 Welcome to today's special webinar with COPCOM and PR leaders. We have the topic called decoding the business revival post-COVID-19. And with us we have Sonia Hurya who is a senior VP and head corporate marketing communication and sustainability Y committee. She's going to log back in one minute. We have Mr. Sameer Bajaj, director of corporate communication, the next affairs South Asia Discovery. We have Ms. Tuhina Pandey, communications lead leader India and South Asia IBM. And we have Dr. Rajiv Chibber, vice president, external affairs policy, government relations and outreach S&P. Welcome all of you to this discussion today. As we know, what has happened with COVID is businesses have got re-strategizing, re-strategizing is a common term across businesses and everyone is looking at realigning, re-imagining their business space. So in this mix, it's the communicators who would finally get in touch with stakeholders and tell them what the new strategy is about. So I want to begin with you, Mr. Bajaj. I want to ask you first that, what do you think, how has the role of communicators got redefined in this mix in a pandemic time when every business is looking at re-aligning itself? Thanks, Rohil. Pleasure meeting you, Tuhina. First of all, to everybody who is on the call, these are sensitive times. Probably the toughest period that humanity has seen, I would say ever since World War II. And I just hope that everybody here, your families are doing well. I think coming back to the topics, the scale and scope of this pandemic, as you said, is so big that businesses have actually no choice but to adapt to this norm. And when businesses re-align, communications, like you pointed out, has to lead the way in ensuring that it is seamless. Because one, there are external stakeholders to be taken care of. And I'm speaking very basic, like now. And secondly, there is a very important internal employee base, which is everybody working from home scattered. So the cohesiveness that you normally get or the small moments that you get when you're in office are missing. How do you in this world ensure that the entire team one is updated to understand what you're trying to say or what you stand for. And it has to happen on a day-to-day basis. So the role of communicators therefore gains even more credence. And coming back, just from a very micro niche discovery perspective, and I'll come back to the broader stuff. But discovery as a business was founded with the mission to educate audiences about the world around them. Now, we carry these ethos even today to millions of folks. Now, if you look at it, this mission rings partward today, then it was, say about four months ago. Given that the entire COVID situation has happened, ultimately because of a human and animal conflict. Ultimately, ground zero, somebody ate a bat is the theory. And I'll go back to that theory. And that conflict is the bail. So in that sense, from a very discovery optics, we haven't changed our narrative as such, right? Because we stand for what we were. It's just that we are that much more, you know, it's the way we are talking has changed. It's the way we engage that has changed. But the brand and its ethos and the narrative, per se, has remained the same. And I'll go just a bit deeper. Like for example, we did a couple of documentaries on COVID. And the game was or the aim was to ensure that audiences across the world understand the base or the reason behind COVID, understand and bust myths, right? This is what we did on linear. But on our social platforms, we worked with United Nations and dedicated our social assets to kill myths or to but those myths, which are prevalent. In fact, on Animal Planet, which is another brand, we actually did a documentary on how our pets impacted the corona. And the subtle theme there was that, you know, there was a myth that pets lead to coronavirus. So what I'm trying to say is the messaging during these time have to be empathetic, have to be solution oriented. And you need to speak from your heart to your consumer. And if you're doing that, because this is not a time to celebrate, if you're doing that, then you will build trust with your audiences, right? And every step you take has to have that filter has to have that optics, right? You know, and I think, I think it's important that we add in more speakers, but I'll give in more examples as we speak off. Ms. Hurya, I want to come to you, just miss that intro while you were away. So I was asking what has happened with this COVID is that businesses are realigning, restrategizing and communicators have a very big role to play in building this new narrative. So I just want to understand from you how critical has the role of communicators become in this new reimagined world that we call it? I think the role has become even far more important than what used to be. I think we always had a seat at the leadership table, but you know, now you're pretty much sitting at the right hand side of the table, because everything, communication is pretty much going to be at the heart of everything. And I feel that the need of the art is really to have ingenuity across the board when you are kind of, you know, using communication as a medium, whether it's for internal or external, both the channels sort of need to be leveraged in that sense. And the wall between the traditional and new age communication needs to be completely shattered. Like there's nothing that's called new age or old age or traditional. It just needs to be, you know, there for all across and, you know, all our stakeholders somehow expect to be constantly updated. So the lockdown pretty much has taught us that, you know, through communication, if we can take the digital first approach, then we'll be able to sort of unlock this whole piece that is that we are all facing right now. So in my view, communication has obviously, you know, the role has heightened and one took the digital first approach, I think we will be able to reach out to all our stakeholders in a manner that will help us unlock and what we are facing right now. And some of the brands have actually been doing, you know, the digital first approach, some are getting to it, you know, so somewhere, some some are in between, they're kind of discovering this medium that all this crisis that's staring at us right now. Ms. Pani, I want to come to you. How much do you agree with this? Of course, there is a lot of agreement, but what are your views about this new reimagined role for