With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns imposed by governments throughout the world to halt its spread, the world around us altered, leaving markets and economies in disarray. During the lockdown, the digital platforms were the main playground for most companies. Digital platforms proved to be an asset because of the different offerings like social media, unique graphics, content, and lot more. With customers remaining at home and consuming more digital media during the lockdown, Dabur boosted its focus on digital and social media with relevant information about Coronavirus, lockdowns, and germ prevention.
The lockdown altered not just how everyone lived, but also how consumers watched media. Dabur changed its media mix by eliminating advertisements in newspapers and general entertainment channels and moving its focus to news channels, which were receiving a lot of attention. It boosted its emphasis on television marquee events like Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation and ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programmes. Dabur, known as the Custodian of Ayurveda, combines age-old traditional wisdom with modern-day science to create goods for people of all ages and geographies.
Dynamic DevelopmentsÂ
Dabur, founded in 1884 by the Burman family, began operations as an Ayurvedic medicinal firm. Dabur India Ltd, has grown from modest origins in the backstreets of Kolkata to become one of the largest Indian-owned consumer products firms in the world, with the world’s largest herbal and natural product range. Dabur has also effectively transitioned from a family run firm to a professionally managed enterprise.
What distinguishes Dabur is its capacity to innovate and create new benchmarks in corporate governance and innovation. Dabur India Limited is India’s fourth largest FMCG company, with revenues over Rs. 9,500 crore and a market value above Rs.100,000 crores. Dabur is currently India’s most trusted name and the world’s biggest Ayurvedic and natural health care company, with a portfolio of over 250 herbal/Ayurvedic products, built on a heritage of quality and experience spanning over 137 years. Dabur’s FMCG portfolio now comprises nine Power brands: Dabur Chyawanprash, Dabur Honey, Dabur PudinHara, Dabur Lal Tail, Dabur Honitus, Dabur Amla, Dabur Red Paste, Réal, and Vatika.
Redefining LeadershipÂ
Mr. Mohit Malhotra is the Chief Executive Officer of Dabur India Limited., a $1.2 billion firm that is one of India’s leading consumer goods manufacturers and finest Ayurvedic companies. Under his guidance, Dabur has established a global presence and developed as a multinational consumer products manufacturer with a presence in over 120 countries. Mr. Malhotra has a management degree from Pune University and an executive master’s degree in international business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi.
He started Dabur as a management trainee in 1994 and has held significant positions in marketing and sales, in addition to being the CEO of Dabur International, located in Dubai, before becoming the CEO-India Business and then the CEO of the company in April 2019. Mohit Malhotra, a hands-on business leader, has been pushing the mainstreaming of Ayurveda by presenting age-old traditional Ayurveda medications in modern-day formats to appeal to millennial and centennial customers. Dabur has implemented several initiatives as part of its project, including: Chyawanprash, which is now available in fruit-flavored and sugar-free varieties, Honitus Hot Sip: An Ayurvedic Kaadha in ready-to-mix powder form, is now available, PudinHara Fizz digestives are now available, Chyawanprash is now being launched in a tablet form.
This program has been one of Dabur’s most powerful development drivers in recent years, helping to bring Ayurveda to every family. Mohit has spent most of his career outside of India, in a completely different setting. COVID, a black swan occurrence, created an inflection point in the company, bringing about adjustments and transformation. COVID, in reality, worked as a change agent. The firm has become considerably more flexible, swift on its feet, and fast in its execution than it was previously. Dabur has increased its risk-taking capacity under his leadership, transitioning from a scared to a fearless mentality.
Countless OfferingsÂ
Dabur is present in major consumer product categories such as Hair Care, Oral Care, Health Care, Skin Care, Home Care, and Foods. The firm has a large distribution network that covers over 6.7 million retail outlets and has a strong presence in both urban and rural areas. Dabur’s goods are also well-known in international markets, with items accessible in over 100 countries worldwide. Its trademarks are well-known throughout the Middle East, Africa, SAARC nations, the United States, Europe, and Russia. Dabur’s   international revenues account for 27% of overall revenue.
Employee Safety and Well-BeingÂ
With the advent of COVID, Dabur gave its staff quick access to its line of immunity-boosting medications via dedicated counters put up in workplaces. The biometric attendance system was suspended at all sites, and all domestic and international travel cancelled. It reinforced safe behaviour throughout its sites by restricting the number of gatherings/meetings and preventing external visits to the premises, in addition to requesting staff to avoid in person meetings and encouraging video conferencing.
