Spirit W | Effort is to make every moment magical: MHRIL's Deepali Naair

Deepali Naair is seen as an achiever and talented brand leader, who has nearly two decades of experience behind her. Having worked in various verticals across sectors, she has been recognized and acknowledged for her work time and again.

Naair has recently joined Mahindra Holidays and in today’s Spirit W, she shares the highs and the lows of her career and the initiatives undertaken as a part of the new brand identity of MHRIL and other insights about this flourishing industry as the CMO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd (MHRIL)

Speaking about her new role of CMO at Mahindra Holidays and what prompted her to take it up she said, “I personally love to travel and holiday and it is an exciting category to market. Also Club Mahindra’s focus on digital was an added incentive, given my love for digital and technology based marketing solutions.”

Mahindra recently changed its brand identity to signal the new thoughts which has been implemented to create holiday experiences. When asked to define her stint with Mahindra, Naair explained, “The launch of the brand identity was the first initiative from the marketing team after I joined here and in the pipeline are many more ideas and campaigns. I am discovering something new every day, even after 145 days here as it’s a category that allows constant interaction with the customers. I am always on my toes as the brand's focus is on digital medium where things change quarter by quarter. Yes it is quite early for me to comment but I must say that the HR team made my first day quite magical in line with our company credo of "Making every moment magical".

Over the past 18 months MHRIL has introduced an online booking system, new resorts, increased room availability and also transformed their end-sales presentation. So what made her come up with a new brand identity, new brand logo and its philosophy. “After we made these changes, it was important to also change how we communicate and present ourselves. Hence the new brand logo and identity is inspired by the company credo – “make every moment magical”. The thought reflects the ethos of the organization which strives to create magical experiences for the entire family during their holidays. Our new symbol is inspired by the Buddhist Mandalas - four hearts coming together symbolize families and friends coming together. The Club Mahindra Heart Colors are inspired from the colors of holidays... blue skies and crystal clear seas, yellow sand and summer sun. Lush, vibrant green and warming orange sunsets,” she explained.

The first communication initiative as a part of implementation was an internal launch of sharing “making every moment magical stories” by the employees for external and internal customers. In October 2013, the new brand identity was communicated to all MHRIL members and prospective customers through a multimedia campaign wherein television, digital and cinema were the three media used prominently.

The new logo identity was also rolled out in all their retail venues, branch and regional offices and in their 40 resorts. From the hospitality company perspective, there were more than 100 collaterals that MHRIL changed (are still changing) at each one of their resorts including signages on highways leading to their resorts.

“The response to the brand identity launch was instant and immediate. It was loved by one and all. We received comments on social media that suggested “refreshing change”. The reaction we received at our resorts was also very gratifying and the encouraging social media mentions are proof of that. “Making Magical” application on Facebook was designed during the brand re-launch efforts. This app was designed to showcase a full range of Club Mahindra resort locations, deliver a taste of the signature Club Mahindra experience and amplify it to the user’s network using the social network. Last week we announced the winners of a contest for users of this app. For us to truly deliver magical moments to our customers, we have to make every single employee a partner in living the thought,” shared Naair.

The official website showed major spike in visits, immediately after the launch which indicated wide acceptance of the new identity.

Some of the strategic initiatives are in line with the new brand identities which were in the space of service offering and have found wide-acceptance among brand’s members and fraternity.  The internal mandate was to increase transparency, increase choices for members and empower the customer. The brand identity change was a culmination of many strategic initiatives which were undertaken months prior to the announcement. For example, Club Mahindra launched an online booking system in 2012, which now contributes around 50% of members’ reservations.

Speaking further about the initiatives, she briefed, “As a brand, we offer a differentiated holiday experience inside our resorts; we create spaces and opportunities that bring families together, sometimes spanning three generations. We create a safe, entertaining and also a learning environment for toddlers and school going children, keeping the latest trends in mind. For the last two years we have focused on adding inventory; we have added substantial number of rooms through new resort locations as well as creating room inventory at existing locations. For the first time, we have added large inventory in foreign destinations which Indian families frequent i.e. Dubai & Bangkok. Our focus on families ensures that there is enough companionship inside a resort even if you are holidaying with one child."

As a part of MHRIL marketing strategies, the company is planning to initiate strategic initiatives for digital for FY15 which have to be driven by the thought of delivering “the magical moment” experience online. The second thought is to drive digital initiatives in future and also to create relevance among target audience for the category and of course the brand. “The focus of digital strategy at club Mahindra for the next year would be on providing “quality digital experience” to our members too. There are service enhancements that will get reflected in our members’ login section and we would also launch an enhanced mobile experience for our members,” concluded Naair.

Naair began her career with Tata Motors in 1993 followed by a stint in marketing at BPL Mobile, when the first mobile phone was launched in India. She has also worked in Advertising as a Strategic Planner at Draft FCB-Ulka and then joined Marico as Marketing Manager for Saffola and Mediker. Thereafter she spent 8 years in Financial Services with HSBC Global Asset Management India and at L&T Insurance where she was a part of the start-up team to launch the General Insurance business as Country Head for Brand and Corporate Communications. In 2012, Naair was recognized by Paul Writer as one of the top 50 CMOs for the prestigious Marketing & IT Recognition (M.IT.R) program for using technology to enhance marketing.

In 2013, Naair was awarded the ‘Leading Woman in Insurance’ Award by International Women Leadership Forum for her innovative work in designing the brand and digital strategy for L&T Insurance. In February 2013 she was also recognized as one of the "50 Most Talented Brand Leaders of India” at the Brand Leadership Award instituted by The World Brand Congress. She is the recipient of Indira Super Achievers Award and also been listed as one of the ‘Maharanis of Business’, a listing of top marketing women in the country, by Paul Writer. She completed her graduation in English Literature and Mathematics followed by an MBA, specializing in Marketing. Deepali Naair joined Mahindra Holidays as Chief Marketing Officer in October 2013.