communication? Absolutely, because let's look at it, human civilization has been reimagined or redefined. So how is it that communicators role will not be redefined in that sense. And in the lockdown, the one thing which went up, or which was not lockdown was communication. Part of it is also because of the technology, there was virtualization or the virtual technologies available, maybe we were not leveraging them enough. But just the response and the agility of the human spirit to get it going and to be on the move and to, you know, respond to the crisis has been phenomenal. The way I see it, Rohail, you know, it's both expansive and inclusive from a role perspective, expansive as me said, you know, and Sonia pointed out that your scope has increased simply because don't remember a time where government was communicating as much, right? Sonia talked about the shattering of internal and external communications. There is nothing those boundaries are born, right? And it's also people centricity. The interesting bit which defines the time for me, and it's still a script being written is the refocus on purpose, health, people, shared agenda amongst the brands. So it's not just about you alone as a brand. But I think now there is a purpose where we're talking about safety first, or the digital first, or how do we solve find a solution through technology? How do we help citizens, you know, where brands are coming together and making a collaborative and a co creative approach to problem solving? I think this in and therefore I say it's both expansive and inclusive people and society and nations. They're all having shared agenda today. So I think it's an opportunity to redefine how our roles are and still evolving and, you know, go along the way be agile and keep your learning hats on. Dr. Chepur, your thoughts on this? Yeah, I completely agree with everyone. Couldn't agree more with what Sameer said. And what you know also, you know, the purpose, health, people kind of cornered wrong, which really set the tool to have now a new communications era really be launched in this particular 2020. So we really looked at it from a very different angle, not only we as communicators, I think even the government stepped out of the way to look at it from a very different angle, where they had to not only contain something which was going out of their hands, but also had to, you know, retain certain set of information, which was pretty important for the people to be palatable and people to understand basically. So that was something which was the first shift. And this led to the shift from the people, which is the government to the role which we now have. And that shift was something like an overnight shift. The moment we had a long term situation, the moment industries were closed, the moment there was something of a similar magnitude which happened where there was no businesses immediately available. That really changed the scenario. And that's where the communications teams were really raked up and told that, look, the first objective was to find out the communication and then move into a crisis mode. Here we were directly moved into a crisis mode. So it really changed overnight where you were not anymore thinking, you were directly put into that role of a communicator as a crisis communications expert. And that's pretty much been defined very well because immediately what happened and now if you see Unlock 1 has already happened and maybe Unlock 2 is just down the corner and all, the role has really catapulted pretty fast. Every day there was something which was being coming out from the government, which was actually trying to have a business impact, which was also trying to have a communications impact onto it. How do we now sustain ourselves? That accelerated the thinking process. So I think just as a benchmark to start off the discussion, we really moved into a crisis mode rather than into a strategizing. Mr. Surya, I want to come to you with this question. You spoke about digital first, which has happened during this. I want to also understand the overall impact of COVID on mediums, communication mediums. Have they got rearranged? For example, in between we didn't have print, we didn't have GCs, they were not doing content. What is the kind of impact on the rearrangement of mediums that has taken place according to I think I kind of spoke about it that the rearrangement has happened. So for example, there is this huge space, which as communicators we do, we use the offline medium, which is the on-ground medium to kind of use that medium to communicate about our products, our shows. So that medium suddenly disappeared. You could not have a gathering. You could not have a press conference on-ground to showcase and immerse the media or our respective stakeholders into a product. So suddenly you were staring at it and you said, of course, you're going to launch shows. If you're not going to launch original shows, you're going to launch something else. How are you going to then still market your product? Right? So given the fact that we had to quickly adapt, this piece of adaptive creativity that came through because digital as a medium existed and suddenly now you are hearing about these press conferences and pressers that are happening. Daima doesn't online and people have taken to it immediately. Whether it is communicators that have taken to it, whether it is spokespeople within the organization, whether it's the talent or whether it's a tech product, people have just immersed into it so beautifully and seamlessly that it doesn't seem like it's a problem anymore. The fact that we always give so much importance to a face-to-face visibility somewhere, I think that boundary has actually broken. It doesn't exist at all. Like you were just wondering, is that going to make a difference? But it doesn't. With the advent of all the meetups that are there, whether we are talking to you on Zoom right now, this is a meaningful discussion that's happening. Otherwise, we would be doing this on ground. But look, we are all still talking and everything is happening. I don't think anything has stopped. It's just that it's moved from one medium to another medium. And I think effectively all of us are doing this and taking that effort to do so. I mean, I also know of consumer conversations that are happening over these meetups. So even those touch points are not being missed out. So every stakeholder is being touched upon. Great. Mr. Bajaj, do you think this acceptance of this new medium