Shyam Metalics’ Bidyut Nath on the challenges of branding the building material category

Shyam Metalics and Energy Limited is one of the leading integrated metal-producing companies in Eastern India and is headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is a pioneer in the production of long steel products, and ferro alloys and its extensively diversified portfolio constitutes of TMT bar, pellets, sponge iron, ferro alloys, and structural pipes. Its high-quality TMT bars are recognized all over India for their durability, strength, and flexibility. It has two integrated steel plants providing the best quality TMT bars fulfilling the requirements of modern construction. Its advanced quality TMT Rebar - SEL Tiger is one of the best choices for commercial, residential, and industrial projects offering reduced thermal conductivity and smoother surface conditions.

The core principles of SEL Tiger are respect, empathy, and responsible conduct. Recently on the occasion of Independence Day,it has launched a new meaningful digital campaign, titled #HarDayIndependenceDay, capturing the true essence of India celebrating the 77th Independence Day, portraying a message of responsible behaviour towards society, urging everyone to take part in nation-building with national pride. It propagates the message of not littering rubbish on streets, not indulging in social media trolling, expressing empathy towards fellow citizens, and placing overall well-being above personal interests.

In conversation with Adgully, Bidyut Nath, Senior General Manager, Shyam Metalics Energy & Limited, said, “Before Indian independence, probably at the same age, people may not have thought the same way we are doing it right now. So if people back then have fought for this freedom for us, then we must also realize our responsibility.”

Who are your key TG ? How do you engage with them through your marketing strategies? How do you create brand awareness?

In our category, particularly the building material category, and since we are one of the first few products required for building construction, in this space, mostly the influencers come into the picture. When I say influencers, they mean masons, engineers, contractors, architects, builders, or in the last chain it is the dealers who sell the product. So they are the key people who influence the consumers who build their homes, because for the consumers it is once in a lifetime interaction. It is not something you buy daily. Therefore, you hardly interact or remember the brand name, for instance for this building, what TMT has been used, we are not concerned even for your home where you are staying. Once it is built you forget about it. During such situations, wherein they are supposed to decide on a brand, they fall back on these people who are so-called experts in raw material understanding, whereas we try to woo all of this first level of TG, so that they remember our brand well, they are well connected to the brand, they are involved in schemes and a lot of things, they come and interact with us, they understand our category, understand our space where we are coming from.

For example, we have an integrated steel plant, where we manufacture from the raw material to the end product.

Many in the market do not have such kind of scale. They buy raw materials from one place, manufacture them in some other place, and then market them under a different name. Whereas Shyam Metalics is one of the brands in the entire country to have an integrated steel plant. We are using the raw materials sourced locally, turning them into sponge iron, pellets, and bullets, and then manufacturing our end product – SEL TMT. So the control that we have in terms of the quality, in terms of large-scale production is very rare. That kind of communication we keep on giving to the first category of TG, that we are dealing with. In the second category are the end consumers who are buying the material.

When they are told by the first TG that they are opting for this brand for them, the consumers must be aware of our brand. To make them aware of our brand, we do ATL marketing most of the time during our main seasons which start in September and end in April, till we have a dry season in the country, wherein most constructions happen. During this time we reach out to them through TV, hoardings, through retail branding, so that whenever they are in the vicinity of our dealership network or say at their own space in their home or office, or going towards a particular direction, they see our brand and at least register. When once in a lifetime, they are about to decide on a brand, a mason whom they entrusted to buy raw materials, they should have an immediate recall about the brand so that they say ‘I have seen the brand’ and give a confirmation to buy the brand. If they have not heard about the brand, most of the time there are chances of rejection. It’s a continuous effort to woo both these TGs all the time. It is something that happens once in a lifetime. We don't know when is the exact moment individuals will decide to have their own house. It’s a continuous effort that we need to ensure that they have top-of-mind recall about our brand.

It is not direct advertising most of the time, it is also sustenance advertising maybe through CSR efforts, other nation-building initiatives, or something that we are doing on the ground, which they can connect and remember about. So it's a tough category to play around, but when you define your TG, you have to understand their way of consumption of media and then play accordingly.

Cement is a category that people buy every two years, three years, because of warranty concerns. They will buy cement to ensure it is smooth again. But TMT is a category where once it is inside, you have to completely break the house and rebuild it again. Therefore the selection of TMT is a tough choice.

TMT is a highly competitive market and we can see many brands roping in well-known celebrities as brand ambassadors. How is Shyam Metalics creating a mark in the TMT bar market? How does its association with actor Salman Khan, help it to gain an edge over its competition?

