Brands
Brand Joy’s agenda is to be known to everyone: Poulomi Roy
MUMBAI: As a nation, we are growing, our disposable income is rising and the world is looking at us when it comes to pushing the global economy. From a layman's or a consumer’s perspective, when he rises up the ladder, the second thing after good food is to look and feel good. This is the belief that CMO of RSH Global, which owns Joy Personal Care, Poulomi Roy holds. For her the personal care market of India is a huge industry that offers a wide scope for a brand like hers to bloom.
The opportunity is vast but so is the fierce competition from legacy brands like Ponds and Himalaya. In an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Roy elaborates on the brand’s marketing strategy to establish its identity and drive a steady year-on-year growth amidst all the ‘big’ names.
Roy reckons that in today’s time, it is important for brands to have a relationship with their customers. “Of course your product has to be good and the pricing strategy has to be right but beyond that, every brand today wants to have recognition in the mind of the consumer,” she says.
“We have been marketing our brand since 2011 and our strategy for all these years has been to reach out to maximum people. Therefore, television plays a major role in whatever we do. Also, we like to create content that is unique and relevant, establishing communication that is slightly differentiated from the rest of the brands,” she adds.
Joy’s communication has definitely been unique and different. The campaigns with comedian Bharti Singh and the latest one with actress Mouni Roy are examples of the meaningful stories Joy has been weaving with its ads. She believes that these types of campaigns make the consumer feel closer to the brand.
Another interesting anecdote, which Roy shares with much humility, is her understanding of the fact that no consumer will switch to Joy products overnight after watching the ads. She says, “The fact of the matter is that when you do something interesting and make something that resonates with the people, you start getting compared to the brands that are in existence for the past 30-40 years. Due to the language you use to communicate, the consumers start taking notice. I am not saying that from tomorrow they will stop using what they are using and will get converted to our brand, but the next time they are shopping and see my product placed amidst several others, it will not be unknown to them.”
She further adds, “They will recognise my product and will feel to give it a try. After testing it they will see that it is light, gets absorbed easily, feels good on the skin, and is also very reasonably priced. And that’s my chance to convert them. Thus, my communication agenda is very clear—my brand Joy should not be anonymous to anyone.”
The aim is to show that Joy is about good quality products at affordable prices. The target for the brand is the middle-class segment of the Hindi heartland and it has already been performing exceptionally well in cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Amritsar and Ludhiana. For the next growth phase, Joy is looking towards tier 1 and tier 2 cities of Maharashtra and eastern India to establish its products.
With such a target-specific approach, Joy is spending most of its advertising budget on television. Roy reveals that around 80 per cent of her ad spends goes to TV while just 7.5 per cent is spent on print and digital. Rest 5 per cent is contributed towards product placement and activation.
Roy also shed some light on the brand’s plan for 2019. She reveals that Joy will be launching more products in the moisturising category in the coming year. She also notes that further in the coming future, Joy will be focussing more on providing targeted action-oriented complete solutions under one umbrella so a person who is using Joy’s moisturisers is not using some other brand’s soap or shampoo.
She is hopeful that soon Joy will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all the legacy brands that are dominating the Indian market currently and is relying on the strong research and development backing of her team in creating natural products that give longer-lasting results without any side-effects.
Brands
Abhinav Rastogi named global marketing director for YouTube Shopping
Google veteran to scale creator commerce and expand shopping across global markets
SINGAPORE: Abhinav Rastogi has stepped into a new role as global marketing director for YouTube Shopping, marking the latest chapter in a more than decade-long career at Google.
Rastogi, who took on the position in February and is based in Singapore, will lead global marketing for YouTube Shopping, a platform designed to connect creators, viewers and merchants in a single ecosystem. His remit includes expanding the service into new markets and strengthening its positioning as a growth channel for both creators and brands.
In a reflective note on the transition, Rastogi pointed to a simple but powerful idea driving the role. For years, creators have quietly built trust with audiences through consistent and authentic content, and that trust often shapes purchasing decisions. What is changing now, he said, is the infrastructure around that behaviour. YouTube Shopping aims to make it easier for viewers to discover and buy products recommended by creators they already follow.
The scale is already significant. More than half a million creators have joined the programme, with recent expansion into Japan through a partnership with Rakuten signalling further global ambitions.
Rastogi believes the future of shopping on YouTube will be driven by a blend of creators, content and communities. In his view, it is the human voice behind the screen, not just the product, that ultimately builds trust and drives discovery.
Prior to this role, he served as director of marketing, YouTube Asia Pacific, where he led regional marketing across creator engagement, brand building and reputation. During that time, he played a key role in launching and scaling YouTube Shopping across eight markets in the region.
Earlier stints at Google include group product marketing manager, consumer apps, overseeing growth for products such as Search, Maps and Assistant across India and Southeast Asia, and product marketing manager roles spanning consumer apps and YouTube, where he contributed to launches including YouTube Music, YouTube Originals and YouTube Shorts.
Rastogi began his career in consulting with Boston Consulting Group and A.T. Kearney, before moving into the technology sector. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Alongside his corporate role, he is also an active angel investor, backing early-stage startups in consumer technology and electric mobility across India and Southeast Asia.
As he settles into the new role, Rastogi is betting on a future where every video can double up as a storefront, and where commerce feels less like a transaction and more like a recommendation from a trusted voice.