is here as it is mainstream now? Is it going to be here for a longer time? Is it reversible as we open up? How do you see this rearrangement that we are witnessing? So I think I'll take on from where Sonia said, naturally. And one we were forced to, there was no other option. But the other thing was that the impact that it generated still held. I mean, I actually launched an OTT product on the day India was, on the day the lockdown started because we had a planned press conference for the day, but we continued. And there was no decision on that OTT product. It's amazing. It's quite, it's pretty cool. Wonderful. Thanks, Sonia. Sorry to interject. I just thought you should go. No, no, it's fine. The other thing, I personally believe in life there is nothing white, nothing black. It's all great. The situation demanded that we ride on the digital platform. And frankly, you know, like Sonia pointed out, and Sonia coming from the GC background, there is that impetus on, on ground, huge gatherings, you know, big, big launches unlike our real life infotainment genre. But, you know, we took on to it naturally. I do believe we'll, I mean, on the question of will it stay forever? I don't know. There is no definitive answer here. Because the moment, I mean, hypothetically, assuming that there is a solution that you find for COVID and there is a vaccine that we have six months down the line, how all of us will behave will be different. What it has done is it has accelerated the digital path and that acceleration will stay. But does it mean that it will have detrimental impact on, say, print or on-ground events forever? It's a tough judgment to pass right now. So I will not go that line. You know, humans have the tendency of forgetting things fast. It's a big, big pandemic. It's going to last for a long time. And its impact will also last for a long time. But post that, I think your reality will emerge. Right. Ms. Pandey, your thoughts on this. I mean, adaptability, we have seen, you know, people have accepted whatever was available and they have lashed on to it. How do you see this landscape, the new contours that are there? How are you seeing it? So let me center this, Rohail and, you know, what Sonia was saying was the need. How do you transcend trust relationship onto a virtual world? The eye contact, the handshake, the hugs or that, you know, the punch and that trust in human civilization has always been built through those basics, the body language, the non-verbal communication. How do we transcend that is, I think, the challenge, which is something that we as communicators have to deliberate about. Have we seen adaption, agility, the human spirit come on board and engage? I, for example, had a virtual onboarding and to build relationship with my team, with my stakeholders and to drive work. You know, it's been a great learning. For example, how do you sort of, you know, have the digital first attitude? Because there is no other option. You have to have that. So there is a necessity. And if you're not going to be in that digital first zone, it's not going to work for you as a communicator. Quick data points, Rohail, and, you know, to the panelists, the fact that television ratings have soared during the pandemic, the fact that your regional, specific to India, your regional media consumption still, you know, goes up, the fact that media consumption at large has increased. The question we have to ask, are we relevant to those conversations? Are we relevant to the changing landscape? Or do we need to re-skill, skill up, up our game to be relevant to what's happening in the world? I think that is the, the deliberation or, or shaping of conversation or behavior that we as communicators have to do. Dr. Chibber, I mean, the fact is that, of course, I think maybe digital needed a COVID. I mean, God knows, I mean, nobody, I mean, it's now become totally acceptable. And, you know, people can't forget that, you know, you need digital first as a strategy, as a very important strategy from henceforth. It's unforgettable now. What are your thoughts on this, the kind of mediums that have emerged that have become more relevant? How, what are your views about them? Are they effective for the longer term? Will they stay? What would happen? So, like what Tuhina was just saying right now, with the, with the TV, with the other mediums, really not catching up. I mean, television was catching up, but then that, for a very different, you know, audience altogether. But with the mediums, print wasn't even there at that time. We really were not getting those kind of leverages. The problem with a company like us, I mean, I, I come from a medical device company. The company like us, our clientele is not the last man. I mean, we've reduced coronary stents. Our clientele is not the last man. Our clientele is that doctor. Now that doctor who is going to utilize our product and at that time, elective surgeries, at that time, you know, even plant surgeries, coronary, you know, heart surgeries were completely put off. It was only the emergency ones which were there. For us, the mediums were pretty simple. It was either a direct call or it was a, it was this whole social media and WhatsApp mediums because ultimately the marketing people, the sales people who are reaching out to these hospitals, who are reaching out to the doctors, were, were, were those who did not have the legacy to really go out and do a branding or an advertisement or a, or a, or a self, you know, promotion kind of an activity. Best conferences, obviously, as a medical device company, under a particular act, we are not allowed to really display products and that to our category three product, which we are into the highest level of category. So we had a, we had a major challenge. The next challenge was these doctors were on duty. These doctors were immediately moved from their roles as cardiovascular specialists to a COVID duty where they were really running around in the hospital and not available practically. The only times which we had them available was pretty much late in the evening and that is when we decided to come up with these smaller videos. WhatsApp played a major role. WhatsApp played an immensely major role because most of the doctors are pretty savvy on WhatsApp. If we look at a cardiovascular specialist who's got 25, 30 years under his belt, he is pretty much not on daily zooms or he's not on, on, on these mediums unless he's the chairman or he's someone who's pretty much into the boards in and