The article is Contributed by Akhilesh Srivastava.
Road Safety of the biggest social-economic menaces in India, with over 150,000 people losing lives on the road every year, is denting the Indian economy by nearly 4.5 trillion INR i.e., roughly 3.14% of Indian GDP.
Road Safety 2.0, aims to tackle this issue by introducing technology into all 4 Es of road safety i.e., Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Emergency Care. There are plenty of scopes for Startups to explore more innovative technologies for use in the Road Safety sector and develop scalable and financially viable models.
The main thrust of accident prevention and control across the world has been on 4 E’s i.e. (i) Education; (ii) Engineering; (iii) Enforcement; and (iv) Emergency care of road accident victims.
Education
Various Road Safety Campaigns involving audio-visual and other print media, as well as NGOs, are used to raise awareness. The government has been undertaking various publicity measures through TV spots/Radio spots, cinema slides, distribution of posters, books on road safety signage & signs, organizing Road Safety Week, Seminars, and Exhibitions to raise road safety awareness among the general public.
But despite these measures, a noticeable reduction in accidents figures is not achieved. it is time to add technology for driver’s education or training right from the issuance of driving licenses to periodical upskilling. Intel recently designed one program of drivers training. There can be Mobile Apps, video games, and engaging audio videos for the training of drivers.
Over 80 % of accidents are caused due by avoidable negligence or faults of drivers such as overspeeding, rash driving, poor driving skills, stress, and fatigue. A lot of accidents are mostly by single truck owners, who come from an unorganized ecosystem and drive continuously to maximize their trips. Low-cost technology solutions like HUMSAFER Mobile App can compensate for human limitations and reduce accidents.
Nearly 10% of road accident-related deaths involves children (aged between 5 and 14). Only 17% of schools have roads that showed school zone signage and only 11.5% have speed limits displayed. Thus, there is an urgent need to create Safe School Zone, which not only saves children from accidents but also prepares them for future.
Nearly 15 million reported traffic violations take place annually. These violations lead to collisions and accidents. It is practically impossible to detect such a large number of traffic violations and penalize them manually. As a result, a lot of violators are never caught and penalized, thus encouraging others.
The Motor Vehicles Act of 2019 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules include several rules that, if properly implemented, will reduce traffic offences by drivers. The state government is largely responsible for enforcing these regulations to enhance road safety.
Thus, there is an urgent need to use the latest technologies, IoT, ANPR, CCTV and Speed cameras to detect traffic violations and penalize the violators by automated system transparently. Considering the size, population and federal structure of India, the bottom-up approach on the PPP model is the only viable solution.
The duty of the enforcement authorities will include the campaigns among the people about drunk/drug driving and the consequences, consequences on no use of seat belts. Also, the points on license, disqualification of license and driving, imprisonment, training courses should be given a priority.
Engineering
Efficient engineering methods which is a combination of technology and skills will help to get a better safety measure. Creating road environment safe and suitable for all users and needs reliable data to identify where, when, how and why accidents occur Key approaches – Accident investigation, road safety management, road safety audit.
Making the road network safer by engineering measures is the most effective strategy to reduce collisions in the short to medium term by directly addressing road environment problems and attempting to counter or reduce the scope for incorrect road user behaviour/performance. As a result, the majority of stakeholders have established comprehensive Road Safety Plans and programmes, with particular funding allocation for engineering measures that have proven to be effective in reducing collisions.
Collision/Accident Investigation (AI) – A reactive approach that involves investigating hotspots and analysing collision and casualty information and trends to identify areas with higher-than-average collision rates.
Collision / Accident Reduction (AR) – A Road Safety Engineer can use AI to determine whether any of the causation factors highlighted within an existing known pattern can be addressed through safety engineering remedial measures, thereby helping to reduce collision frequency/severity at that site, and if so, whether there are several potential solutions and which ones are best for each particular site.
Collision / Accident Prevention (AP) – Following the AI and AR processes, a Road Safety Engineer develops an effective Road Safety Strategy/Plan and Danger Reduction Plans, as well as providing advice on Road Safety Education, Training, and Publicity Programs. The Road Safety Engineer also implements best practices in AP through the proactive process of Road Safety Auditing.
Emergency Care of Road Accident Victims
Post-accident emergency care is a serious concern in India as nearly 50% of people die on the spot or while transiting to the hospital/trauma centres. If the occurrence of accidents and location can be shared to provide emergency care within golden hours a lot of lives can be saved. Similarly, if travellers can be informed about rest areas & their occupancy status and repairs workshops on the fly, it can be very helpful to them and will reduce fatigue & stress while driving.
National Highway Accident Relief Service Scheme (NHARSS): – The Scheme entails providing cranes and ambulances to States/UTs/NGOs for relief and rescue measures in the aftermath of accidents by way of evacuating road accident victims to the nearest medical aid centre and for clearing the accident site.
The emergency care must include the Incident Response in the form of Emergency Medical Services which will also include fire and rescue and the removal of the hazardous materials from the roads. The other Technological solutions which will result in Emergency Care are the use of E Calls. Setting up connected Level-1 trauma centres and rescue services for immediate target response to incidents and golden hours survival rates tracking can be helpful.
The article is contributed by Minal Sonawane – Software Test Solution Architect, AFour Technologies.
As businesses build back after the disruptions of the pandemic, there is considerable interest in transforming work structures to be more robust and more dynamic than they were before. Precisely, businesses are endeavoring to build more equitable workplaces for women, who have historically been excluded from advancing as much as their male peers. As AI enters and alters business processes in myriad ways, upskilling will emerge as a crucial tool in addressing gender inequality in the tech space. Here, we briefly examine how this can come about.
Gender Disparity in Tech
Research consistently shows that diverse teams perform better, have higher satisfaction rates, and stay on longer. And yet, industries like manufacturing or IT remain heavily male-dominated. According to a joint study by LinkedIn and the World Economic Forum, women make up only 25% of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) workforce. Moreover, only 22% of artificial intelligence (AI) professionals and 12% of machine-learning (ML) experts are women. Even if they have the same qualifications, men frequently reach executive positions faster than women in the workplace. Many companies also hesitate to help women earn senior tech positions because of preconceived notions about their skills or assumptions about marriage and family coming first for women.
These issues were exacerbated when Covid-19 struck, and everyone was forced to stay at home. As primary caregivers, the duty of looking after children during the lockdown fell mainly on women, many of whom had to deal with burnout owing to the difficulty of balancing work commitments with family obligations. In particular, a 2021 Women@Work study by Deloitte revealed that 83% of women in tech had an increase in workload along with household duties, while only 38% felt that their organization had given them adequate support. Overall, a recent Citigroup study concluded that about 44 million people would lose their jobs due to the pandemic, of which 31 million would be women – a highly concerning disparity.
