For Anurita Chopra, Head of Marketing, India Subcontinent, Haleon, a world-leading consumer health company, the overall health consciousness of the people is the top priority.
In a conversation with Storyboard18, she said, “We have brands like Eno, which is all about food; Centrum and Sensodyne, which are all about overall consciousness; and Crocin, Otrivin, and Iodex, which are more problem-solving. That makes us ask: What’s the overall consciousness towards health in India, and how is that changing? How are people talking about health and taking care of their health? How invested are they in their health?” Edited excerpts:
The creator economy has taken the world by storm. Which influencers and trends are you following?
When I look back, it’s not so much about a trend or a fact that has taken over. When you look at a large trend, you understand that there is a degree of influence that we all live with. So, the first degree of influence is one’s family, close friends, teachers, etc.
So, the kind of trends that would come into play for me would be the overall health consciousness of people.
We have brands like Eno, which are all about food. We have brands like Centrum and Sensodyne, which are all about your overall consciousness. We have brands like Crocin, Otrivin, and Iodex, which are more problem-solution brands.
That makes us ask: What’s the overall consciousness towards health in India, and how is that changing? How are people talking about health and taking care of their health? How invested are they in their health?
Second, how are people spending? We truly believe that overall affluence leads to a discerning attitude towards taking better care of yourself, which could manifest into an external being.
A lot of these sub–trends are something that we follow to just do better as an organisation. More importantly, what we strongly believe in is giving everyday health to people.
Centrum was launched in India last year. What are the marketing strategies in place to position it in a very unique manner among the audience?
Centrum is the composition of the right multivitamins that one needs daily. It is telling the consumer, ‘Look, your daily diet is not enough.’
So, we are not talking to people who are sporadically taking vitamins or supplements. Indians believe that their diet of dal, sabzi, yoghurt, and carbs is good enough.
So, they’re trying to consume everything. These are the people who take the trouble to have a balanced diet. Then there are a whole lot of people who don’t take the trouble to do so.
The point is that your body needs a certain mix and balance (of vitamins) and no matter how hard you try, you can’t give your body that balance every single day. Eight out of 10 women would have some kind of vitamin deficiency. Three out of five women have some kind of ailment after the age of 40.
We are here to take care of the vitamin needs of women, who are pretty much the centrepin of the family. And she knows that this is what her body needs, especially as she ages, and this is what her family also needs, especially as they grow and flourish.
That’s the role of daily vitamins in a family’s life. That’s the role of Centrum. And therefore, when you think of multivitamins, it should be Centrum. And when you think of Centrum, it should be multivitamins.
What marketing-related content do you consume in your free time?
I’m a sucker for interesting stuff that I spot anywhere. It could be something that I’m reading.
We are on multiple platforms, be it Instagram, regular social media platforms, or even great content that is put out by marketers on LinkedIn.
But anything that catches your fancy could even be circulated on WhatsApp. It’s not so much about where you’re learning from. It’s more about you keeping your eyes open and seeing which work is catching your fancy and which work is making a difference.
Because it could be about differentiation, it could be about category creation, it could be about consistency, it could be about experimentation, and there could be so many themes. If your mind is like a sponge, you will be constantly in the absorption phase.
There is a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity, and hustle culture. So what steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues? And what advice would you give to your peers, colleagues, and next-gen marketers on this?
The first and biggest thing is prioritisation. Very early in life, you should learn to be able to prioritise — the things that matter and the things that are needlessly taking away your time. By that, I do not mean that you should not have a switch-off time. There are enough conversations within the team when we are talking about the hopeless junk content that we consume, maybe at the end of the day, because your mind also needs to detox.
And you must take that time to just be able to relax and unwind. So whatever you fancy, be it sports or music, just have a passion — something that enables you to have a fuller and richer personality.
How do you sustain yourself? How do you nourish yourself? How do you feed your body and your soul? Because a charged you is the best version of you, and a happy you is the best version of you.
Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice during the week to steal a few minutes of me-time for yourself and keep the momentum going?
I like yoga and meditation, which I do.
I like going for walks and getting into nature. But for me, it is important to zone out. And zoning out could be just writing. This is a great way to put your mind into anything effortless that gives you joy and makes you keep going.
I am also a very strong believer in flow. Just flow, and your body and your mind will tell you what works for you. Don’t do things just because others are doing them. Do what gives you pleasure so that you go back for more.
What does your weekend look like?
I have twin children and a Golden Retriever (pet). At some point in time, one does start feeling like a master juggler. If you’re very clear about the priorities in your life, then that’s what takes your time. So yes, weekends are all about family, close friends, and things that I love doing.
Share one work hack and one life hack you swear by…
Work hack: As you grow, you must learn to trust people far more than you know yourself. And you must know that they will do a good job. Don’t do their job for them. What does this attitude result in? First, it frees up your time. Second, it develops them. Third, it gives them empowerment. Fourth, they will learn, and so will you.
Fifth, you will learn a different approach to solving the same problem because if you were to approach it, you would approach it in your way. But maybe there’s a better way or a different way. So, you end up having a rich and empowered team.
Life hack: Prioritisation and being ruthless about it. As long as you’re clear that this is what you want to do, don’t look back and say, ‘Oh, I wish I’d done that.’
What are you reading, and any recommendations?
I picked up Ikigai, and that’s nice. There’s a book called Flourish, which is lovely.
It’s often noticed that people who have hope and optimism and know a lot of things that they want to do are happier. When they are happier, then they do more of those things.
So what makes you flourish? What are the relationships? What is your philosophy in life? The clearer you are about those things, the more you will automatically deprioritise a lot of junk in your life.
A piece of wisdom you would like to share
Firstly, never look back and think you could have done better. Give your best for this moment, always. Don’t ever live a life of regret.
You could possibly have a different approach as you get older and say, ‘Listen, now I will do it this way, which is fine.’ But, at that point in time in the past, you did the best that you could, which will enable you to have confidence in yourself.
Are you being the best that you can be? If there’s something holding you back, then what is it? Figure these out.