‘Move beyond data to gather insights’

The free-wheeling marketing conversations on M4G Talkies continue into the fifth episode, with Ritu Mittal, Head of Marketing & Digital, Consumer Health – South Asia, Bayer, telling show host Meenakshi Menon, Founder, GenSxty Tribe, how Bayer is steering the consumer health conversations in India, about leveraging out-of-home (OOH) advertising as a medium of communication, on data versus insights, and how marketers need to be grounded in the good old fundamentals of consumer understanding and story-telling.        

Drawing on her observations and journey with Bayer, Ritu highlights the need to make self-care as being central to the conversations on consumer health, especially in a country where everyday health is not a critical priority in the general scheme of things. This is where the right communication message and mediums play an important  role. She draws on the example of Bayer’s promotion of Suprdyn Naturals for men. Interestingly, the markets where OOH formats like Transit was used, there was good traction, reinforcing the relevance of OOH for the brand, as she points out.    

Addressing young marketers of today, Ritu cautions against being overwhelmed by data and the over-reliance on it. She urges them to instead to draw insights from conversations with consumers and observations that are rooted in everyday life. Ritu is unambiguous in her message: “Stay updated in terms of learning to use AI and new-age technology tools, but don’t stray away from the fundamentals of consumer understanding and story-telling. 

The conversation between Ritu and Meenakshi indeed spotlights the middle ground for young marketers as they navigate their way through data deluge, AI-led research and content creation and the pressures of meeting marketing objectives.  

Finally, nailing the answer to that one key question of our times: How to strike the work life balance? Ritu says, “There nothing called work-life balance,”. Watch the full video to know more.      

In this episode of M4G Talkies, Sharatee Ghosh makes a compelling case for why life insurance is the one financial product that working women in India consistently overlook, and why that needs to change. Drawing on research behind Aditya Birla Sun Life’s new Her Insurance initiative, she reveals a startling insight: even working women in double-income households feel their families won’t miss them financially if something were to happen to them. Her strategy to address this is built on simplicity, relatability, and commitment, asking women not to buy immediately, but to pledge first, understand the product, and then act. The campaign, she explains, is less about selling insurance and more about creating an entirely new category built around women’s financial needs. 

On the role of outdoor media, Sharatee is an unambiguous believer. She shares how Aditya Birla Sun Life ran what she describes as India’s first AI-powered billboard in Juhu, where over 2,500 Mumbaikars scanned a QR code and saw their future selves on a hoarding within 10 minutes, all anchored around the question, “Aap boodhe hoke kya banoge?” The outdoor became content for social media, and social media reactions fed back onto outdoor, creating a full loop. Going forward, she sees digital OOH as a reminder medium with the power to nudge real behavioural change, and with Her Insurance, she hopes to eventually take the campaign to hoardings that display the number of pledges made and crores of life cover secured by Indian women.