With the advent of AI into everyday business tasks, the respective roles of humans and machines are undergoing significant shifts. Routine tasks are being delegated to software, while advanced skills like machine learning and deep learning are highly demanded. Partly because of the educational gaps between the genders (traditionally, boys are encouraged to take up science while girls are pushed towards the arts and domestic studies) and partly because of male-centric preferences at work, it is women who mostly hold the administrative, clerical and routine job positions that are now being routed to AI. Moreover, there are no clear pathways to help women transition from these routine jobs and towards more complex and lucrative ones related to tech and its applications. As a result, they either end up quitting the workforce or staying on in low-paying jobs that do not let them reach their potential.
Upskilling as an Equalizer
Online learning has expanded considerably since the pandemic, which means that accessing high-quality educational content and insight from experts is easier than ever. Upskilling through online courses allows employees to stay up-to-date on rapidly evolving tech trends and pick up valuable new skills from scratch. For women employees, upskilling safeguards them against redundancy and helps them become more valuable assets in terms of the ideas and creative approaches they can bring to the table. In particular, online learning allows them to pick up skills at their own pace and at affordable rates, which is a boon for women juggling household duties and/or those in less lucrative jobs. This way, they can aim for positions that men have traditionally occupied and come into their own as creative contributors.
Upskilling, indeed, makes employees of all genders more effective and for an emerging and nuanced field like AI, one needs as many talented team members as possible. It is thus in the company’s interest to offer AI-related upskilling opportunities, from online learning pathways to live projects to shadowing opportunities with senior experts. In particular, leaders should invest in training programmes for women in tech with special technical courses and mentorship from senior women leaders. There should also be exceptional support for women compelled to take time off during the pandemic so that dedicated workers can feel like they are valued regardless of their setbacks.
It is still early days in the “AI-fication” of industries, and effective intervention on a company’s part can go a long way toward reversing gender disparity trends. Comprehensive upskilling opportunities and career transition pathways can help women pick up the skills they may have been traditionally denied and contribute side-by-side with male peers. Companies have already seen the efficacy of flexible work models and should invest in similarly inflexible growth models that help employees – especially women – move upwards into tech roles where talent and interest count for more than background or work history. Thoughtful efforts in this regard will help redress gender disparity and exclusion at work, not just post-pandemic but for all time.
The article is contributed by Mugdha Pradhan – CEO and Founder of iTHRIVE.
In the contemporary world, the term “startup” is glamorized to another extent. Every person wants to become an entrepreneur without fully understanding what it means to start a business. Individuals look at entrepreneurship with rosy colored glasses and think of it as a medium to become an authority, rich and live life on their own terms. These outcomes are very much possible; however, it takes a lot of hard work to attain such freedom. One has to work without money for long hours before they can enjoy the empire. One has to convince people to use their product before building brand loyalty.
So now the question arises what is the right way to become an entrepreneur and grow your business. Following are a few smart strategies to grow and sustain your startup.
Solve a Problem
It is important that one builds a product or a service that is genuinely going to solve a problem area. A very great way is to solve a problem that is close to you. When you do that, you’ll be able to convince the masses to use your product/service, and it will be more difficult for you to give up on it as it truly was helpful to you.
Choose Teammates Carefully
One cannot build a business alone. You will need a strong foundational team who believes in your vision as much as you, if not more. This team will become a brand ambassador for your venture in the initial days. Look for partners that complement your skills and get help whenever necessary.
Plan for Failure
Failure upon starting something new is inevitable, and it is important that one is prepared for that in order to adapt to the situation and learn quickly in such a scenario. It is also important to have Business Continuity Strategies in place by understanding potential hindrances in your business.
Get Help
When building something big, it’s naive to think that you’ll be able to do everything by yourself. Everybody has their limitations. Hence other than building your core team as advised in point number 2, it’s imperative to utilize your network and resources to their utmost potential. The key is to work smart and not hard.
Find a Mentor
One of the most cliche pieces of advice and yet often overlooked, a mentor can quickly take your career and business to new heights. More than a mentor, an advisory board is preferred. These advisors will not only know how to build a brand that lasts, but they will be your cheerleaders when the journey gets tough. Their advice will not only be optimistic but rather practical because they have experienced failure and difficulties in their journey too.
It might be tempting to add multiple features/ products/ services at the time of your launch, however, keeping things simple often is the best approach. Minimum viable products work best as they allow you to get feedback from actual target users rather than you perfecting and solving imaginary problems even before launching.
Test Your Product/Service
A business is only for its customers. Don’t solve a problem or give out services that are not asked for. It might be surprising, but many can get ahead of themselves and try to launch a product that is not needed in the present. So before going all out, ask for feedback from potential targeted audiences to understand the viability of your product/ service.
Follow Trends
A lot of us are reading the same books and following the same advice from traditional leaders. However, we need to follow the current trends and use a platform where most people are active. Such platforms can be Twitter, Reddit, Quora, Instagram, or even clubhouse. Remember, your product has to reach the audience before the audience can reach your product.
Marketing/PR
There is a common misconception that customers are attracted to good products, and hence one should focus on perfecting their product/service, and word of mouth is the only marketing one will need. While word of mouth is still one of the strongest marketing ways, marketing and PR have become quite necessary in a world where products are in abundance. PR strategies like garnering coverage in a digital or physical newspaper or a magazine can be very effective in increasing the reachability of your business.
SEO
SEO consistently is becoming important in the contemporary world of startups. Aiming to use appropriate SEO when posting digitally helps a long way in broadcasting your name in organic sales.
Strong Sales Funnel
While marketing and SEO can increase your organic sales, reaching out constantly to your customer base and getting leads is important. A strong sales funnel, and sales target will help you create a plan to grow your company at a steady rate.
Create a Blue Ocean in Your Market
The term “blue ocean” was coined in the entrepreneurship industry in 2005 to define a new industry with hardly any competition or barriers in the way of innovators. When a new or unknown sector or innovation appears, it creates a vast “empty ocean” of business options and opportunities. Hence try to create a blue ocean in your market and solve a problem that no one is solving.
Apart from these tips, remember to keep trying new things in your entrepreneurial journey. All of the above-mentioned strategies were once a breakthrough idea in the startup world as well, so keep on learning and inventing; moreover, defining your “why” will keep you in the game even when the road gets tough. I hope these strategies help you during your venture.
The article is contributed by Mr. Dhiresh, (Co-Founder & C.E.O.), Neem Tree Agro Solutions.
The fresh wave of Startups and young Entrepreneurs has started in India, which has resulted in the average age of Entrepreneurs in India to keep reducing by every passing day. Youngsters have stepped up for these initiatives with sheer will and confidence. Therefore, the enthusiasm may be high but industry experience is nearly non-existent. This makes managing legal compliance a strenuous task to carry out.
