Eureka Forbes revamp couldn't have come at a better time: CTO Shashank Sinha

NEW DELHI: Joining the league of brands like VI, Intel, and Cadbury, Mumbai-based consumer goods company Eureka Forbes Ltd adopted a new brand positioning and identity in 2020 after three decades of operations. The brand, which pioneered the basic principles of health and hygiene in the category, embarked on a journey in pursuit of thriving in tough times and leaving behind footprints of a positive difference, taking  forward its philosophy of ‘friends for life.’ In a recent conversation with Indiantelevision.com’s Mansi Sharma, Eureka Forbes Ltd chief transformation officer Shashank Sinha talked in detail about this move, the new brand identity, and how 2020 fared for the company. Edited excerpts follow:

On adopting a new brand identity in 2020

This revamp was in process for us for quite some time. In fact, our initial plan was to announce it at our 2020 annual general meeting in the month of April. However, the circumstances that we found ourselves in the wake of Covid2019 lockdown did not even allow us to host the meeting. Thus, the announcement was postponed and as things started looking better, we took the call to roll it out. 

Obviously, it was a challenging year and time, but it also provided us with the right background to better push forwards our improved agenda of ensuring the health and hygiene of the customers with our products. 

On the rationale behind the rebranding

Every brand finds itself in our position someday, from where they want to celebrate their successful journey while also preparing for a better future. This is that time for us, when we are looking back proudly on our almost four-decade-long journey and also reflecting on how we are poised for the future. I believe there couldn’t have been a better year than 2020 to start with this new journey. 

On the new brand positioning

When we had started our journey in 1982, we were possibly the first ones to pioneer this thought of health, hygiene, and safety with our products. We promised to tackle viruses then, at least for the water and air category. In fact, our brand of water purifiers, Aquaguard, became synonymous with the category. This was made possible because of our commitment to creating a better world with a positive difference. So, this philosophy has been there for quite a while. We are now going ahead to strengthen it in tandem with the times that we are in now. ‘A healthy world. A protected you. A happy us, revisited for the changing times’ is the new vision statement, which spells trust, authenticity and health.

We will keep functioning standing tall on the three tenets of our identity; people, society, and a better world. 

So, our focus will be on improving the lives and experiences of people who are working for us. We have always taken pride in building great careers and lives. That will continue. For consumers, we are promising to try and make a difference in their lives. All this will contribute to a better society and overall a better future for the world. 

On the new brand identity

We have rolled out a new logo for Eureka Forbes, which we are calling the ‘Posibol’ – a combination of positivity and symbol. This creates an internal focus within ourselves and the forward-looking arrow also shows the direction we are moving in. 

Secondly, of our four core businesses, we have combined the three – Euroclean, Aeroguard, and Eurovigil – under the brand name Forbes. It was done because of the fact that people identify all these products as Eureka Forbes’ ones and the brand identity is rather strong. 

Our range of water-related products will continue under the Aquaguard name. We have slightly tweaked the Aquaguard logo as well, to initiate the change yet keep it recognisable to the loyal customer base. 

We have worked with a number of agencies including Taproot dentsu and Bombay DC for various aspects of this rebranding. Our internal teams have also contributed immensely, right from the new logos to the brand philosophy. As we go ahead, we will bring on newer partners to take forward the vision. 

On the marketing strategy

For us, the prime face of our brand are people we call Eurochamps. These are people like me and our on-ground teams who have been assisting our customers on a regular basis. Real people meeting real customers is our core marketing strategy. 

Apart from that, Madhuri Dixit and her husband Dr (Sriram) Nene have been closely associated with us for years now. I don’t see any change happening there. 

Additionally, the new logos have already been rolled out on our products and digital platforms. We haven’t rolled out a special corporate campaign for that thus far. 

2020 was a muted year for us like most brands, but we are certainly planning on a marketing strategy for 2021-22. Both television and digital will play an important role for that. I see the spends getting divided into a 50:50 ratio between traditional and modern platforms. As far as print is concerned, I don’t think it is dead for us. However, its role and relevancy have certainly changed with digital getting in place.