By
S.Subramanyeswar
Group CEO – India & Chief Strategy Officer – APAC, MullenLowe Global
How long has your agency and the client been working together on this brand? How did the relationship begin?
It may or may not have been love at first sight, but at no point over the last 50 years has this relationship been just skin deep. Half a century ago, we at Lintas were blessed with the opportunity to partner Hindustan Lever Limited, as it was then called, in creating Fair & Lovely, a revolutionary skin lightening cream that evolved to be known as Glow & Lovely in 2020.
Our relationship matured over the decades, growing the brand from being fun and vibrant to one that promoted substance and self-esteem. Today, six out of ten women in the country buy Glow & Lovely every month, contributing to sales of more than a billion packs every year. The relationship between Glow & Lovely and Lintas may now be the gold standard, but there’s nothing more inspiring to us as an agency and client than the everlasting love we receive from our audience.
How would you describe the relationship between you and the client? What makes it special and how has the dynamic changed since you first began working together?
Any strong relationship has as its basis an element of mutually cherished, long-lasting values. Our relationship is fundamentally based on Trust – Trust in Character, that engenders openness, honesty and authenticity, and Trust in Competence, based on each other’s knowledge, performance and experience. Staying true to these qualities every day for the past 50 years is what turned this relationship into pure gold.
During this time, we of course had our relationship flashpoints, from teenage tantrums to middle-age madness, but we survived those moments to embrace and celebrate our opinions and differences for the sake of standing strong for our brand, just as any mature couple stays together despite differences, for the welfare of their children.
During these years, Fair & Lovely had its own personal brand evolution. From being a pioneer in the cosmetic revolution of the country, it metamorphosed from lightening skin to brightening prospects, eventually embarking on a journey to kindle the inner glow of young Indian women. Keeping pace with their progress, it even decided to be the change that they wanted to see, by changing the name to Glow & Lovely in 2020.
While the client-agency relationship remained steadfast, the operating environment was anything but easy. Women’s attitudes were rapidly transforming, there was heightened competitive activity and activism was on the rise, stretching our relationship to breaking point. But our shared passion to stand by our audience and deliver what was best for them, kept us determined and committed to usher in a brave new future.
If I look back on it, our relationship didn’t last because of the good times, but because of how we managed the hard times. Like any strong, lasting relationship, we endured the hardships with immense love and care for each other, and for our audience. And at this point, I would like to sincerely thank all the amazing people from the client side and the agency side who have helped build this wonderful brand at every stage, we will forever be grateful and indebted to their contribution.
What has been the most innovative/ successful campaign created by your agency for the brand?
Again, as in any relationship, it’s difficult to pick one or two lovely moments from over years of togetherness, but yes, there were a few campaigns that stand out, not because they were outstandingly creative, which they were, but because of how they irrevocably changed the narrative for the entire cosmetic industry, female gender and Indian society.
The ‘Air Hostess” film that inspired women to create their own destiny despite their gene pool.
The ‘Cricket Commentator’ film that gave the girl the confidence to get selected and commentate alongside a cricketing great.
The ‘Delay Marriage’ film that urged young Indian girls to invest three extra years into pursuing their careers before getting married, so that they could be on par with the groom in terms of career and lifestyle.
How do you plan on keeping this relationship, going forward?
As ideal relationships go, this one too has always been a 50-50 proposition or partnership. Glow & Lovely belongs as much to Lintas as it does to Unilever and we are both equally and passionately committed to going the distance, building on 50 years of shared vision and values. The brand’s future is constantly a part of our discussions, and we are both perpetually curious to be a part of each other’s plans and aspire to the brand’s continuing success.
No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty, but I can assure you that we at Lintas will always do everything needed to advance this relationship into the next decade by blending short-term intensity with long-term consistency. And that’s not something that can be offered with any conviction by any of the competition today, trying to woo the brand with their flirtatious attractions and distractions.
Is there a special approach you use in the creative process to keep the work fresh?
At Lintas, we don’t see the creative process, or even creativity for that matter, as a job that needs to be accomplished. It’s a belief that is at the core of our existence. And that belief is based on discovering fundamental truths that emerge from larger social, cultural and political contexts that are a part of our environment, and not just fleeting trends.
While we ensure that all our ideas or expressions are based on a certain time, our truths themselves are timeless. Above all, we believe that Glow & Lovely, over the decades, has become an intrinsic part of culture and is not merely about marketing. It has attained cultural authority beyond brand authority in our society.