Startup word is usually more related to freshly churned out ideas and innovative discoveries and less towards legal bindings, security and proper documentation. Due to lack of resources or maybe just deficiency of proper knowledge, they tend to skip the legal compliance issues. Ideal model should be framed in such a way that it compliments the entire process keeping the legal compliance as the premise, because the lack of it confines you and causes scaling issues, which isn’t good for any startup that is looking to grow and expand exponentially.
On the other hand, even after learning about proper legal compliance techniques it is tough to maintain regulatory compliance such as reporting the GST and seed licensing returns, which prove to be too expensive for a startup. Furthermore, as India is a Union of States, compliance varies from state to state, particularly in the agriculture industry, which is a subject of state government rather than the Union government.
One of the first things that comes to mind is that you need to get yourself a lawyer in case something goes south, one needs to consider the monetary license which one has access to. Due to likely issues with money it is sensible to look at certain online facilities available which helps startups get through initial blues, they can be vague and generic but might help you in gaining some knowledge alongside with a different perspective.
Certain skills, such as verifying the term sheet, are perfected over time. Legal compliances also play a huge role during the fundraising process. So, the first and most important step is to keep your documentation and paperwork in order if you are looking for funding. You should follow all legal rules and regulations set forth by the government and stay up to date with them.
Lack of human resources is a very pertinent problem among all the newly emerged startups, due to which they often lack in getting things updated, but you need to keep in mind that you should cover all the moral, ethical and legal grounds. Knowing your obligations as an employer, such as adhering with all necessary labor laws, is a crucial part of beginning a business. This involves obeying salary payment, provident fund, and gratuity rules, as well as workplace sexual harassment, maternity benefits, and other policies. If your company is registered with the Startup India programme, you can sign a self-declaration and be exempted from inspection for the first year from the date of incorporation or partnership registration for some laws.
Internal legal agreement is also an essential part of the legal compliances. It is an arrangement if there are more than one founder, and if somebody decides to leave or join, they should do it in a complete legal manner which is in full agreement of the other founders. Another agreement that plays an important role is the Intellectual property agreement. This agreement should include confidentiality responsibilities for the company’s information, as well as a current assignment to the company of any intellectual property that the person has developed or may develop in the future (while working with the company).
The lack of proper licensing can also lead to difficulty in running your Startup. As stated earlier, each state may have its own set of licenses and even different industries adhere to different rules set by the state governments or government declared regulatory committees, such as, Import-Export laws, FDI Policy, SEBI/RBI regulations, etc.
Approval of financial accounts, declaration of dividends, appointment of auditors, and other special business agendas are on the AGM’s regular business agenda. The AGM must be held in the jurisdiction of the company’s registered office. The first annual general meeting (AGM) must be convened within nine months of the end of the first financial year. In the event of a subsequent AGM, it must be convened within six months of the financial year’s end. Every year, there shall be one AGM, with a maximum gap of 15 months between two AGMs.
Ignoring these difficulties can impede your fundraising efforts, and certain litigations may be brought against your company. When someone invests in your vision, he will look to see how solid your legal foundation is. Your balance sheets must be kept up to date, and your transactions must be clean and traceable. Since resources are limited, it is not an easy task but if you work on it properly, the rest of the process will go smoothly.
Startup India has taken several noteworthy steps to make the startup process easier. Under the several schemes introduced by the government, it can be seen that they want the number of startups to go up and want the youth to come up with exciting ideas. This shift that is being carried out will result in increased employment, better economy, people becoming independent and many other positive effects. On the other hand, the government needs to work more to reduce the legalities that exclusively apply to startups. This will be a big relief for new startups, as well as a motivator for others.
The article is contributed by Mangesh Panditrao – CEO and Co-Founder, Shoptimize.
Propelled by the incumbent pandemic, online shopping has gained immense traction over 2020 and 2021, and the positive ripple effect is still being seen in the e-commerce industry. Throughout this period, e-commerce and omnichannel businesses innovatively leveraged the digital avenue to manage their offline stores and sustain themselves in the pandemic-battered business environment. However, with the rising competition, the next phase of success for e-commerce companies will be led by a deep understanding of the target market and meaningful connections with the customer. This is where data comes into effect.
Significance and Benefits of Data in E-commerce
Data Assist Brands Stay Updated With Crucial Business Insights
The overarching goal of every business is to increase its revenue. To accomplish that, the brand must make the right decisions at the right time, which can be done efficiently by analyzing data. Insights driven from consumer-centric data can help brands understand how the company is being perceived by customers, how the brand is performing in different markets, and the improvements required to maximize profits. This allows businesses to serve consumers, grow revenue, and improve operations.
Enables Brands to Provide Personalized User Experiences
Understanding how customers interact with your company is critical to determining what appeals to them. As a result, e-commerce companies might leverage data analytics to better understand their customers’ needs and improve their end-to-end purchasing experience through personalization. For instance, various platforms use data to understand customer demographics and tailor their marketing messages to suit different cohorts of consumers.
Helps in Making Data-Driven Decision
Customers’ needs are constantly changing, and with many brands available, they have more options than ever before. And to keep up with the ever-evolving needs of the consumers’ D2C brands will need to focus on improving their capabilities. Hence, data-driven decision-making is necessary for success. Brands may track their customers’ preferences through data and analytics based on factors such as location, demographics, and online behaviour. An evidence-based data enables brands to make informed decisions and thoughtfully prepare to achieve their objectives.
How Brands Can Leverage Data to Increase E-commerce Sales
Converge Data From Various Platforms and Channels
Ever since doing business went digital, the amount of data it has been generating on the side continues to get bigger and bigger every day. Analyzing this data to make critical decisions becomes overwhelming for internal teams and marketing companies. It requires a highly specialized skill set and cutting-edge technology to gauge insights and aid quick, efficient decision-making. E-commerce analytics helps brands quickly and easily gather data in one place, break down data silos, and increase productivity, efficiency, and business agility.
Join the Dots Between Your Customers and the Numbers
Simply collecting data and not being able to use it results in wastage of money and time. After the data is collected, data analytics gives a detailed view of the big picture; it also looks at relationships and patterns among several of its components before delivering business insights. Hence, one way of achieving this is through unified data analytics. Unified data analytics is basically a process that merges data processing with cutting-edge artificial intelligence to deliver business insights and outcomes.
Know When to Take Action
Seasonality and trends can play a significant part in your efforts to provide your consumers with the most seamless experiences possible. As a result, it’s essential to consider and maintain a close check on trends to take timely action. Understanding seasonal patterns & trends might assist you in determining how things will pan out throughout the year. As a result, you’ll be able to focus on the right products that are available at the right time so that customers’ expectations are met.
Reading Data to Understand Websites Shopping Behavior Flow
To understand the website’s shopping behaviour flow, you can monitor how a customer lands on your site, browses through products, adds them to the cart, and checks out. Sifting through this data will help you understand your website’s purchasing behaviour flow and reveal where customers are more engaged and which paths lead to conversions. Furthermore, it will draw attention to what isn’t working. This will allow you to read your visitors’ minds by observing their behaviour and better cater to them.