out, but the other doctors were not into that medium. We had to really devise a strategy where we could be in touch out of sight, out of mind was something which we could not bear. So we came up with these smaller videos, which these doctors were actually having. These doctors also wanted some kind of a connect on a regular basis because absolutely it cannot be that they live without the whole marketing system itself. So something which we came up with. We came up with a virtual resource center for this particular setup itself. The center actually had not only nuggets which they could pick up while they're trying to do their duties. They had to literally also see a diabetic patient. They had to see someone who has different type of NCDs. So they had to consult. They had to look at resources and then put their brains together and then look at that. They wanted us to really send across all those things. We were practically chasing them, telling them what is required and the medium was only miniscule for us. We could not go out. That's where we created a forum where these doctors were actually a part of it. These smaller things were pretty much impactful. And then when it comes to larger business activities, it was obviously we had to do a lot of other stuff going around so that the factory could be running up. We were producing that amount of stents. Practically, we had a lot of companies. Overseas, MNCs, which are giving stents here in India were not allowed to give stents. We had to step up our ante and even government agencies like Ayushman Bharat asked us that can you please step up your production so that in case there is an emergency required and the crisis surge to a level which is beyond control, we have enough stents. We have enough cardiovascular equipment because the first respiratory attack, the beyond respiratory attack, the first thing was a cardio. Right, right. We created those things. Right, right. So I'll come to this point again. Before that, I want to also understand, I'll come to you Ms. Hurya. I mean, it's not a typical order I follow, but just this cardio strength. So these 70 plus days is enough for habit formation. That's what people say, you know, you get set in a certain habit. So what have, if I have to ask you, what are the big takeaways for communication leaders and marketing and communication leaders that they are going to implement henceforth from these 70 days? What would be those for you? I think the fundamental takeaway is that if COVID-19, the pandemic has really taught us something is the fact that it's managed a lot of technology and able solutions. Today, you know, you're able, the opportunities that it gives us is at a much lower cost that you're incurring. You're at the same time getting extremely measurable results and similar impact. So if there is something that I will take away is the fact that how it's managed to unlock the potential of digital and technology enabled solutions, giving us a really cost effective method of actually measuring everything. And also what has happened, Rohail, is that it has increased our listening capacity to another level. You know, we are dependent on social right now to listen to what the center of the consumer is. And you're able to take back to your teams and say, Hey, can we, you know, tweak this? You know, this is what the customer is saying. So suddenly, you know, from being a B2B sort of a brand which spoke through your television mediums and to the trade, you're talking directly to the customer. Customer suddenly become at the center of at least this industry that I'm talking about, you know, so you're taking consumer feedback at the very minute at the very go and you're trying to see if you can adapt to that and change it. You know, so you're kind of actually acting much faster than what you were acting earlier. So in my view, I think the technology enabled solutions that are there, for example, there is a piece that we've kind of adapted right now, which is called online reputable management. Now, the online reputation management basically allows you to listen to what the consumer wants. Hence, so far, you know, it also helps you build fandom. So there was a situation where we had where the viewer kept saying that they wanted a particular show called kaisi hai yaar yaar back on MTV. Now, it's a hugely popular show and the team at MTV, we took that whole feedback to the team at MTV and they said, you know what, our programming has sort of changed. We are looking at, you know, more scripted drama and not like, you know, like reality shows and not like these scripted dramas. So he said, okay, why don't we take this feedback, the boot team and the boot team said, but the show already exists, you know, so if they were really fond of it, they would be there would be a high number of downloads for that particular show. So he said, why don't you actually, you know, put up the show in a more prominent way so that discoverability was much easier. And mind you, Rohail, when they actually did that, the downloads went out of the roof for that particular show. Now, the feedback was so encouraging for them in terms of what they saw, they've actually commissioned a boot original only for kaisi hai yaar yaar. So the strategy went from being TV to digital first and the TV team so much merit in the digital property that it's now reached on television. So, you know, it's moving from digital to TV now. So that's that's what I'm trying to tell you that, you know, the mediums that we have right now are extremely helpful and they are helping us take the next level decisions which we would have never imagined before. Right. Mr. Bajaj, for you, what would be those parts of those takeaways that would become, you know, that would become part of your long term strategy? I think, you know, at a personal level, my biggest takeaway is that, you know, we are an extremely agile tribe. I mean, three months ago, four months ago, somebody told me that you can run a broadcast network. Will all employees sitting from home? I would have laughed at it. But we have done it and we are not alone. Everybody in the industry has done it. So the basic learning is everybody could have done it earlier. Right. They were, it's our own, our own beliefs, our own prejudices or our own way of thinking. I mean, if prejudice is not the right word. So the biggest thing for me is question everything. Right. There is no right way of doing things. You can always evolve further. That's the biggest takeaway. The other takeaway