Brand ambassadors across all categories have that pull factor. Primarily when they appear in any advertising, they draw some kind of attention. However taking into account the fact that today Salman Khan is around the age of 50+, in the last year those who have decided and those who are fans of Salman Khan or probably masons or engineers who follow Salman in a big way, must have noticed and they must have bought our product. But how do I ensure that Salman is not aging and I keep on having him as a brand ambassador again and year after year? So, this is a very big question that we keep on asking ourselves whether the product should be the hero or the brand ambassador should be the hero for taking the product along. Because the rest of the products, any other industry, it is okay, the moment they see the product, the next moment they decide whether the product is available online or offline or whether there is an opportunity for interaction.

This category is very difficult when again you have to remember the brand, who has been talking about this product particularly? There are many in the competition you can see from Cricket World, we have closely Virat and Dhoni also involved in the south. I have seen more players are also promoting this category. And then, very interestingly, one of the brands in the south, they have Rana Daggubati and regional stars. And one of the very hoardings that I have seen, Rana Duggubati was donning the attire of a mason. He was wearing a lungi,  a skull hat and putting a hanky over his shoulder and carrying that thing which is used to carry cement over. So interestingly, all brands are ensuring that whomsoever they are targeting, the brand ambassador is talking to them. But then it is again a matter of question whether they would remember that for a longer time.

All of the brands are trying to do that, somebody is talking about relationships because that's what the house is all about - bonding, somebody is talking about strength, as you need your house to be strong and a lot of other brands talking about a lot of other things. So whether that concept of bonding or strong or being flexible enough to hold an earthquake is more important or the brand ambassador holding that TMT bar is more important. This is a very dicey category wherein you never understand which is working, even then since everybody is having a brand ambassador so people are following suit. It's not that something which has helped this brand at the end of the day. Because of too much of competition and people have a choice of price as well as quality. As many times in most cities you will see local players and people in the lower setup who just want a one-roof house, they would not spend much money in terms of quality. Of course, they will go and ask for the best of brands but then they will pay for the minimum one. Whereas people who want to buy brands, they are less. So whether they are influenced by the brand ambassador or whether they are influenced by the quality of it, it is very difficult to say. Even then, everybody is following suit. So everybody is following each other.

What is the message and objective behind this new campaign - 'Her Day Independence Day' and what are the expectations of this campaign?

For our brand which is just one year old now, we were being born in 2022 Feb-March. So, unlike the competition which is there thriving almost for more than five years, ten years, and doing a huge amount of ATL branding, we are comparatively new. So, after the launch, we haven't spoken much into the media, not spoken enough to sustain the brand visibility or needed the recall. So this opportunity we got on this second independence day of the brand that we are not just here to be happy about our Independence Day but then we also realize how independence came to India and what are the responsibilities of an individual who is enjoying Independence Day here, freedom here and going forward what should we do to sustain this freedom or independence of the country?

As a company, we believe in trust, we believe in nation-building, and we believe in being flexible. When you say flexible, strength, flexibility, and longevity is in our brand itself. That's why we call SEL itself which stands for  strength, elasticity, and longevity. So how do you imbibe those qualities in you? Only when you are a visionary towards building your country with your responsibilities, realization of responsibilities. So this campaign started after Independence Day, not before it. Intentionally it was done to tell the public that well, you don't realize that you have all the freedom in the world to talk about anything. In social media, you write about anything. Then you have all the freedom to do whatever in your life. But then you don't realize how come it has come to you. Before Indian independence, probably at the same age, people may not have thought the same way we are doing it right now. So if people back then have fought for this freedom for us, then we must also realize our responsibility. And what should we do to ensure that this freedom continues and builds the nation? So we intentionally released the campaign on the evening of Independence Day so that it reaches out to people across the country.

And we have a point to make here, so that once they go through the campaign, go through the video, they realize that it is not just a day of independence. Whether it is the entire year of independence that we have every year, we have this independence and what we choose to do out of our independence, our freedom is a responsibility. Either we go as life takes us or we've been doing or we make little changes. That's why we have ensured placement of these placards,  over our side, it maybe a small thing the entire day, however I have the entire day in my life, 24 hours, and then 24 hours * 365 days. So what can you do? Maybe even for an instance, a small change can bring in a big change in the coming years. So those small steps need to be taken now.

If not now, then never. This is a campaign, it's all about our responsibility, and duty towards our nation, all of those aspects bring together in one.

Are there any other brand ambassadors or social media influences that you have partnered with?