What do you identify as being the most significant change in the industry for the brands? In which way have you adapted to meet this change?
In an earlier era, brands were like fortresses. They were purpose built to defend a certain fixed market position or had a single-minded proposition to create shareholder value. Today, technology, data and consumer activism has brought on considerable transparency, revealing the inner workings of companies and their brands, both good and bad.
Today’s consumers expect a business they buy from to be more intentionally purposeful, and they are willing to reward them with share of mind and wallet. On the other hand, high-growth companies too understand that having a brand with higher motives, coming out of a strong sense of purpose or point-of-view, is more attractive to consumers, employees and partners alike. Essentially, it’s no longer about what you buy, but what you buy into.
A shared purpose puts a brand at the heart of the consumer’s world, making the product-offering inspiring, communications more efficient and adding a feel-good factor to everything it chooses to do.
At Lintas and Glow & Lovely, we share the same point of view, seeing it as a passion, not just a job. Our teams on both sides proudly share that sense of purpose and derive motivation from the work they do, without reducing it to a job with a salary. They believe that each one of them matters, and in turn, what they do matters for the brand and the audience that it serves.
With our inspiring Purpose/ Belief – Every woman deserves a chance to create her own identity, with every consumer, every teammate, every interaction, everywhere, every day, we have truly put what we care, at the heart of what we do. And ultimately, it’s not what we do or how we do business with Glow & Lovely, but getting people to appreciate why we do it.
Do you have a personal favourite piece of work you’ve done together?
The #PehliTankhwa (First Salary) movement, because it cemented a revolutionary change in Indian fathers’ mindsets. Traditionally, Indian fathers raised sons to earn and daughters to be married off. This campaign seeded a whole new behaviour of young women handing over their first pay checks to their fathers. With that single shift, it smashed the centuries- old view of perceiving daughters only as a liability, and instead had them standing shoulder to shoulder with their brothers in taking on family responsibilities. With this the brand moved from being incident on the faces of daughters to influencing the minds of their fathers. It was truly walking the talk! Further, the Foundation that the brand set up, provided scholarships for further education, seed capital for business ideas, training inputs to get women more productive and future-ready, and a host of other path-breaking initiatives.
What are the most important lessons you have learned in this long relationship?
There are many, but let me pick three that have also helped us grow as leaders.
Adaptability – One needs to have the growth mindset to adapt to changing circumstances, in a world where change itself has changed. Besides, the ability to embrace new ideas and be flexible in guiding our teams through uncertainties, while also driving innovation, is a definite asset.
Resilience – The ability to guide our teams through challenging times and instilling in them a sense of determination to overcome the ups and downs that are natural in any relationship, so that we reach our collective goals for the brand.
Celebrating Milestones – It always pays to recognize and celebrate the small and big wins within our teams. It’s extremely crucial to boost their morale, foster a culture of looking out for each other and appreciate everyone’s efforts at pursuing excellence.
What are your biggest fears and how do you cope with them?
As Zig Ziglar said, fear has two meanings – ‘Forget Everything and Run’ or ‘Face Everything and Rise’. In our relationship, we have always believed in the latter. When you are part of a highly competitive segment that presents formidable challenges every day in terms of innovation, pricing, marketing and communication, and when an increasingly discerning audience’s acceptance and appreciation is so critical for success, fear becomes an everyday phenomenon – routine, mundane and common place. You can’t let the fear of fear freeze you in your tracks. You have to take it head-on and move to the next level. Use any vestige of fear to feed your success.
What is a funny or embarrassing story in your long agency-client relationship while working on this brand?
A couple of incidents come to mind.
During one of our meetings, after endless rounds of debate on strategy and insight, the client was so flustered that he blurted out, ‘don’t give me any more of these Brand Key presentations, just give me a film like the one you made the last time’! For a Unilever client to not insist on a formal presentation was indeed a shock and awe moment for us. And the fact that he was leaving it to our discretion based on the appreciation for our past work was clearly the cherry on the cake.
During a pre-production meeting with the client, agency and film production teams, the director was trying to pin the client down on the sound track for the film. ‘So, do you prefer Rock or Hip Hop for the score?’, the director asked. And the client replied with a straight face, ‘Let’s have both!’ That certainly was not music to the director’s ears!
And before I wrap up, here’s wishing all the strong, confident and inspiring women of today a Happy GALentine’s Day 2025! May their glow make this world a lovelier place!
(The article was first published in AdForum)