Use Data to Track Your Product Performance
It’s critical to look at detailed product data for both marketing and sales tracking. It helps in understanding the price band for different consumer segments. How are individual products performing & figuring out the bestsellers and the low-performing products. This allows businesses to devise the marketing campaigns accordingly. Furthermore, keeping track of returns and refunds helps improve the product’s quality. This approach can help an e-commerce business improve its services and quality, increase revenue, and improve operations.
Conclusion
Data is critical for businesses to thrive in this digital age. So, it’s high time that companies start making data-driven decisions to succeed at online selling. Integrating e-commerce analytics across the customer lifecycle is essential for creating a competitive customer experience. These findings will help brands improve the discovery, acquisition, conversion, retention, and advocacy process.
As the the month of February starts, the gifting items and valentine’s day products create a surge in stocks. The management and processing of orders, inventories, and selling gift items during Valentines becomes an art. Increasing sales and earning more profit can be made easier by proper inventory management.
Lets get insights of some of the startups selling Valentine’s Day products and how they manage inventory to increase their sales and boost their business growth.
Whitecub
When we started WhiteCub over eight years ago, it used to be only Valentine’s Day at our place. Fast forward to a few years, it evolved into a full Valentine’s Week, and now our brand typically celebrates the entire month of February as Valentine’s month. That is why this year, we have specially curated Valentine’s Gift Box of hazelnut cashew & chocolate spread, fresh strawberries; this is because of a specific reason. Our Target Customer base is health-conscious people who do not want to compromise on their health even during celebrations, so we have crafted a perfect match of our healthy yet equally yummy Hazelnut-Cashew & Chocolate Spread (which has no preservatives, added oil, and is sweetened with unrefined sugar) and Fresh Strawberries. We have intentionally not opted for the stuff overloaded with sugars or Harmful Chemicals because we firmly believe that our customers express love for each other and their loved ones. Their health should also remain our top priority.
Our second line of Valentine’s Day focuses on gifts straight from our Ice Cream line. We have a full range of chocolate flavours (Sinful Chocolate, Belgian Chocolate, Chocolate Factory, Choco Heaven, Forest Bathing etc.) and, of course, our very popular Strawberry Crush ice cream. We have our dedicated customer base for our products all the year along. The main segment of our gifting options comes from our regular product lines, Valentine’s Day is no exception. In spite of our extremely hectic working hours during festivals including Valentine’s Day, oOur inventory gets managed very well, mainly because of three factors.
Our main proportion of our gifting segment comes from our already existing product lines.
We include 3rd party delivery options like WeFast, DTDC etc especially during this time period.
We also undertake customized order productions
The Baker’s Dozen
We look at the sales of the last one month for all the products that we are looking to promote on Valentine’s and then project the demand based on that data, keeping a certain % of buffer of course. Managing orders is based on our standard operating procedures, and is a by-product of the forecasted demand. Therefore the crucial part of all of this is the ‘demand forecasting.
Valentine’s Day is a special moment for us. Every time a customer picks a Zouk product to gift to their partner, it means a lot. They chose us over so many options for this special moment. While our bags are chosen as gifts and we do see a spike in sales, this year we are focussing on Self Love too.
Oftentimes, we take so much effort and stress in finding the right gift for our partner that we forget to get something special for ourselves. So, at Zouk, we are nudging consumers to pick our cruelty-free, handcrafted product, just for themselves. So far, we are seeing good support and hope to continue saying this throughout the year.
We are not a gifting startup and we don’t hold inventory. So it’s not really been a problem but however, during high peak seasons, we do manage like a lot of these. For example, during Diwali, if we manage, we don’t manage inventory, but we work with the brands that he’s working with, and manage logistics extremely tightly, like basically speak to all our stakeholders including logistics partners and brands and sort of manager experience really tightly. We’re very cognizant of when collections go up on the website, go away from the outset so that no customer is left disappointed that their order doesn’t reach them on time. We give our all to make sure things reach everyone on time.
The article is contributed by Marut Bhardwaj – Country Head, Potential Project.
Compassion is the willingness to improve the lives of others around you.
Rather than merely providing the bare necessities to keep employees happy and productive so that the company can make more money, a compassionate leader wants to help them thrive. In addition to having a long-term vision, compassionate leadership requires wisdom in directing the organization towards a human way of working and taking necessary initiatives to guarantee employee well-being in the present moment.
Traditional business KPIs are no longer enough in an era of increasing healthcare awareness. India’s working-age population is rapidly approaching 500 million people. Each of these workers will expect that their employer will cover the majority of the costs of their own and their families’ medical care. What was formerly considered a nice-to-have perk by certain companies is now considered a must-have.
Since good healthcare is employees’ need, giving appropriate attention to employees’ physical and mental health, therefore, is a big part of compassionate leadership. Especially in this era, where yet another wave of the pandemic has clocked in, leaders have a critical role in helping their employees navigate the turbulence of COVID-19.
The importance of employee healthcare for organizations
Your employees’ health and well-being is not just helpful to them; it generates an efficient and productive working environment that benefits your organisation at large.
Health-related absenteeism and rising healthcare expenditures provide a persistent problem to companies. Employers in the United States, where health benefits are prevalent, pay $575 billion a year in health care expenditures due to poor employee health. Employee absenteeism, chronic ailments that limit production and workers’ compensation are all contributors to this expense.
To be clear, these absences are not solely a result of disease. Poor physical and mental health can lead to a host of problems, including high levels of stress and burnout, as well as a lack of motivation and enthusiasm on the part of employees. In 2019, the World Health Organization predicted that between 2012 and 2030, mental health disorders in India will cost the country a whopping $1.03 trillion in economic losses.
Thus, employee health and productivity are linked: Healthier minds and bodies lead to greater levels of optimism, originality, and drive. Care for your workers means:
Employees who feel cared for and valued
Increased motivation and fulfilment in the work place
What measures can leaders take to improve employee health
After the outbreak of the pandemic, many leaders have started including additional advantages at the workplace, such as primary healthcare, regular testing and wellness programmes. Leaders have realised that small changes can go a long way toward making the workplace a healthy and uplifting place to work. Here are some more measures they can employ in pursuit of the same goal:
Encouraging your staff to participate in health and wellness initiatives.
All facets of an employee’s health are considered in an integrated wellness programme, which can include PTO, focus workshops, yoga sessions. These programmes encompass physical, mental, as well as emotional health of the employees. Providing annual employee health screening tests to make your employees aware of underlying health issues and help them avoid larger health problems in the future is also a part of these initiatives.
Such initiatives can lead to an 80% enhancement in organisational performance if done correctly. Though these initiatives may appear more complex to integrate into the workplace, the expense of unhealthy personnel is ultimately a greater problem.