for me, I know there are three, four things that I look at now that everything that we do at this company, you know, you try and bring in filters. The first filter is, is it empathetic? Second is, is it purposeful? Third, is it adding to the solution? If you're ticking the boxes, then it's great. Just good to go. Right. Like, like just Sonia pointed out that digital, you know, the given that there is no on-ground activity here. Right. If the idea has purpose, if the idea has heart in it, it will engage. Right. It's not the scale. It's the purpose, which is overriding right now. And that for me is a big takeaway for all the brands, you know, that we can learn from and try and imbibe in our day-to-day work. Yes. Ms. Pandey, I'll come to you. Yes. Your thoughts. Hi, Trudeel. So two elements I wanted to bring to core. One is, of course, your work and home has collapsed into one. So you're working from home and you're working for home. All of us have cooked many or more meals than we probably have done in cumulative years. So life skills have been a huge learning. And it's not just at an individual level, it's at a team level, it's at a company level, it's at a society level as well. The other bit from a messaging point of view as communicators, I think the gift tracks are off. It's down to bones. It's down to be authentic, talk straight, be empathetic. Yes, be transparent. Trust has never been more, let's say, relevant in the way we communicate. It's not about the good news or bad news. It's not about managing the sentiments. It's about being authentic. And then people are willing to work with you through the challenge. There is also this collectiveness of purpose where people understand that we are in a tough territory and they can come together. But if you're going to play around with your messaging and not have those filters as you know, the other panelists talk about, Samee talked about, Sonia talked about, you got to come down to the trust level and be authentic and have a shared value if it doesn't mean to don't push messaging at me because I'll be honest. I don't know what the others think. There's also a case for less is more. Sometimes you're communicating for the sake of communication and there is a void and everyone wants to communicate. I think we also have to be the conscience keepers of saying that fatigue doesn't set in. The over communication fatigue doesn't set in. That's also equally important. Part of emotional well-being of people that we communicate with is equally important. That sort of answers your question. From your industry perspective Dr. Chibber, what are the key takeaways? What would you call that will be implemented over a long period of time? So I basically drive them into it's tangible and intangible which we learned around these 70 odd days. The tangible benefits obviously as a communications person we were really deep diving into everyone's area. I was sitting with a clinical trial expert within my office trying to understand how do we now decode a clinical trial. I was sitting with a legal expert trying to understand what are the legalities if we are moving and transgressing into another territory altogether. We were developing also ventilators for the DRTO at that time because the medical device industry was trying to do that. So how do we move from a particular product to another product which is not under our regular product portfolio. So all that was there. Then the biggest thing was that the government was giving so many new benefits to the industry. The slew of measures which the industry has got especially MSME industry is the medical fraternity which has got decoding on that. Reading was something and learning was something which was a very big tangible benefit which we got out of this whole thing. I would otherwise just simply would have asked someone at the regulatory team at our office and asking can you please draft something and send it across to me. Here I was the one who had to read it. I was the one who had to read it and I was the one who had to drive it. So that really changed. The intangible benefits were pretty much. We made our reach went beyond the regular journalists, went beyond the regular clients. It went right up to the government level. It went right up to the regulatory people. It went right up to international business management also. So we were really trying to understand them. They were trying to understand us and trying to position business. So business per se was something that we were trying to drive. I was instrumental in driving something like a very major project with the DRDOI that will be on the ventilators and we finally got into it. It's obviously something which was pretty good at that time when business is when we don't have much business going on and we suddenly have this product which actually could do the business. So the tangible and tangible benefits during that time was pretty much. Right. So this is also a time of uncertainty. There's a lot of industry is going through distress across sectors and communication, empathy, all of that, major communication, emotionally, adaptability. All of that has become very big conversation points as well. I want to come to you, Ms. Hurya. I want to understand from you that if you have to share some word of advice for all our viewers who are there, you know, who are watching us as far as effective communication strategy, you know, devising that is concerned amid this uncertain times. What would be that, you know, what are the factors? What are the key pointers to be taken into account? I think one of the few things that we need to take in account is whether you're doing this for internal or external consumers is to make sure that if you can build a narrative that says that we are in it together, you know, when you're kind of developing consumer sentiments or employee sentiments as we get into this unlock process. The idea is through the abilities of storytelling, we'll be able to maintain that, you know, we have a human side to us as an organization and that's extremely important. The other piece that I think is extremely critical is if we can highlight the human interest stories, if we can highlight the business innovation of what the organization is doing to serve its community during this pandemic, like, you know, did we have a higher purpose, like, oh, you know, my fellow panelists talked about. And the other piece is that, you know, while we are in it, whether we are unlocking or we are going to go down under a further