Infrared non-contact temperature sensors were supplied to security staff at all Dabur offices to screen the workers and guests accessing the property. Elevator buttons, door handles, handrails, bathroom faucets, and other high-contact locations were sanitized on a regular basis. The company’s employees were provided help with hospitalization and mediclaim in the event of a COVID-related emergency. As the number of COVID cases in the country increased, Dabur became the first company to announce Work from Home for all office-based workers beginning March 15, 2020. Dabur created work from home guidelines to provide easy advice on how to be extremely effective when working from home.
It established a regular communication channel with all workers, via which top management communicated regularly, telling them about different health and safety updates, Dabur advancements, and the company’s attempts to address the COVID-related problem. The company’s managers were urged to get in touch with the staff regularly, not just for business purposes, but also to inquire about their health and wellbeing. Employees were also given computer gear and IT assistance to guarantee that business could continue as usual even during the shutdown. With the appearance of the second, more severe wave of the COVID pandemic, the business reiterated its commitment to the safety and wellbeing of all Dabur family members.
In the unfortunate event of any of its employees succumbing to COVID, Dabur decided to support their family with continued monthly salary for one year, in addition to the Company’s term insurance cover. While the firm recognizes that this cannot compensate for the loss, it believes that this modest effort will help the family get through this difficult time. It has also launched various measures to preserve its employees’ health and well-being. Some of these are as follows: The company procured oxygen cylinders and COVID-relevant allopathic and homeopathic medications, which were made accessible to its workers for personal or family members’ use in the event that they were unable to arrange the same.
The company made sure that the procured oxygen concentrators (both 5-ltr and 10-ltr) must be given to members of the Dabur family immediately in the event of an emergency. The company has also set up oxygen generating units with cylinder filling capacity. Its guest cottages were converted into COVID isolation units, complete with oxygen concentrators and cylinders, nurse personnel, ICU supplies, and medicine. Dabur signed a contract with ambulance providers to ensure that its employees and their families have access to an ambulance in the event of an emergency. It established specific isolation facilities near its production plants to assist not just its personnel but also members of the neighbourhood.
Dabur introduced split shift, which is operational at its production plants, providing essential operators alternate days off. The company continued to operate a dedicated COVID helpline with the assistance of healthcare at home (HCAH) to provide qualified medical experts, doctor consultations, RT-PCR testing and sample collection, home isolation programmes, and immunisation support to its workers, and their immediate family members.
Dabur partnered with local hospitals in locations around the country to ensure that its employees and their families had access to physical medical care. Vaccination drives were organised for the company’s workers and their families over the age of 45. With the immunisation programme being extended to all adults, it collaborated with hospitals to make the vaccination procedure easier for all of its employees and their families. In addition to covering the vaccine costs, it provided its employees with the COVID vaccination special leave. Dabur implemented a separate insurance system for its 3,200 frontline workers who are not on Dabur’s payroll. It also offered Rs one lakh in mediclaim coverage to 650 C&FA workers.
Brand BuildingÂ
Newspapers were banned from most houses in the early days of the lockdown due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, and consumers stayed riveted to news channels for the most up-to-date information on the pandemic. While most entertainment channels saw a decline in viewership, the national broadcaster Doordarshan won favour with viewers when it began to repeat telecasts of classic historical serials from the past, such as Ramayan and Mahabharat, with these programmes topping viewing statistics.
Response to this Changing LandscapeÂ
Heavy ads were pushed into Doordarshan, particularly on historical serials like Ramayana and Mahabharat, which were attracting a lot of attention. To top it all off, it redesigned its brand communications to emphasise the immunity building and germ killing characteristics of Dabur products. Special social messages and films were produced to honour frontline corona warriors such as police officers, health care professionals, sanitation workers, and so on.
Dabur and its numerous health care businesses, as the original custodians of Ayurveda, put together unique educational and public interest films for social media, stressing the benefits of Ayurveda in battling COVID-19, further strengthening Dabur’s credentials in the immunity-building field.  Dabur created customised ‘Slice of Life’ films using home movies and recorded within houses using handheld cameras and mobile phones to reach out to millennials on social media during the lockdown.
For example, using its culinary brand homemade, the business collaborated with top celebrity chefs to produce a series of simple dishes that consumers could attempt at home during the lockdown. During the shutdown, Dabur Amla Hair Oil launched a new digital ad focused on strengthening ties with loved ones. As part of this, the firm requested that customers share their favourite champi (head massage) moment with it. Dabur has also boosted its exposure and presence on e-commerce chains.
