MAM
Advertising agencies should recalibrate around Covid2019
As Covid2019 continues to sweep through the world, global ad spending is also sliding southwards. With major events being cancelled and slowdown in demands for lifestyle and consumer brands, marketing budgets are being slashed and advertisers are trying to find a silver lining among the gloomy clouds over the urban skyscrapers. USD 4.5 billion a day! That is how much the pandemic is costing the Indian economy! This has trickled down to every sector. With consumption dropping, manufacturing is seeing a halt. This would have been the wedding season in India, with increased spending on jewellery, etc. Sunscreen and myriad skincare-related television commercials would have by now been urging us to fill the online carts. But Covid2019 has impacted marketing and sales negatively. This variable can be fatal to creative agencies who fail to adapt to what we expect will come next.
Given the current scenario, we have to wait until September when things start to ease up. Being nimble is the key to the game. In fact, we the advertising people are a race of humans who are no strangers to disruption and turmoil. We have overcome all kinds of pressures – economic, financial, political, natural, and many more. As the Covid2019 is no longer viewed as a short-lived outbreak and the world is calibrating itself to settle around it and with it, advertising agencies will also have to recalibrate. In fact, many mainline or legacy agencies will have to brace themselves for the slump that is yet to come. With businesses being conducted online now, creative pitches, client meetings, brainstorming and such have all moved online, and remote terminals are our new offices now. Agencies that cater to tech innovations, digital and internal B2B can expect some sort of sustainability.
While agencies understand the need to change, the same is required from clients’ side too. At Hotstuff, we mobilized our resources in March, even before the actual lockdown, setting up new systems and work management protocols that ensured business continuity. We helped our clients to do so too and adapt. During the lockdown we even created TVCs from home that set a precedence and a trend for other marketers to follow suit. Innovation is the key and as Indians, we are known to innovate the best during crises. This has helped us churn out campaigns and create communication pieces in full swing. As an agency we did not stop at that but kept our clients engaged through our huge network of experts who could add value to its world of clients. Our Tattva Knowledge Series of webinars are a huge success and only growing in its reach.
Advertisements are nothing but human stories and one of the key factors that make them touch our hearts is how we interpret and imagine our interaction with each other. In pandemic times, this significant emotion itself is of high risk. Though our social interactions have lessened and are almost at a standstill, we are still humans, capable of managing all that and much more through our subtle perceptions.
Physical expressions have evolved and are evolving to subtle expressions. Creative people are catching that and messages of hope and beauty and a world of subtle emotions will play a pivotal role. Strong ideas will matter more than exuberant productions. The power of storytelling will need to be honed better. We humans have the agility and the tensile strength to overcome anything and as dream merchants we are like the frontline workers who would keep the sanity alive. The templates would need to change – hope, beauty, gratitude, calmness, stoic, prayer, positivity, sombre and empathetic along with technological innovations would be the new norm in the brand new world.
(The author is Hotstuff CEO. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them)
Brands
Kwality Wall’s reports standalone losses following strategic HUL demerger
Ice cream major faces Rs 64 crore Ebitda loss amid commodity inflation and muted Q3 sales
MUMBAI: Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited (KWIL) has released its first set of financial results as a standalone entity, revealing a challenging start to its independent journey. Following its successful demerger from Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on 1st December 2025 and its subsequent listing on 16th February 2026, the company is navigating a transition period marked by structural changes and high input costs.
For the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the company reported revenue of Rs 222 crores. Despite the revenue base, the bottom line was impacted by several factors, resulting in an Ebitda loss of Rs 64.2 crores. When calculated on a Pre-IND AS 116 basis, the Ebitda loss stood at Rs 83.8 crores.
Organic Sales Growth (OSG) declined by 6.5 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. Volume growth, however, saw a marginal increase of 1.2 per cent. The company reported a gross margin of 41.5 per cent. Additionally, exceptional expenses amounting to Rs 94 crores were recorded, primarily linked to non-recurring costs during the transition phase.
Performance across portfolios and channels was mixed. Within the impulse portfolio, brands such as Magnum and Cornetto recorded mid-single digit volume growth, indicating steady demand in on-the-go consumption. However, the in-home portfolio, which includes take-home packs, experienced muted consumption. The company is planning a relaunch of this category with improved offerings ahead of the 2026 season.
Quick commerce (Q-Com) continued to emerge as a strong growth driver, delivering robust double-digit growth during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its physical distribution network by increasing the number of company-owned cabinets across markets.
Margin pressure during the quarter was driven by a combination of one-off factors and broader cost inflation. Gross margins were impacted by around 600 basis points due to trade investments made for stock liquidation. Additionally, cocoa price inflation contributed to another 400 basis points of pressure on margins.
Deputy managing director Chitrank Goel attributed the muted performance partly to prolonged monsoons and transitional challenges linked to the GST framework. Operating expenses also increased as the company invested in establishing its standalone supply chain, operational systems and corporate infrastructure following the demerger.
Looking ahead, the management remains focused on a volume-driven growth strategy. To restore profitability, the company has initiated a cost productivity programme aimed at reducing non-consumer-facing costs. It is also working on building regional manufacturing networks to optimise logistics expenses and improve operational efficiency.
The commodity outlook for the near term remains mixed. Dairy prices are expected to remain firm due to tight supply conditions and rising fodder costs. Sugar prices may also move higher following increases in the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). While cocoa prices have moderated recently, currency depreciation has offset some of the potential cost relief for the company.