lockdown, the idea is to make sure that we put out clear organizational SOPs at this time. Because, you know, you don't want any more fake news coming out, you don't want any more grapevine coming out. So if, you know, we can, as communicators, put this whole piece together that links, you know, creating a human image of your organization to make sure you're, you know, interacting with them in a far more empathetic way, you know, bringing about human stories, whether it's your employees, whether it's to your consumers. And the third piece is if you can put together SOPs, that sort of, you know, helps curb the fake news or the grapevine that's sort of circulating, because the last thing that you want is if there's any ways, fear and anxiety amongst everyone, you don't want to be, you know, one of those organizations that kind of is helping or channelizing any of this. So to me, these would be the three things that I would actively put out for all communicators right now. Mr. Bajaj, your thoughts, what would be the cornerstone of this? Yes, we discovered it, but it did not actually. Yeah. Just if I want to add to it, you know, what would be the, you know, the cornerstone of this strategy, which is kind of, you know, about uncertainty, about, you know, these tough times, we don't know what is ahead. What would you like to say? I mean, see, from a communication perspective, it will change from brand to brand on where you stand. Like, for example, you know, what will stand real for me might not work for say, Tohina or for Rajiv because of, you know, different businesses that we work in. But coming from as a discovery optics, the game is to ensure that we continue to tell critical stories, which elevate cultural discourse, right? Because do the right thing in the spirit of time, right? And like I said earlier, being authentic, being purposeful, being empathetic in everything you do, right? And to Sonia's point, had that human touch to it. Let me explain how, say, for example, we did something in which work for us was on the world environment day, we were showcasing a documentary known as Wild Karnataka. Now Wild Karnataka is probably India's biggest documentary that has been made over four years, 44-minute documentary. And it basically showcases the wildlife of Karnataka, which houses 25% of Indian wildlife, the big thing. And in English, it was done by Sir David Adandra. What we did was we got mainstream voices to do and narrate for us in their own language. So Rajkumar Rao did it in Hindi, we had Prakash Raj did it in Telugu and Tamil, Rishabh Shetty did it in Kannada. What that did for us was it created, you know, one, the purpose was beautiful. We were celebrating the beauty of India, the beauty of Indian wildlife. But this narration, the on-ground last mile innovation that we did helped us make the show that much more endearing and ensured that this message was passed on to millions across the country in a very, you know, interesting way. So the core word that we always look at when we look at discovery optics is engage, entertain and inspire. And these three, I would say ring far louder today, you know, given the environment. That's broadly how we know pretty quick. Ms. Pandey, your thoughts on this? I was actually thinking about it and listening to all of you. We talked about digital first, Rohail. If I have to add one more first, it will be human first. So digital first along with human first. We've all as communicators always worried about it's about the audience. And we must worry about the audience more because it's sensitive times. People want to listen into what's relevant to them. So put the audience filter up further, you know, right up there. And finally, as a communicator, I think still out. Stay relevant because there are lots of formats which have shot. There are lots of groups which are not relevant anymore. So stay relevant skill up and work with your team to shape up what that communications role is going to be there on. And finally, stay close to business. Because one of the things that I've noticed, business is moving at a orbital shift level. As communicators, we need to sink in with that speed and gear up our skill sets to respond to the needs of the business, which is now the scope has widened as Rajeev was also saying that it's not just about the organization. It's about the community, society, government, and even nations at large. Right. Thank you. Dr. Chibber, what would you like to share with our viewers about the strategy, the effective strategy that could be built in these times? So, Tuhina also alluded to the same. The key component was to really drive the business to what it could actually optimum levels. So, you know, that's something which everyone needs to be inclined, whether you're in senior management or middle management. And that would really drive it because what happened, I would just give you a small listing. We have around 1400 plus people, most of them in the marketing and and it's practically not possible that I would have seen all of them. I would have met all of them throughout my career within this organization. But at that particular point of time, this requirement of everyone to really dovetail their thoughts and be available and see who was there at the last mile was also important. And that is where internal communication changed altogether where we wanted. Even our guy right there in Kakinada, right there at, you know, Debrugger to be available to echo what we were trying to say. And that was paramount because what was going out in South needed to also go out in the West needed to also go out in the East. And so, you know, internal communications changed drastically. We did not have real time team leaders who were actually conveying this. We had them all virtually on our systems. And then what was to be done. So that was something which was a measure which I think was an internal communication activity, which we started. The other thing is the connection with our clientele in our in our parlance, it's the doctor at the end of the day, will the doctor, we actually came out with a product called a kovach, which you know, it's like C O V A C H. It's like a coverage and it's like some face shield. We came up with a kovach. We distributed almost like over two and a half like kovach to these doctors, these frontline healthcare warriors. The gesture which came back when it really bounced back so fast that now when we start our businesses again, we do know that we've really got a comfort when