The Best Media Client of the Year crown went yet again to Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) at Emvies 2016. Minutes after accepting the honour, MxMIndia spoke with  GauravJeet Singh, Head, Media Services, HUL about the secret behind HUL’s success and much more.
Yet another Emvies Best Media Client title. What is the secret of your success over successive years?
I think there are two-three reasons. Great work comes from great partnerships. I think the kind of media partnerships we have with our agencies Mindshare, PHD- the rapport has been extraordinary and they have done some extraordinary work over the years. The way they work so closely with the brand teams to bring alive what the brand stands for, I think that just opens up the doors for great appreciation. That is a big reason why we manage to do so well in awards every time.
With so many clients and so much of advertising activity, how is it that HUL wins the award every time?
I think it is right that it is consistency that is very critical in any work that you do and a big part of that consistency comes from the fact that we are so sharply in the brand. We keep telling our brand story year after year and bring it alive in various ways. We do it at scale, making sure that we get to the right consumers with the right message and because we do it so consistently, it essentially works to a great extent to the advantage of the brands. I think that is the reason why they do get appreciated. For us, the bigger appreciation is the consumer’s love for our brands and that keeps us encouraging to do more and more around that space.
The focus is more on media innovation. Is that right?
Innovation for innovation sake is of very less use, it is the sharpness of bringing alive what you want to do on the brand. That itself is one of the roots of innovation. It could be bringing branded content. But I think we do not prescribe what the root should be, what we do prescribe is the end and the end is that we should be able to tell great brand stories, take up brand stories to consumers in a fashion that is appreciated and loved by consumers.
How much do awards matter to you?
The biggest award that we get is the kind of love consumers have for our brands and that is what we work for. But it is always nice to have peer appreciation for the work that we do and it is inspiring and pushes us to do more. You get appreciation for something consumers responded to positively and loved it. That is the reason why we feel awards are important.