Build a culture of health
Encourage your employees to exercise on a regular basis. Motivate them to join jogging clubs, gain access to gyms and other facilities, or just make little daily decisions that benefit their health, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Provide enough room for your employees to breathe and be present. Access to natural light, comfortable office seats, and ergonomic workstations all help to keep your staff engaged and healthy.
Leaders must create a work environment that promotes mental health through compassionate leadership, frequent breaks, one-on-one conversations, and other such measures.
Incorporate mindfulness into your wellness programmes
When it comes to a more comprehensive approach to your company’s employee health programme, mindfulness is a good place to begin.
Despite the fact that mindfulness isn’t difficult to develop or practise, it might be tough for novices to know where to begin. An ideal starting point is a company-sponsored course in mindfulness, meditation, or yoga.
It is possible to practise mindfulness in any setting, including a cubicle, a desk, or even a conference room. Leaders can also engage workers by including some mindfulness exercises into their next meeting or outing or directing them into some easy breathing exercises or yoga positions at the end or beginning of a meeting to help them focus.
Conclusion
It’s common for firms and organisations to be unsure of how to identify and cultivate a compassionate leadership style and workplace culture. By focusing on their employees’ most basic need – good health – they can kickstart the transformation to a compassionate workplace.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by ForMen.
ForMen is a wellness startup founded by medical specialist. The starup is focused towards men’s health and wellness products. They offer variety of products ranging from general wellness to weight management, eye, hair and more. Their USP of products is – Synergistic action with high absorbability into the body. The startup is doing quite well with its unique concept of medically researched wellness products for men.
Let’s know more about ForMen – founders, products & services, business model, and the complete startup story.
ForMen is an online holistic Health & Wellness platform for men. It provides wellness products & online doctor consultations. The Health & Wellness startup was founded in 2021 by Dr. Lalitha Reddy and Sreeram Reddy at Hyderabad.
ForMen – Industry
The Men’s health & Wellness industry has gained prominence over the past few years. The Men’s wellness market has more than doubled in India in the last 3-4 years and is all set to grow at 16-17% annually. Most of the growth has happened in the grooming sector. A significant growth may be seen in the supplements sector too in the coming 5 years. Increased willingness of the millennial generation to discuss non-critical health issues, combined with increased awareness and purchasing power will push the nutraceutical category to higher growth rates in the coming years.
Health & Wellness industry is one of the most stable & time tested industry. With the present day lifestyles, increased incidence of lifestyle diseases, newly evolving infections, increased burden of stress and obesity etc the need for wellness, fitness and health will only keep growing. Awareness and interest of people towards wellness will surely rise, so will the adoption of good practices. Wellness industry is growing steadily but surely in the years to come. The startup focus will be on natural, safe and effective products as compared to chemicals.
They aim to carve a niche for themselves in this category with their unique, natural, safe and effective products that are formulated by doctors & pharma experts. They look at the entire country as their market. Children, adults and geriatric population, everyone from Day 0 to Day 100 will do better with supplements. A just born baby needs Vit D supplementation so will a 100 old centenarian. Bringing awareness is the key. They not only had a look at the market research statistics etc, but they also knew from Pan-India colleagues’ experience as well as from surveys and scientific articles, the extent of lifestyle disease burden in India and projected numbers in the next 10 years. This combined data was enough to convince about the huge need for genuine and effective supplements.
Dr. Lalitha Reddy and Sreeram Reddy are the Co-founders of ForMen. They share almost the same vision and passion. They are highly committed to quality.
Sreeram is a serial entrepreneur with a vast and successful experience. He is a graduate of Purdue University, a very passionate and motivated person, who loves to build and nurture companies.
Dr. Lalitha Reddy, is a medical specialist with over 25 years of experience and an alumni of prestigious institutions like JIPMER, NIMS, Osmania General Hospital and ISB. She is the former Vice President of Yashoda Group of Hospitals and presently is Vice President of Telemedicine Society of India – Telangana Chapter. She is a very accomplished academic and scientific trailblazer with many awards and gold medals to her credit. She has many scientific research articles published in various national and international journals, delivered over hundreds of lectures both in India and abroad and is an author of two books.
Her vast experience along with a deep understanding of patient problems and psychology has led her to pave the path for ForMen & ForKids along with her colleagues.
The Core team of ForMen consists of experienced Doctors & Pharmacologists who are well aware of the health & wellness issues existing in the society as well as, have profound knowledge of complex body mechanisms, supplements & drug formulations and kinetics of absorption, utilization, effectivity, dosage, synergy and side effects of various supplements/drugs/molecules in the body.
Having worked in hospitals for the last almost 30 years, the have seen that a huge proportion of sickness could be prevented, if only people focused on preventive health and wellness. In the early days of the pandemic, they had first hand experience of seeing peoples’ panic, different degrees of severity of illness based on age and immune status of a patient and of course the sudden appearance of many ‘so called Immune boosters’ in the market, mostly of poor quality and inadequate / over dosages. The consequences of the un-informed, unaware & gullible people falling prey to various kinds of misinformation also did not escape to their notice. So, their team decided to embark on a journey of Preventive Health & Wellness, where they focus on supplementing nutrients in order to help improve the quality of life of people.
They initially focused on men because men are usually hesitant to approach a doctor or get professional advice for wellness issues. They do not prefer to discuss their performance, sleep, stress, weight or another issues. Also there has been a significant increase in men’s health issues over the last 1-2 decades. Ex-Testosterone levels in men have reduced over the past 2 decades. Sperm counts of men have declined and infertility issues have also risen significantly in men. So has the incidence of Stress and related mental health problems.
So they, as doctors and experts felt that they could contribute significantly by creating a non-judgmental and discrete platform for men which offers genuine, effective & safe formulations in the right combinations and dosages.
The team were aware of the issues that they wanted to help solve, they also had the knowledge of formulations, so all they had to do was to partner with ingredient suppliers and manufacturers who had similar conviction towards quality & safety that they had. They travelled extensively for factory visits and interacted with various manufactures/suppliers before they chose the best, who aligned with their vision and mission. After that came the website development, branding, warehousing, last mile delivery partners etc. The entire journey was a humongous learning for us.
Dr. Laltha Reddy – ForMen Founder talking about Stress
ForMen – Mission and Vision
Vision of ForMen – To be the most trusted health & wellness partner, offering high quality wellness products that are a part of the wellness journey of all Indian men.
Mission of ForMen – To promote wellness, preventive health and encourage discussions on health issues in men.
In the short term, they wish to firmly plant ForMen as a trusted brand that provides expert guidance and genuine, effective and safe products of unique formulations.
In the long term, they wish to grow in the wellness space and become a household name. They foresee expansion in product line as well as international presence. Focus will also be in spreading awareness about wellness, sickness prevention and overall wellbeing.