we're talking to them once more. So it's it's working. And as Samir said, really, you know, made up of a particular committee, which is, which can be molded at any particular point of time. Right. We have some 12 minutes and some questions are there. I want to start with the first one. It is from Odit Sagar, partake of media mantra. I'll come to you, Mr. Bajaj. The question is, we don't know when the recovery phase, you know, would begin for COVID-19. But what has happened is, how are you maneuvering through the new normal in the lives of behaviorally changed consumers? There's a behavioral shift. How are you trying to maneuver? Yes. And, you know, this is to the point that Sonia earlier pointed out that one, you are listening to the voice. You know, you are there on the social, you are learning what's happening, you're understanding what they want, what they don't want. And that helps. Also, we are trying to become screen agnostic. So not just linear, just not on digital. There is also an OTT. So the way you like it, the way you want it will present the case to you. So with the evolution of digital, you know, domain, these chatter that you do, you know, gives you that the feeler, the traction. And of course, the backend tools tell you where the consumer is headed. You adjust your business strategy accordingly. A very small thing, you know, for example, on my Animal Planet Instagram, we did a very small activity. I mean, just very small in which we got some wildlife photographers to speak about responsible photography. And the kind of response we got was amazing. It amazed even me, but I thought was, you know, very good to do activity. You know, sometimes you do the right things, but the impact was amazing. And again, made us learn, made me think through how now we can actually look upon it as an optimum strategy. So there is no one single, no one single solution. There are multiple things that you do over time and make your learnings. Right. Ms. Wari, your thoughts on this, the change consumer. I mean, how do we address the change consumer? I think engagement is key, you know, if we can find ways to engage the same consumer, you know, in different ways, like the way we're all talking about digital first strategy. But you know, the core does not change. The core of saying, you know what, whether it's an internal customer where I'm saying, you know what, I care for you. And I'm giving that person a voice or for an external consumer saying, for example, there is Amazon Prime Video, which is out there saying, you know, we care for you. We understand that you're locked up at home. Let me bring to you movies because you can't go to the theater. So they are bringing you movies right into your living room despite you going to the theater. So everybody is sort of adapting to these things as we go along. You know, thinking about consumer first and you know, breaking this boundary of, okay, you know what COVID or no COVID customer for me is first and let me see how I can address that and bringing that strategy forward. We are also in our own ways that VACOM 18, you know, doing that very successfully, you know, we've understood that mycologicals are right now bringing us some sort of solace to each consumer, you know, because they have this sort of moral messaging imbibed in it. And which is why you will see a lot of Mahabharata, a lot of Om Namah Shivay currently running on our channels. Now in order for a promotion of Om Namah Shivay, we could not go on ground to promote a show like that. We said on Instagram, on Monday morning live, we started chanting Om Namah Shivay with all our viewers and with all our customers. So there you go. You know, it's a perfect way to bring in a show and to talk about it on a Monday morning. It's the day of Lord Shiva. You start chanting Om Namah Shivay and you tune it into the show right there in the morning on colors. So there cannot be an amazing talk. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So you know, we are all trying, you know, we had a ways to reach out to the consumer, but just keeping him and her at the center, whether it's external or internal, we're just at it, you know. So I think everybody's trying really hard on this. And I think a lot of innovation is actually coming out of these challenging times. And we, you know, initially we feel that will there be any innovation that can come through. Now I cannot even engage with them. But they truly can be innovation even in these challenging times is what I believe. Mr. Bhatia is here. He has some questions. Yes. Hey, Mr. Bhatia, you're mute. Sorry, you're mute. You're mute. Yeah, I know. It's better to stay behind the scene. So I have a question by Suman M. Who is asking the panel, what is the biggest problem a communicator can solve in the virtual world? Anyone? Anyone or you want me to direct? You can, I mean, it's a difficult question to answer. Yeah, I know. So I'm kind of, you know, give a stab at it. Look, the problems, what are being solved? Food? Whether are you being well fed? Are you safe? Is your health right? Is your work? Are you safe at work? The basic needs right now, if you can communicate to that challenge, for example, to my employee for such matters, if I can put their safety first, how they are, we are engaging them, how are we helping them work better in a virtual world? How do we facilitate a work from home environment? How do we facilitate well-being, social well-being and emotional well-being of that person? Everything which is real and needed is what your communication has to be directed towards, whether it's the being the go between between the government and your employee force, or how you're talking to your clients or your key stakeholders in things that they need. So what I'm really trying to say is it stick to the needs of your audience, of your stakeholders, and that's what you need to communicate about. When you communicate, be straight and transparent and straightforward, be authentic as a lot of us have said, and take the feedback, learn from it. And frankly, there is no secret sauce, learn along the way and, you know, adapt with agility and speed. That's what it is. I mean, content is the king. Your core messaging is still important. You still need to communicate. It's just the channel or the form which is changed. Now we are talking through these virtual screens. That's the reality, but we're talking nonetheless. Thank you, Sami. So I have one very important question which is directed to you by Suman. And they're