 Ms. Vaishali Banerjee M.D. Platinum Guild India, please can I have a huge round of applause for her? A very good afternoon to all of you. And I want to thank Mr. Ishwar for taking the graveyard session. Because I said, if I have to do staying relevant after a long and lovely lunch, I was going to have my work cut out today. So you made it easier for me, so thank you. So let me dive right in. Today I'm going to be sharing, I'm going to figure this out as I go, yeah, okay. So today I'm going to be sharing our experience in building brands that are relevant and more importantly, how to stay relevant. While the examples in my presentation will be platinum brands, I hope that you, the learnings that are there are applicable across categories. You know there's a reason that I've said staying relentlessly relevant. And that's because in the world today to build brand relevance, it requires absolute relentless focus and consistency. Because the world is completely changing. Change is the normal and change actually challenges us, but it also gives us enormous opportunities. Let's take technology. Technology has completely transformed the way businesses are run. Across categories, businesses have to work harder to meet consumer expectations. Whether it be of speed or delivery, service, experience or innovation. Then you have the multi-layered digital ecosystem. Now that by itself has its own complexities. And that makes reaching our consumers effectively more challenging. Then at a macro level, right now as we all know, we are facing some economic upheavals, there is some uncertainty. We know that there has been a slowdown, there is that impacts consumption. So business owners have to deal with this. And then there are a whole host of legislative changes. And it's really keeping all of us on our toes because we have to find new ways of doing business. We need to adapt to these changes and demands. To add to all of this, everybody knows this. There are frauds and scams, but what does it do? It actually also erodes the consumers confidence. And that is something that we have to deal with. And then we have this affluent young India. These people, these consumers are more empowered today than they have been ever before. And they are extremely demanding. And all of you who are working on brands and advertising, marketing know that these are a consumer cohort that are just demanding more, demanding new and demanding all of this at a really, really fast pace. Now we see all of this reflected in our industry as well and a lot more legislative pressures as well. But there have been quite a part from all of this, which is really important, but there are two key disruptors in the jewelry industry. And the jewelry industry is going through a rapid transformation. The first was really the advent of what we call organized retail. What are these? These are large corporates or private business owners with this chain store format of modern retail. And what they did was really, they tapped into the consumers aspiration of higher quality, of better shopping experience. And if you see their growth trajectory, they were only 4% of the market. And today they are about 45% of the market. And this is not for very long. It's just over a decade. So they've moved this so you can see that these players are really changing the rules of the game for this industry. And then, of course, we have the dominant young demographic. What this really means is that we have a large base of financially independent consumers who are seeking things totally different from their parents. They don't want to save for a rainy day. They want to spend. They want to enhance their experience of the now. And we have multiple brands tapping into this aspiration. Today we have the affordable luxury range across categories. So these are consumers that are really spoiled for choice. So they are seeking new. They are seeking more. And for them, brands are a vehicle for a self-statement to really stand the pot. Now, with easier access to technology and education, opportunities have actually become more democratic. Now, what were wealth markers of the previous generation in the past that added distinction? That's actually common currency right now. Young consumers are looking to establish their personal greatness, but they want to do it on their own terms. And then we have women who are now increasingly being raised at equals. And thank God for that. And may that get speeded up. So they are really looking to redefine their very traditional roles. So progressive values, such as equality and relationship, such as having a voice, the power of choice, or even self-expression and expressing your own individuality, these have actually now become quite critical to their new self-image. So if this is the given, you know, fast-changing environment, how are brands responded? Either through a short-term approach or through disruption. So some can adopt a short-term strategy, which means discounting or promotion. This will give you immediate returns, boost your sales for the now. Or others have taken a slightly longer-term approach, which means building competitive advantage or even reinventing themselves to address the changes of the current times. The jewelry industry, unfortunately, has adopted more short-term strategies. So it's more a discounting strategy. Now this leads to its own challenges. It could also have possible repercussions on the brand equity. Now with Platinum, we have actually embraced the change and we've leveraged market disruptors to make the brand relevant for the younger, urban, affluent India. Now that is our core target group. So now we keep using the word relevant. So what does it really mean? Platinum's strategy is anchored in building a personally relevant emotional value for our consumers. It is really imperative that Platinum owns the space of the progressive value space because this will clearly differentiate it from the traditional gold market. Why is this important? So let me just dial back a decade to tell you what the jewelry landscape was. Jewelry was gold and gold was being bought by your family elders, typically for very large occasions like weddings or festivals. They bought it from some family jewelers. It was a societal norm. It was all about culture and of course gold was clearly a marker of family status. It provided financial security. It was auspicious. What was the retail landscape? The retail landscape was large traditional family jewelers and they did business unlike the modern trade. They did business completely based on their understanding and relationship with their customer base. So in this kind of context, this is where Platinum came in. So to build relevance for brand Platinum, we had to ensure that we created a Platinum memory. This memory is anchored in the metal values of being the most rare and precious metal. It is built on the brand's belief in