Our biggest partners or influencers are the category-one consumers that we are dealing with who are the masons, engineers and builders, and contractors. So all of these people, they have their own space or own area of work, so we keep on reaching out to them with our brand philosophy or brand connect so that when they are talking about this category or maybe building a house and so they keep talking about ourselves in their own space. Maybe not on a national scale where people follow a celebrity or an influencer who is having millions of followers but then we are more into those influencers who have a very localized fan following, maybe an engineer who is very popular in a place like Siliguri in Bengal.

We might go for a very popular mason associated based in a place like Krishnanagar in Nadia rather than having somebody who is very popular in Bengal. So that might not have helped us because we are not dealing with the daily product, but then we are dealing with a product that is locally pursued, talked about, and then bought by people who are building their houses. So we are connecting with them. We are ensuring that they are talking about us. Other than that, of course, on the national scale, we are currently continuing with Salman. In December we are supposed to renew the contract and let's see what happens in the future.

Considering that you are operating in an industry where you are engaging with construction builders, architects, and steel and metal-producing workers, how do you engage with the average consumer and how do you involve them in your marketing strategies?

At present, we are ensuring that our retailers have good visibility. By retail, I mean to say the MBO who is selling our product, once they step into the counters, these MBOs who are selling probably not only our brand, but then other brands as well, however then to have the top of mind recall, we are ensuring all retail activities, whether it is dealer boards or in shops or maybe putting an extra mile effort to grab their attention in the store itself. That's what we're doing. We have been digitally active since the long time we launched last year. But then we have been very targeted towards people who are searching probably building materials on the Internet. Not to everyone, because that doesn't give us anything back in terms of ROI. Because again, when I come back to saying why we are doing this, then the straight answer is not everybody will build a house, and not everybody will be deciding what TMT to buy because not everybody is concerned. Only people who are serious about building their house or maybe involved in this category, are searching about it and they may be inquisitive towards knowing our brand.

Even if I ask you how many of these brands, this category you have interacted with or maybe you remember, it is hardly possible, then the moment I ask you to order a phone or something else, you remember. We are targeting the digital consumers who are trying to look for building materials products, not everyone.

Could you take us through your journey so far in the marketing industry?

I started my career as a journalist at Afaqs. I started writing about media, marketing, and advertising, and then thought I should go to the other side of the table. So, I went to the brand side. I started with The Times of India, working on the job portals that they have – Times Jobs. From there shifted to telecom where I had a good stint of three years with Reliance. There I had a very good experience because of the way telecom worked at some point in time, probably the fastest industry that the country has seen. Every alternate day, new product, and then something new coming in. And then so many players coming at one point in time. After that I joined the clothing industry, where I have been almost for eight years, so I've seen how the dynamics of the textile industry change and what controls the industry right from the raw materials to the end product. After that in the building material industry, it is since the year 2020 I'm working.

When it comes to SEL Tiger, right now, what we are trying to do is we are reaching out to the entire country in terms of our brand recall is concerned, what you call the share of voice. When I say the share of voice again, in this category, how many people are talking about the product, or how many people are even considering buying SEL Tiger in the milieu of all the competition? So we are trying in two spaces. One is digital and the other is offline which may be direct interaction with people whom we are targeting. So in these two spaces, we are trying more and more innovations because, in the already competitive market, people are doing a lot of things. In the coming days, we will see more innovative connections that the brand will be doing, translating to people reading about the brand, and talking about the brand. And of course, ROI will come in time when they decide to buy. As you can say, the category is very decisive,  unless once the influencer comes into the picture, once the dealer comes into the picture, it's a  very difficult market.

What kind of response have you got after collaborating with Salman Khan?

The response has been immediate attention of course. Salman Khan has not been endorsed in this category. So he is popularly called a tiger in a few of his movies. And when we came up with this brand name and with his presence we got immediate attention for sure. There is no doubt about it.

People immediately grabbed the communication that we are doing and the TVC that we have done with him that talks about tiger bond and all. So the technology that we are talking about is also being grabbed well, of course, in the first year itself we sold around 50 runs of materials. So it's very rare. Because now that we are trying to sustain and increase our share of voice we hope to reach new heights in the coming days.

Is Shyam Metalics leveraging AI in its market?

AI is something that is currently used by a few of the brand-building material categories wherein you can check them, check the product online, and how they are looking like or feeling like. But in our category AI will take time. We will ensure of course in the near future, probably we can give a virtual tour for people who want to build a house. How the product would look in real-life scenarios in the foundation or how it would control the entire foundation of the house. So, that kind of thing may be worked on. We have plans for that. But it is too early as of now.