The Core belief of this experienced team is that preventive health & wellness is extremely important to improve quality of life and prevent sickness. Simple tweaking in lifestyle and supplementing diet with the correct nutraceuticals having the correct ingredients in the right dosages will significantly improve the energy, sleep quality, performance, weight issues, fertility, and other aspects of physical & mental health. They also believe in spreading awareness about the importance of preventive aspects of health, the importance of wellness enabling people to live a life of Quality & Happiness.
ForMen – Name, Tagline, and Logo
ForMen Logo
ForMen logo and Taglines are very simple, direct & reflect what the brand offers.
Since the team wanted to start with Men’s wellness products – The name ForMen was quite literal and fortunately available for us. Tagline ‘ For all things men’ simply followed the logo. Since their kids products were exclusive for kids, the logo ForKids was also designed on similar lines. The tagline ‘ForKids with smart moms ‘was also very apt and simple.
ForMen – Product & Services
All ForMen products presently belong to the following categories:
1. Performance 2. Sleep 3. Skin 4. Weight management 5. Stress 6. GUT Health 7. Eye health 8. Immunity 9. General Wellness 10. Hair
Innovation is seen in the form of formulations, bioavailability & safety. They have a unique combination of herbs, vitamins & minerals that are essential for the body in the process that the product is designed to improve. Ideal effective dosages are very important for a supplement to work effectively. Synergistic action with high absorbability into the body are also the USP’s of the products. They have worked towards maximum efficiency of the product in the body, aligned as per the body’s requirements. The high concentration of Bio actives is another USP. They wish to achieve a balance between high quality & affordability.
ForMen – Business Model & Revenue Model
Please brief us on the business and revenue model. Do include pricing range, profit margin or commission if comfortable.
Our platforms offer products as well as consultations. The consultations are provided discreetly and free of charge. The products are also very reasonably priced, in order to bring them within the reach of most of Indians.
Since they wanted the products to be affordable, our margins are significantly less as compared to similar brands. ForMen have no commission models at present and are not very keen to walk that path. ForMen aims to grow as a D2C brand, whose products sell on the basis of their effectivity, quality & safety.
ForMen – Startup Launch
They launched the brand one fine day, and started advertising on social media. Orders slowly started picking up, mostly by word of mouth. They consciously kept their marketing budgets low and avoided the marketing blitzkrieg as founders were very sure of the slow and steady pace of growth based on ‘word of mouth’. They believe that a satisfied consumer is the best form of marketing.
ForMen – Challenges Faced
Since the core knowledge about wellness, remedies and formulations was with us, the challenge only lay in associating with partners. They did face challenges initially in associating with talent, that understood their core principles and also respected timelines. Due to the pandemic the website designing, raw material procurement & creative agencies were all not able to meet deadlines due to lockdowns, staff falling sick etc. This was a very frustrating aspect, which drove us to optimize their operations better and strengthen in-house skill sets. One of the important lessons for us, was to increase inhouse talent and reduce dependency on external agencies. This is more cost effective more flexible and amenable to quick decision making and course changing, when necessary.
ForMen – Growth
ForMen is headquartered in Hyderabad. Their suppliers & manufacturers are spread across the country.
They have a central warehouse also located in Hyderabad. The company is doing well presently with 8-10% month on month growth. As ForMen expands their product portfolio, the future surely looks bright & shining. Their GMV is around Rs.600 on an average at present. Feedback from consumers has been very positive & encouraging.
ForMen – Funding
Hustle Partners has been doing the initial funding for ForMen. They may go for further funding in the coming 6 months, if they feel the need.
ForMen – Recognition and Achievements
ForMen has been featured in various magazines and have received an award ‘ Icon of the Year – Emerging Start Up Company for year 2021’ from the Times Group.
ForMen – Future Plans
ForMen team has plan to expand their product portfolio of ForMen and ForKids as well as step into International markets. R&D for unique and effective formulations targeted towards various aspects of health is in progress.
ForMen – FAQs
When was ForMen founded?
ForMen was founded in 2021 by Dr. Lalitha Reddy and Sreeram Reddy.
Where is the headquarters of ForMen?
ForMen has its headquarters at Hyderabad.
What are the products offered by ForMen?
ForMen products presently belong to the following categories:
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved byThe Lexicon Group.
In India, the education market is expected to reach US$ 4 billion by 2025. Indian education is changing with large private individuals contributing to improve education in the country. The Educational institutions focus more in enhancing creativity of student and progressive education.
There are several educational institutions under the brand name Lexicon. The Lexicon group of institutes provides visionary and progressive education to children. Read to know the success story of The Lexicon Group, its founders, the startup story, marketing, acquisitions, and more.
Lexicon Group – Company Highlights
Startup Name
The Lexicon Group
Headquarters
Pune
Industry
Education, Wellness, Edtech,Legaltech, Baby care, Print Media, and STEM Toys
Founder
Mr. S. D. Sharma, Mr. Pankaj Sharma, and Mr. Neeraj Sharma
Many individuals turn into entrepreneurs to start a new venture but when they started their transition from the business of publishing into making their vision of creating a school that provides accessible quality education, they were clear that they wanted to make a difference and that is how The Lexicon Schools were conceptualised. Their endeavors are:
Developing a mindset of ‘Believe In Yourself’
Focus on Value Education
Recognise each student is ‘unique’ and hence the approach
Evolving Pedagogies
Develop a thought process on how you can add back to your family, your community, your country, and humanhood at large.
They want to set up schools, where they would help children learn how to exhibit qualities and emotions of love and respect and learn important lessons in honesty, punctuality, respecting time, and most importantly loving oneself… being an ambassador of positivity.
The students should be known for more things than just being professionals or academicians’- this is the thought with which they started establishing the schools. One thing led to the other, and they decided to branch out into graduate and post-graduate education too. They wanted the learning philosophy to flow into their lives, leading them to hit the ground running when the time comes. As they have grown various companies touch every part of their lives from when they are babies to the education they undertake or prepare for competitive exams or when they are on the rocking chair reading the Pune Mirror lazily on a Sunday.
The Lexicon Group – Industry
They believe in the philosophy to compete with yourself only. Competition is not about sizes, it is not about other brands, Competition should be a benchmark that helps you become better than what you were yesterday. The best is to compete with yourself; there are dangers of feeling you are the best too soon. They never looked at market sizes. They focussed on how to overgrow and then become new in itself.
Mr. S. D. Sharma is the Founder of The Lexicon Group.
Mr. Pankaj Sharma – President & Management Trustee, The Lexicon Group.
Mr. Neeraj Sharma – Vice Chairman, The Lexicon Group
The Lexicon Group – Startup Story
After they set up the Education Ecosystem revolving around Lexicon Kids, The Lexicon Schools, Lexicon Institute of Hotel Management, and Lexicon Management Institute of Leadership & Excellence, the remaining businesses happened because of the people around. They never ideated what to start, but when they come across people with passion and expertise they become the platform to amplify their potential. So over the last few years they focused on meeting nice human beings and creating meaningful relationships and the businesses that have grown have been a by-product of the same.