Go-To-MarketÂ
The lockdown threw the whole sales system into turmoil, with stockists unable to open their stores and the availability of trucks and people for product delivery appearing as major difficulties. In the early days of the lockdown, most retail shops faced stockouts due to panic purchase of everyday items by people. To address these new problems, Dabur revamped its Go-To-Market strategy and implemented various new measures to assure a continuous supply of its products. These are some examples: The company motivated its stockist network to work from home and accept deliveries first thing in the morning.
Its sales team supplemented the personnel of its stockists. Third-party delivery trucks were used to help stockists ensuring timely and uninterrupted deliveries to retailers. Dabur’s over 2,200 sales employees at stockists were provided with health insurance coverage to handle COVID crises. The company launched an incentive programme for delivery guys who report for duty and stockists. It worked extensively with the state and federal governments to get physical and electronic passes for its sales employees.
The company’s sales crew even drove their cars to deliver products to retail locations. With the closure of the majority of beauty salons and parlours, it redirected the whole parlour channel volunteers to general trade. It implemented the Suraksha store idea in collaboration with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in order to embrace kirana stores and turn them into COVID safe shopping zones. With traditional avenues closed, the company partnered with online delivery services such as Swiggy, Dunzo, and Zomato to guarantee shops received the ongoing supply.
Early in the morning, the company made arrangements with newspaper sellers to service merchants. It ensured that Dabur’s immunity-boosting goods were available at dairy and kirana stores. It set up sales kiosks in housing societies, community parks, and fuel pumps around the country to directly reach out to customers with its variety of immunity building goods and juices as part of the ‘Immunity at Your Doorsteps’ campaign. Dabur utilized technology to increase order booking and sales. It introduced a mobile app for ordering from retailers. In addition to beginning orders via tele-calling, the company has offered order booking via WhatsApp and its contact centre.
Streamlining Supply ChainÂ
In accordance with the government’s instruction, Dabur halted production at its manufacturing plants in March 2020, with the exception of necessary items such as Ayurvedic medicines, chyawanprash, hand sanitisers, hand wash, and so on. Dabur requested and got permits to run its manufacturing plants for the production of a variety of vital goods like hand sanitizers, hand wash, disinfectants, ayurvedic medications, juices, coconut water, honey, and so on within 7-10 days.
However, the reverse movement of labour to its various hometowns hampered the availability of trained staff at the units, preventing operations from being scaled up. In addition, the lack of truck drivers impeded the seamless flow of raw materials, packing materials, and completed goods. Dabur went out to local residents in the areas surrounding its production facilities and even obtained authorization from state officials to employ and transport individuals from as far away as Jharkhand to its manufacturing facilities in Jammu, Uttarakhand, and Baddi to bridge the gap. Several precautions were taken as it began operations to guarantee the smooth running of its units and the safety of its employees.
A Corporate Giant’s TaleÂ
Dr. S. K. Burman, a physician in Bengal, launched the Dabur tale with a tiny yet imaginative endeavour. He aimed to serve regular people in remote communities with excellent and cheap treatment. Dr. Burman began the work of creating natural remedies for the deadly illnesses of the day, such as cholera, malaria, and plague, with missionary enthusiasm and fervour.
Soon, word of his medications spread, and he became renowned as the dependable Daktar or Doctor, who devised successful treatments. That is how his company, Dabur, acquired its name – taken from Daktar Burman’s Devanagri version. Dr. Burman founded Dabur in 1884 to manufacture and distribute Ayurvedic medicines. Reaching out to a large group of people who did not have access to adequate care. Dr. S. K. Burman’s dedication and tireless work culminated in the company’s transformation from beginning as a pharmaceutical producer in a modest Calcutta (now Kolkata) bungalow, to a household name that immediately invokes confidence and trustworthiness.
In preparation for a new system in which the family’s direct engagement is limited, the Burmans established a family council, which serves as a liaison between the family and Dabur’s board of directors and management. The engagement of family members has undergone a qualitative shift, with new members encouraged to establish their own companies. These suggested enterprises are then offered to the family council for approval, as well as funding a competent management team capable of launching Dabur onto a higher development path. As a result, the Burman family has reduced its direct engagement in day-to-day activities, allowing a group of capable executives to run the firm and guide its destiny.