asking that, do you think wild Karnataka documentary showcase online will inspire us humans to care about the other species on the planet? I think it's pretty much in line on what happened there in Kerala, especially with the elephant. Yeah, see, what happened in Kerala was bad. But I mean, before I get into details, it's important that, you know, we contextualize. So we, it's easy to blame the end farmer, but we need to understand the context. Why is human and wildlife conflict increasing? And if we're able to solve that problem, this end mile issue will go away. Because if somebody, you know, it's that farmer is like you and me, right? We, everybody has a family. And if that farmer's produce or crop is going to get, you know, destroyed by the wild animals, he will try and defend its basic human instinct. Now we need to ensure at from a larger societal level that these issues don't have does not get into a conflict with human beings, but they don't enter into our area. But we also need to ensure that we don't enter into their area. So it's vice versa. The what what what documentaries like wild Karnataka do is they bring out the beauty of the wild for millions, right? In the pure joy, the way nature made it the way God made it, right? And once you enjoy and you imbibe the likelihood of you being empathetic to the needs of wildlife will increase. So my to my answer, so my answer to someone is an emphatic yes, we need documentaries like wild Karnataka. So as to ensure that an average Indian understands at least his role, because if we all do our role right, broadly the society will do right. We have three minutes, three minutes. Yeah, so I'll just quickly ask Sonia. So there's a question by Puneet. He's asking that there's a lot of talk about new normal and every brand would have its own new normal. What should be the best strategy to communicate about this, especially for the services, which involves physical presence of consumer like hospitality, aviation or cinema? So cinema is also adapting. I don't know much about how hospitality and the other sectors are, but I definitely know about how cinema is adapting. And we are all talking about, you know, the drive in theaters becoming a reality. So going from, you know, the piece that we used to actually enjoy watching the movie under the stars, they're all talking about TVL is going to be hopefully talking about bringing that experience life through a drive in theater. So you will see, you know, all of this come alive, but within the new normal as we are all calling it out to be, even with the airline business, you're seeing the flights have started, people are taking the required precautions that are necessary, you know, Vistara is doing a great job at it, you know, some of the things that we do. So I think, you know, we will, like I earlier said, that we will all in these challenging times find ways to innovate and adapt to the situation that we are facing. And we will come out of this phase. I mean, you know, we look back and say, Hey, it was not so bad. Suddenly, we'll find that, you know, this phase much easier, maybe you never know. Professor, you're mute. My last question is for Rajiv. So, you know, Rajiv, this has been the biggest pandemic for the pharma and healthcare sector. And there has been a lot of shift of balance from the communication standpoint, especially in that sector. So what do you think how it will, you know, there'll be a complete shift in the whole dynamics of the communication in the pharma and healthcare sector from your experience and your work in that field for very long time? Yeah. So an absolute good question. See what happened is immediately when this pandemic moved in, healthcare was the first thing which got criticized. And pharma and medical devices was something which were immediately, I mean, we were like labeled as pickpocketers in terms of higher pricing of medicines, pricing of, you know, even ventilators and all that, which was skyrocketing. At the end of the day, it's companies like us who were making money at this crisis time also. But I think what we did is not only communicated well with the government to really showcase the kind of apathy the industry has, especially from a big pharma perspective, but also worked with our clients, which is the hospital's doctors, and ultimately the government to really show is the fact. Yes, when it comes to a crisis situation, the reality needs to be told as a blatant truth. The reality came out, the domestic device industry, which I represent, we did come up with a fact and figured that we have the wherewithal. That is why there was a vocal for local chant by the Prime Minister himself. We had the wherewithal to really go ahead and make India a true reality. It was just that the vision wasn't there within the government itself. Policies changed almost like overnight. We really moved and churned them overnight with the government. Obviously, they had to be conducive enough because we have a lot of the device industry is almost like 75% plus import driven. So we had to also count that in. But then the reality came out. We today are such and if I look at PP, if I look at masks, if I look at other sanitizers, etc., India is now self-sufficient. We are now importing it. We are now sending it overseas and there's a demand. Our ventilators is something which are now real-time heroes. I would salute DRDO. I would salute all the medical device industries who really went at this time to address this kind of an issue. Where we were import dependent on APIs, China, 90% of APIs was coming from China. We are now not even looking at that. We are developing our own bulk manufacturing parks. We already have medical device parks in India. We are now utilizing it to the maximum and optimum levels. So I think all of that changed and all of that changed because the narration, the communication which drove that particular change was really being fenced too well and I would really want to commend the government of India for taking it to such an extent that today, if I look at India, we have a complete self-reliant India in the next five years in almost like 70% of the farmer and medical device segments itself. And we are not pickpocketing it. Thank you everyone for your time. Yes, thank you everyone. Insightful discussion. I think it needs one more session. Definitely, you know, so much happening in the communications. Taking the right side of the table now, the communicators. And thank you again for joining us. Thank you for your time.