“Tier II, IV markets not as impacted as Tier I, metro markets”: Sunil Narula, Panasonic Life Solutions

The home is a person’s sanctuary during a lockdown. So, how has the home fittings industry been affected by the lockdown?

With most people staying indoors as a result of the lockdown, companies that make home accessories are more relevant than ever. During a conversation with afaqs!, Sunil Narula, vice president, marketing, Panasonic Life Solutions, joked that an unexpected side effect of working from home is there’s no demarcation in terms of when work begins and when the day ends. For a traditional company like Panasonic Life Solutions (that manufactures components like wires, switchboards, etc.), technology adoption is slow and might not have taken place this way, under normal circumstances, says Narula. “The organisation at large has got used to the fact that we have to use Zoom for these calls, have large meetings on Microsoft Teams, and so on. All these things that people previously found difficult, and thought were not the best ways to communicate, have become the new normal for us.”

Here are edited excerpts from the conversation about life during lockdown, and the priorities post-lockdown.