“The incidence of stress-induced headaches has shot up during the pandemic”: Saridon’s Ritu Mittal

A chat with the head of marketing and digital, Bayer Consumer Health India, about Saridon’s relaunch campaign.

Saridon, the headache relief tablet owned by Bayer Consumer Health, has been in India for over five decades now. Recently, the brand rolled out its relaunch campaign ‘Sar Dard Chupao Nahi, Mitao’ to position Saridon as the first line of defense against headaches.

Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the campaign attempts to motivate people to stop hiding their headache and act on it with the help of their ‘trusted ally’ Saridon.

Speaking to afaqs!, Ritu Mittal, head of marketing and digital, Bayer Consumer Health India, says that as per a recent research conducted by the brand for this campaign, the famous jingle ‘Sirf ek Saradon’ is still etched in the minds of consumers. However, the brand has also realised that it needs to reconnect with young Indians.

This resulted in an important consumer insight for the campaign, Mittal mentions. “The genesis of the campaign lies in the insight that young adults between the age group of 25 and 35 years face a lot more stress-induced headaches. This is due to their increased responsibility and factors like increased screen time that has got amplified due to the work from home situation.”

The brand's survey also revealed that the incidence of both stress and stress-induced headaches has gone up during the COVID pandemic. Mittal says, "We have continued to leverage the nostalgia that is associated with this jingle (‘Sirf ek Saradon’), and I see this campaign as an amalgamation of the new and the old. It is important for every brand to be rooted in its legacy and leverage its iconic assets, as it takes the plunge to become fresh and contemporary."

The brand has also altered Saridon's packaging to make it look more contemporary.

It may also be noted that while the campaign largely targets young adults, the sale of self-care solutions like Saridon also depends on what the chemist provides, when you ask him for a headache pill. When asked about how the brand plans to engage with the retailers, Mittal shares that chemists are very important partners for them. They are the key influencers for driving brand recommendations in the self-care space. The brand continues to work with them, whether it is the retail outlets, pharmacy chains or e-pharmacy, to strengthen their relationship.

However, she adds that the consumers in this digital age are very well connected and informed. “The consumers are now able to make much more conscious choices. It is not an ‘either/or’ for us, as we value both the relationships - with the chemists as well as our consumers."

Through the five decades of its existence in India, the brand has also been consistent, when it comes to communication. Mittal believes this has a huge impact on the connection that a brand creates with its consumers.

Highlighting how Saridon has worked on this approach, she says, “The brand has adopted simple messaging that is very focused on what the consumer is looking for, in terms of headache relief. It continues to talk about the functional benefit of fast headache relief. In the new campaign, we wanted to bring forth the emotional impact of the headache, as people prefer to bear the headache with a smile on, rather than get rid of it. So, we wanted them to get rid of the emotional impact of the headaches.”

There are several pain relief tablets available in the market today that also promise to provide quick solutions. What distinguishes Saridon from other brands, and why should it be an individual’s preferred choice? Mittal points out that whether it is self-care or any other category, the consumers don’t go for formulations. They, instead, go for the brands that they can trust.

“Saridon understands that headaches impact our consumers, not just physically, but also emotionally. The physical pain is mostly amplified by the emotional burden of hiding the pain. Today, the consumers don’t just pick up brands for a simple functional benefit. They, instead, choose those brands that connect with them emotionally. Brands that take up larger purpose and cause, rather than just selling their products,” she signs off.