Let’s take the example of EduCrack, one of their professors was keen to create a technology ecosystem for the preparation for competitive exams. They supported his vision with the technology know how, his academic knowledge, their marketing and brand acumen and build EduCrack from the first click. Similarly for Thinker Place or any of the other companies. It revolves around the Concept of ‘P.I.P – People, Integrity, Passion; and the rest falls in place.
If the person has the zeal to do something and a plan and a dream; they are willing to gamble bucks on it. Investing in people has usually paid off well.
Their initial focus was to create a sustainable educational ecosystem to contribute to the society and country. A holistic approach towards model citizens, better community outreach and most importantly value-based individuals contributing to the greater good personally and professionally. Their diversification also has the same goal, where each of the products and services are in one way or the other contributing to the betterment of the individual or/and the society.
Lets look at CITTA – Whilst Akanksha Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of CITTA was pursuing her bachelor’s degree in apparel industry management from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles she came across various articles of ‘Baby Care giants came under huge media scrutiny a few years ago as multiple lawsuits were slapped stating companies were using asbestos-containing talc that can cause cancer..’ This got her working on CITTA (inspired by the Sanskrit word chit, which means “pure consciousness”) – a natural baby bath and skincare brand that is cruelty and toxin free.
The Lexicon Group – Name, Tagline, and Logo
The Lexicon Group of Institutes Logo
The word Lexicon means a dictionary. The name comes from my philosophy of an educational institution – a school for example doesn’t necessarily only stand for academics or sports… it means and adds more. Like a dictionary has meaning for all the words, so do The Lexicon Schools provide a meaning for every student- wherein the student learns academic subjects, engages in extra-curricular activities, understands the nuances of life, starts believing in himself or herself, and lot more.
The logo is equally simple – a shield signifying an environment which is safe, secure and nurturing and each of the colors on the shield focusing on different elements of growth. So Blue stands for Learning, Red stands for Innovating, Orange for Excelling and Green for Growing… these four elements have a 360° approach and are not restricted to academics, professional or personal but more.
The moto for The Lexicon School and The Lexicon Group is mindfully chosen.. ‘Believe in Yourself’, probably the three strongest words listed together which have the potential of changing lives if you believe in them and that is what Lexicon group try to ensure. Their team across works toward instilling a mindset of believing in Yourself as you are what you are because of your beliefs. Tomorrow you will be what you will be only because of your beliefs too. Belief is probably the core of any human being and if you can believe in yourself, you are a winner. That is how the name Lexicon came about.
The President of the Lexicon Group was into selling books and the maximum he sold was the Lexicon Encyclopedia. The meaning of Lexicon always stood strongly in his mind and when he had to name the Schools, there was natural synergy to choose the name – The Lexicon Schools and registered it.
The Lexicon Group – Getting Students after The Launch
This was probably the most difficult thing to do, forget the first 100, the first student was a challenge and it took years to get the first 100 in… there was no looking back as today only in Pune Maharashtra, the Student-Parent community stands at 20000 +. After they launched the school they did multiple marketing activities which included the use of billboards, (something that was not standard practice 20 years ago) for everyone in Pune to know about it.
They got an Expat Principal who was working with Cambridge Board to lead the school. Lexicon group invested in experienced teachers with repute. The mix was perfect but unfortunately what they lacked were students. They launched the school and they had EMIs to pay, loans to be paid and salaries to be given. But they weren’t making a penny.
They admitted 19 students in the first year. After much struggle, the 19 became 40 in the next year and then the 40 became 60. The progression was slow but every year they grew… the first 5 years were very difficult personally, financially and professionally but one thing stood out… they believed in ourselves and Lexicon group was committed to win. After they got the first 100, it turned to 10,000 very quickly.
The 100 to 10,000 was all about delivering the promise. So, if you can continue delivering all that you have promised then 100 to 10,000 becomes easy. Once you pursue excellence with integrity and put people first the journey is easy. Over the years, they have ensured that everyone they associated with, they have been honest in the interaction and in the engagement. They also strongly believe that they have not only delivered their promises but have exceeded expectations across and thereby made their hard work, diligence, and commitment to deliver on the promises the catalyst to their growth.
The Lexicon Group – Challenges Faced
There were many things which didn’t work. There were very few things that worked. But overcoming each needed persistence. Eventually, things worked out. The founder and team toiled and made it successful. Things that have worked have taken my focus, energy, and persistence along with help from the right people who have ensured to see things come to their culmination and succeed.
The best part is that you don’t run an organization or your home or any enterprise, the people you associate with do that. As the Patron of the Lexicon family, my role is to look after the members in it. So, you don’t run the organization, but you look after the people and the people look after the organization. They have just built relationships with the people, they have done wonders for the organization.
The Lexicon Group – Marketing
They always believe in PR-led campaign. So, whatever they have done, they have put it into the newspaper or they have promoted it digitally. They have always used this communication strategy because they would like their stakeholders or prospective customers to know what they are doing right now. With advertisements, you are telling what you want to sell but through information and PR-driven thought process you are giving your customers and users a peek into the real you, what you are doing, what your initiatives are, what worked for you. They like to talk about what is happening now, how they are making news in the present, and what they plan to do as they grow. They are also extremely particular to be honest in their communication.
A simple example goes like this…. Years ago, The Lexicon Group got in a few scientists of the city together and they made their students meet these scientists and said since now they are all in one room where they have the top scientists and you students… can they all together and create something that this city or this country have never seen before? So that’s when their students and the scientist got together and created the cheapest computer then of the country. As an organization, they could bring about innovation and contribute.
In India, it’s unfortunate that we don’t have a research bent of mind. Getting children to explore, think and innovate is something Lexicon Group want to do. They want to encourage them to develop a research bent of mind. To create a curious mindset and hence they continuously encourage at all levels, be it their pre-schools, K-12 schools or their other institutions.
Once, through an event, they instilled a spark of survival and entrepreneurship in the students of Lexicon MILE (PGDM and Global MBA Courses) and the results were unbelievable. They gave a task to the students and took away their money, gave each of them Rs. 500 and asked them go out and fend for themselves. One ground rule was set – Nothing Illegal will be done and no borrowing of money. Odd jobs were done like selling flowers, wiping cars, teaching dance to some society members and things like this. This discovery of being able to fend for themselves without prior support was a priceless reward for all together. This is one reason students of Lexicon Group of Institutes develop self-reliance and an entrepreneurial bent of mind.
The Lexicon Group – Acquisitions
Lexican group has recently acquired MultiFit. MultiFit has a Pan-India, UK and UAE presence with close to 40 gyms across. The company once a power-house lost out in the pandemic and they have taken it over giving an entry into the arena of health and fitness. Their focus is to resurrect the brand and take it to its destined success.
