keep the momentum of the industry and the business on the move. To begin with, I have with me Mr. Emey Parthasarty, CEO of South Asia and I am Chair of the World. Sir, welcome to the show. My first question is, what according to you are the most important qualities a leader must display in unprecedented times like the present? I would think that the most important thing is being human. I mean, people are going through a lot. It's a situation which has never happened before. So the first and most important thing is to see each employee first as a human being and as a colleague and as someone who's going through difficult times and yet trying to do a lot for the clients and for the company. So I think that's the most important aspect and apart from that, I think it's the best time to actually lead by example. Don't expect anything from anyone which you wouldn't do yourself and I think that's very important as a quality. And then finally, I think it requires a tremendous amount of energy and stamina because it is not easy doing what you do, whether it's because of the uncertainty because you're cooped up in the house, you don't have the camaraderie of your colleagues. So to overcome all this, you need to... Sir, if you get a little louder. Yeah, overcome all of this. Can you hear me now? Yeah. Is that better? Yeah. Okay. So I think what I was saying is that the third and perhaps most important one is also that you have to have a lot of energy and display a lot of energy and stamina because things keep changing, you have to keep altering and for all of that, you need to be strong and energetic both in body and mind. So I think these three, humanity... How are you keeping the morale of your employees high? So I don't think it is just me. I think there's a lot of spontaneous initiatives which people in the company have done and I'm grateful to them because this has shown up that there's a whole bunch of leaders in our company and each of them have shown initiatives. I'll give you some examples. We had something called the Purple Throne where everyone had to post a picture because, you know, Mindshare is purple, right? So everyone had to post a picture of how they've done up their workplace at home and we got close to 100 responses with like some really cool workstation that you could never have had in the office. Then there are people who are conducting yoga classes. There are happy hours meetings where we, you know, just chat about anything and everything. There's a lot of stimulation for the brain. There's a lot of things happening which are keeping people engaged and the great thing is I don't have to do it, you know. People are spontaneously coming up with these ideas and that's just great. I think the most important is as long as you have constant communication, people will be motivated. What this crisis has especially taught us today is the independence of businesses and people from all walks of life. Do you think this is perhaps the most important management lesson we need to hold on to once we emerge out of this crisis? You know, there are lots of lessons which we will take out of this crisis and I think it will transform the way we work even after we come out of this crisis. A lot of things will change for the good and for this thing. I'll give you a simple example. Someone told me and I hadn't realized this that when you talk on the phone, you end up being a lot more curt and abrupt and to the point. Then you are meeting someone face to face. So very often that can sound quite rude and it can sound that you are a bit uncaring. So just this simple task of how do you communicate on the phone I think is going to change after this crisis and people are going to be a lot more empathetic and do that in a much better way. So I think absolutely deep understanding, appreciation of people, the importance of communication, of empathy and I think prompt and meaningful responses, right? Because it's not that I can walk across to someone stable and chat. So if I get a mail, if I get a WhatsApp, if I don't respond within an hour, it means either I don't care about that or you know, I'm deliberately ignoring. So you have to be doubly careful in terms of responding fast, whether it's to Is there an increase in productivity? I think it's a bit too early to say whether it's increased productivity because it's also a time when the kind of work we are doing is very different from the kind of work we do in normal times, right? Today, what am I doing? I'm doing probably five different scenarios and war gaming and things like that rather than actually building and executing plans. So it's a different kind of work. So productivity we will know I think maybe after a month or two to see what the difference has been in productivity. But I know that I've been far more busy now than I was when I used to go to office because there's Is that also include household course? Luckily, luckily, I haven't had too much of that to do. But yes, for a lot of people, I know how much of their time goes into just, you know, Jhadoop Pocha Bhartan and Khana Vanana. My full empathy and what shall I say, praise for those who are able to manage both. Sir, I also wanted to understand that while TV and social media consumption is high now and advertisers are still shying away from any big campaigns. How are you tackling this present crisis? What steps are you taking to ensure the brand grows stronger despite the challenges? Yeah, see, it's a very tricky