Rewind 2022: Evolution of overall media & communications landscape: Bhawna Sikka

It’s time to review the most significant industry developments as the year 2022 draws to a close. Adgully is reviewing the year 2022 for the M&E, advertising, digital, marketing, PR and communications, along with leading names in the industry as part of our annual Rewind series.

Recapping the year 2022, Bhawna Sikka, Category Head – OHC, Haleon India, speaks at length about how the year been for the overall media and communications landscape, her expectations from 2023, and more.

PR, Marketing, Advertising ecosystem in 2022

The year 2022 continues to witness evolution of the overall media and communications landscape with digital becoming ever more important. Digital platforms have evolved beyond just being a media and commerce space.They have evolved into an engagement space, with brands leveraging AI and technology for activations, creating ever newer ways to meet and converse with consumers. This enablement also saw brands show creative courage in terms of how they brought alive their proposition and promise for the consumers. At Haleon, our communications approach is based on our understanding of this constant media evolution, and we ensure all our brands, including Sensodyne, are present across not just TV, but all the critical digital touchpoints as well.

Key trends

The pandemic has made individuals highly conscious of their own lifestyles and its subsequent impact on their quality of life. The underlying trend continues to be that of raised consciousness around health and well-being overall, with a focus on oral health as well. Consumers continue to choose the brands that they have trusted over the years; understanding of different aspects of oral health continues to evolve. We have witnessed, in our work and interactions with consumers, that more people are mentioning and understanding tooth sensitivity. As this awareness grows, we will find consumers becoming more discerning along with the possibility of new age brands with meaningful propositions finding a breakthrough.

Expectations from 2023

There’s raised awareness and rightful expectation around environment and sustainability; a lot is being discussed in terms of the entire value chain to see how we come through on this. Our focus will remain on finding better ways of delivering our products to consumers, while minimizing environmental impact. We are working extensively on this within our organisation and would be keeping a keen eye out to learn as well.