We’re going to massively invest in digital now: Silvia Tallon, Reebok India

After a year of launching its most powerful campaign – #FitToFight – which aims to inspire women to become better versions of themselves, not just physically but also mentally and socially, Reebok returned with the second edition of  #FitToFight in September 2017 with yet another compelling narrative – ‘Girls Don’t Fight’ as an overarching theme. 

To culminate the initiative, Reebok felicitated women nominees from across the country for their spirit and courage at the Reebok FitToFight 2.0 Awards on December 7, 2017. 

‘Girls Don’t Fight’ explores a deeper cultural context of the need for women to become mentally tough. The word ‘fight’ is not only a literal depiction, but a call to action for those who will not accept the way things are, making it the slogan for all women heroes. The campaign acts as an encouragement for all women, asking them to up their game in the face of challenges. 

The second phase of the campaign had brand ambassador Kangana Ranaut at the helm, encouraging women to beat all odds and succeed both mentally and physically, while addressing two widely prevalent social issues – eve teasing and inequality in pay – in two powerful films. Receiving nationwide appreciation, the films garnered over 25 million views from the audience and continue to create buzz across platforms. 

The second edition of the #FitToFightAwards campaign received over 500 entries. Commenting on the second edition of the #FitToFightAwards, Silvia Tallon, Senior Marketing Director, Reebok India, said, “This is our second year in running and the initiative has received an overwhelming response from women across the country. Through this campaign, not only have we found these heroes, but we have also inspired millions of women to come out and share stories of their battles with each other and given fitness a much larger dimension. We salute all the awardees, who have faced obstacles, come out and shared their stories, and continue to be an inspiration to millions.” 

In conversation with Adgully, Silvia Tallon  speaks about the #FitToFight campaign and Awards, marketing strategy for 2018, focus on digital and much more. Edited excerpts: 

What was the idea with which the #FitToFight campaign was conceived?
The key idea to launch the #FitToFight campaign was to give a platform to women ready to be the best of themselves, to share their stories of determination and also share their struggles and victories that they have achieved in their lives. For us, it was a very important point to connect with the women consumers, as we know that Reebok is a women’s consumer brand. Especially in India, it is really very important to connect to the Indian consumers. So that was the real way to connect with the female consumers. 

How did you think of extending this campaign to an awards platform? What are the criteria to select the award winners?
It was on International Women’s Day 2016 that we launched this campaign with Kangana Ranaut as the brand ambassador. We realised that the women who have fought back needed to share their stories, the world should know about them and be better versions of themselves. We thought the best way was to give them recognition in front of the world. Therefore, we created the FitToFight Awards to recognise them and invite them to share their stories with all those women who have faced the same situations. There were three elements that we identified – physical, mental and social. So, the whole award ceremony is structured on these three different elements that Reebok as a brand stands for. As you know, we have a Delta logo, where each side represents the three different elements. 

There should be the value of reaching a specific point in life. Those women who have high determination in their lives and have reached higher levels were nominated for the awards. 

How is Reebok fortifying its marketing efforts in 2018? How are you planning to leverage digital technology further?
Digital is everything that is happening now. We are going to massively invest in digital much more that we have done until now. It is what we are going to invest in the future, because this is only through digital that we can reach to each of our consumers. We really believe that we have to reinforce that area. We will make sure that all our campaigns are digitally available and we have higher reach of our messages to broader consumers. 

Reebok has been making powerful statements on women empowerment and women fighting back in its brand communication. What is the strategy behind this?
The strategy is very simple. We are a women’s wear brand, that’s the first reason why we are doing it. We are truly committed to give a platform to women to express, to communicate themselves, to share their struggles and their stories, and by this recognition we manage to reconnect with them. 

What percentage do you expect the women’s wear segment to occupy in your overall business in 2018?
We are dramatically growing in that segment because we have massively invested in women’s segment and we are expected to grow more. In the metro cities, we have got a reach of almost up to 45 per cent of our share of business. In remote areas though the reach is small, it is growing steadily year after year. In the coming years, we expect to catch a bite of bigger reach of this market.

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