situation because you have to do a find the right balance between keeping in touch with your consumers and ensuring they don't lose the brand connect. But at the same time, if your product is not available on the shelf or if you're just unable to give the consumers the access to your product, right? And therefore, do you store some money in your work chest two times, you know, when there is actually an opportunity for consumers to experience your product? How much do you do for that versus how much do you use to continue to keep your brand top of mind? And it varies from category to category. It varies from brand to brand. But what we are doing is for most of our clients, we are plotting out multiple scenarios, like I said, you know, and you're not trying to look at a lot of decision trees saying, if then else, kind of planning. And more importantly, the other plan which you're doing for a lot of our clients is this recovery planning. You know, what do you do when the situation actually improves and are we prepared for that? So there's a lot of introspection, a lot of suggestion. And at the same time, lots of small and simple ideas for brands to engage with their consumers across categories through social naming the brand. Can you give us any example of like, how are you making the recovery plans or what kind of advice are you giving to brands? See, the first advice is that there should be a recovery plan. And I think that's the most important thing because and clients are doing it themselves as well, right? They are also planning as to, you know, if this thing lasts till the end of April, till the end of May, till the end of June. In each of these situations, the recovery plan is different, right? So that is the first point which we're trying to manage. The second, I mean, without, I wouldn't want to take out client examples as such. But for a number of clients, we are proactively looking at suggestions on what can be done during this period through small but meaningful gestures for their consumers. Things which will make a difference at this time for them. And which it's very important to not look like you're being opportunistic or taking advantage of it in any manner. So a lot of kind of thoughtful initiatives which consumers might appreciate is what we're trying to bring to brands. Unfortunately, I can't give you more detail because a lot of it is work and progress. What, as an industry expert, what advice would you want to give to youngsters when they're sitting at home and are trying to manage and cope with the situation? I think the first thing I want to say is that this tool shall pass. And it's a, it's a, it's a temporary phase. I think, I think it's a, it is a, it is a test of people's energy, stamina and character. There is no one watching over your shoulder to see whether you're actually spending your time on Facebook or you're spending your time on work. I think people have risen to the challenge beautifully. And I think it's proving that, you know, there is no need for, you know, for genuinely skilled and motivated people. There's no need for external push or motivation. They're coming up with some brilliant ideas. And, and I think it will be recognized, you know, people showing initiative, showing energy at this time will really, really be appreciated. It will stand out. And that's the only thing. So keep the spirits up. Know fully well that this tool shall pass and, and have fun. I mean, I mean, it's a great learning time. It's, you'll learn things which you've never learned before sitting in the office and chatting with your friends. So, so use the time and remember the good parts, the good learnings from this time is the only thing which I can, I can advise. It is still too early, but what's, I mean, I don't want to use the word damage, but how much impact will this great have on our industries growth? I mean, if you can give me some idea on that. It's very hard to put a number to it because there is no fixed end date inside. One can only learn from other markets and other markets, let's say China has had perhaps the most remarkable recovery, right? Even today there were graphs, which I know, for instance, that our company, the employees are back in, which is true of most companies. And the market, at least from second half of April should be going towards normalcy. But that means that it has been three months of non normalcy in a market like China. Now, will that be three months in India? Will that be more than three months? We don't know. We are hoping that we will recover as fast as, you know, or faster than China has recovered. In which case it won't be perhaps that bad. I mean, everyone's today's prediction is that the GDP growth will be at two and a half percent on an average between two and a half, 3%, which is a 3% drop from where it was projected earlier, which was five and a half to six. So we all know that, you know, there is some kind of a link between add, add X and add industry growth and GDP growth. So you know that it's going to come down, you know, perhaps by one and a half to two X of that. So, so it's too early to say, but yes, will there be an impact? There will definitely be an impact. We'll just have to see how to minimize it and plan it. And that's what we all are depending on you people for that you will ensure that the impact is minimized. So thank you so much for talking to Exchange for Media and be at home and be safe. Thank you, sir. Thanks a lot. Bye bye.