They also acquired Pune Mirror from Times of India. As a 180 years company, it is for the first time that they have liquidated some of their assets. They are amongst the only people who have acquired something from the TOI and this endeavor has done extremely well under them. This has also given them an entry and a foothold into the media industry. They have plans for Indian media to look different. They are focused in going into multiple cities with multiple mediums. It could be a newspaper today, could be digital, or even electronic tomorrow. So electronic media is their next bet. Their attention centered on existing brands that are ready to sell and they would be very keen to buy that. If they do not get an existing brand, they will eventually get into making one on their own.
The Lexicon Group – Future Plans
Each of the verticals of Lexicon group is exploring and aiming for growth.
With educational institutes they want to have a pan-India footprint in the next 5 years and are looking for like-minded partners.
At MultiFit the goal is to achieve a milestone of 200 gyms in the next 3-5 years.
At EduCrack they are looking at 5 lakh users per month as the the online coaching platform for all the competitive examinations.
They have a brand which is called CITTA specializing in baby products made with natural ingredients. They want to expand the brand to pan India and help all millennial parents in their parenting journey.
They are also looking at a multi-country spread soon.
Thinker Place is a unique company which has got huge plans of replacing books with educational toys. It is again going to be traveling across the length and breadth of the world.
They want to create The Lexicon University in future and they are all working towards the same.
FAQs
Who is the founder of The Lexicon Group?
Mr. S. D. Sharma, Mr. Pankaj Sharma, and Mr. Neeraj Sharma are the founders of The Lexicon Group.
When was The Lexicon Group founded?
The Lexicon Group was founded in 2006.
What are the schools under The Lexicon Group of Institutes?
Some of prominent schools under The Lexicon Group are:
The Lexicon Kids pre-schools
The Lexicon Schools
The Lexicon Rainbow School
Lexicon Management Institute of Leadership and Excellence
The launch of the deodorant brand Fogg in 2010 has taken the market by storm with its USP being ‘No gas, only Spray’. Fogg is a subsidiary of the Vini Group of Companies. It was the brainchild of Darshan Patel, the founder of Vini Cosmetics.
The deodorant industry has over 500 brands in India itself. Any brand that has to come into the industry in such a scenario should have multiple qualities that will sell in the market. On top of that, the products should thus be designed based on the needs of the consumers.
Through Fogg’s unique marketing strategy and consistent commitment, today the company holds more than 12% of the market share. Breaking the market stereotypes with a particular product type, they lead the category consistently even 20 years since then. This article will look at the marketing strategy of Fogg that played a significant role in catapulting the company’s brand value to its zenith.
Considering the extent of competition and available options, it is all the more important to have their own unique signature when it comes to pitching in a new company. The master brains behind Fogg has done the meticulous market research to identify untapped market niches which have helped the company gain market share and category dominance.
As mentioned earlier, Fogg’s signature was its non-gaseous sprays that were groundbreaking as far as the Deo industry was concerned. The best part about its pitching is that they were able to identify one of the most inconspicuous and yet significant drawbacks in the industry that was existent since the rise of the category and was left unattended for a long while.
By working on such a gap, Fogg was not only able to explore untouched areas but also show the audience why they are different in a loud manner. They were able to carve a niche market out for themselves like no other brands in the industry could ever do before.
Providing a Unique Value Proposition
One of the best and the most traditional form of marketing is through word of mouth. It is the most authentic form of marketing that cannot be simulated. It can only be achieved by giving the best product to the users.
Fogg has never held themselves back in that regard as well. There was a general opinion that the deodorants by Fogg lasted longer than the rest of the deodorants in the same price range.
Moreover, the users could actually feel that the company was providing them with what they promised. Fogg guaranteed eight hundred sprays per bottle. They also assured that every deodorant has undergone dermatologically tested. Thus, by providing a holistic experience of a novel deodorant to the people, they were able to create a brand value in the most authentic form.
Efficient Campaigning
Familiarising the customers about the brand is the first thing that Fogg did through its marketing campaigns. They had launched products for young men and women along with a few products for the older generation as well. Since the target audience was the middle class, it was important to advertise through electronic and print media extensively.
Fogg, in fact, has done their campaigning so well that their advertisements in all mediums became a talk of the town when it was launched. Apart from television and newspapers, they also advertised on all social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook etc.
They had also advertised extensively on their websites as well. Their tagline ‘Kya Chai Raha Hai’ became a big trend during its launch. They also had other popular taglines like ‘Bina gas wala body spray’, ’Phir Khatam’, ‘Doesn’t Get Blown Away’ and so on.
Fog also set a standard by releasing specific products for both men and women at the same time. Additionally, they also launched combo packs as well.
Their ads successfully showed how the deodorants by their rival brands are in fact wasteful when compared to their own product.
The stereotypical trend of sexist advertisements that deodorants generally go after were broken by Fogg. Their advertisements were different by exploring unique themes and narratives.
One of the most important aspects when it comes to marketing the product is also its accessibility to the target audience for that and efficient distribution channel is inevitable. Fogg deodorant adopted a marketing strategy that would directly penetrate into the Indian mindset as well as the market.
The efficient distribution channel of its parent company has significantly helped Fogg in developing a very strong network and real presence in the markets across the country.
Today Fogg products are readily available at grocery stores, corner shops supermarkets to malls. It is also available via E-commerce and online stores. By maintaining a constant presence in the vicinity of the consumers they were able to ensure market dominance and consumer liking.
Calculated Pricing
The unique penetration pricing policy adopted by Fogg deodorant has helped in aligning its vision along with the practicality of its consumption. As mentioned earlier, the company targeted middle-class men and women and hence kept their product prices at a reasonable and affordable rate. It has helped them capture more markets. They also offer value for money to the consumers.
By carefully assimilating to the market situation Fogg have been able to maintain its top position in the market. On close observation, it can be understood that the price of fog deodorant was always at par with the prices of its rival brand.
Through carefully crafted strategies and the identification of an untapped niche, Fogg has been able to develop its own brand value in the industry. There is no wonder that Fogg had taken the deodorant industry by storm within 2 years of its launch.
Their advertisements that have been unique and consistent over the years is in itself the biggest testament to the fact that marketing the product in the right manner is the most significant and game-changing element of any business model. The case of Fogg cosmetics can be taken up as an encouraging example of what new ideas can do.
FAQs
What is the USP of Fogg perfume?
The USP of Fogg is its deodorants last much longer than its competitors.
Who manufactures Fogg Deo?
Vini Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd manufactures Fogg deodorant in India.
Why is Fogg so successful?
One of the reasons behind Fogg’s success is its unique marketing strategy and its deodorants last much longer than other brands.
Baishali Das Adhikari