progressive values that reflect a more contemporary mindset. And in order to build conviction, brand conviction, in these beliefs, the Platinum narrative has always been anchored in its value map and that is fundamental across all Platinum brands. So what are these values that I'm talking about? These are all the values of today. They're relevant today. They are about equality, neutrality, empathy, respect in relationships, authenticity, courage of character. So these are the values that are relevant to our young consumers today. As I said, the Platinum values are embedded across brand expressions through very insightful storytelling. So the brand communication for Platinum has very high recoil. It has very high resonance with our core target group, which is this young group. Because Platinum has really tapped into emotionally charged unmet needs. And this is very important because this is also what differentiates it from other metals in this market. The jewelry designs, Platinum is not sold as a commodity, unlike gold. It is not a commodity. You buy a piece of jewelry and design adds meaning to it to make it relevant and bring alive each of the brand's promises. Of course, digital, this entire ecosystem gives us the opportunity to have deeper conversations, to have better engagement, and the metal credentials will add to its heft to give its assurance. And we've taken a stand of really making a statement of authenticity. An authenticity you will see as I go along is extremely important to this younger target group. So we made a statement of authenticity because every piece of branded Platinum comes with a purity market, comes with an assurance card. As the marketer, as the brand owners, we should be able to stand and live up to our claims. That is what authenticity is. So we have a branded portfolio that really all works together to create this memory. I will just share two of these for the paucity of time. So I'll start with the first of our branded portfolio, which is the Platinum Days of Love. Now this is a brand, it's a category brand, that is rooted in the values of contemporary love. A love that is all about equality, respect, neutrality and friendship. These are values that are highly relevant, highly relevant to our younger audience. Because these are modern young couples that we are talking about. And the rarity of the metal adds authenticity to the promise of a love that's rare. And it also builds the emotional significance that I had talked about before. And as I said, meaning and dimension is added to a jewelry piece through design. And of course, the storytelling has to be compelling, yes, but it also needs to be uplifting. We are talking about love. Now that needs to uplift you. Now let's see if I can share some of the work. Wet towel on the bed, again? You left the geyser on, again. But I was keeping the water warm, okay? I was keeping the bed cool, okay? You're hopeless. This conversation's hopeless. Why did I even marry you? Why did I marry you? This friendship day, remember, you are friends first. Because you share what's rare. Sir, I've got another one. So, what do lawyers wear to court? What do lawyers wear to court? Come on, take a guess, take a guess. Law suits? Law suits! Get it? Laws! You seriously need better jokes. This friendship day, remember, you are friends first. Because you share what's rare. The day we met... We knew we'd create something wonderful. The world might think of him as the biggest thing to happen to literature since Rushdie. But to me, he's just the guy who was so nervous. She couldn't utter a word. Nervous? Of course. I mean... I'm a rewrite obsessive. And she's... She's one take wonder. The great thing about love is... When it kicks in... All else goes silent. I wish there was a word for the feeling you get when you have everything. And still feel like there's a whole world you're still to build. The day we met... We knew we'd create something wonderful. We built our own happy universe. Even if it was just wonderful. The world that our love has built makes us greater together. Moving on to the other branded segment. One of the other ones which really is Men of Platinum. So this is rooted in the values of humility, courage, conviction, authenticity, inclusiveness and the commitment to give back. Now these values are quite hard to find. They're even harder to abide by. And they are linked to a metal that is just as rare. And once again, the jewelry designs add meaning and dimension. That reflect a character that's rare. And we, of course, need to have a very powerful narrative to bring this alive. So let me share that with you. Sir. Hey Karan. How's Rhea doing? She's doing great, sir. This is for you. Just had a baby girl. Oh, congratulations. Thanks. First times are always special. Enjoy it. About that, I was thinking of taking some time off. Here it is. Get ready for some sleepless nights. Three months. That's standard parental leave. Yes, but I'm sure Rhea has everything sorted with the baby. Sir, she's my baby too, right? You make a great dad. When character stays true to its beliefs, it's rare. It's platinum. Presenting jewelry for men of platinum. Hi. Mr. Kumar, just in time. Shall we? Just a second. Hey. Hey. Hi. Let's go. Sorry guys, this shoot is for the entrepreneur of the year. And they're all here? But how will they all fit? Five years ago, these people made space for my dreams. I think a photo's the least that we can do. Okay, let's move slightly back. Where's Shyam? Shyam, come. Come on. Let's go. When character has humility, it's rare. It's platinum. Presenting jewelry for men of platinum. It was a journey. It was a completely unknown metal. It had no role in this traditional jewelry space. And this was a decade back. And today it is the preferred choice for contemporary young Indians. And what has really driven this is really keeping the consumer front and center. Because relevance is really about having relevant insights. And that by itself is a continuous process. Especially if you're targeting the young audience. What is relevant today can be completely irrelevant tomorrow. And that brings me back to my opening statement which says you've got to be relentless in your pursuit for relevance. So to an end, I'd just like to leave you with some pointers, some principles, if I may call them that. Because they have been our cornerstone and honestly it can be applied across categories. The brand must be personally relevant and emotionally significant. This is really the bedrock. And it needs to foster holistic differentiation because that will build brand distinction. Stay authentic. This is so important to consumers today. It's not about a need, it's a demand. The demand authenticity. And this will really build a brand of evangelists for you. And once you have these evangelists, that is what really keeps your brand relevant even if it's with changing times. Thank you.