2023 festive season: Marketers aim for 2x sales boost

The festive season of 2023 is turning out to be yet another year of buying frenzy and positive consumer sentiments. Brands have strengthened their festive season strategies to woo consumers with various offers, discounts and anticipate as much as 2x increase in sales.

Kaushik Mukherjee, Co-founder and COO, SUGAR Cosmetics, told Adgully, “Our festive season marketing strategy at SUGAR Cosmetics is all about data-driven precision and customer-centricity. We’re focusing our budgets on digital channels such as social media, influencer collaborations, and TV commercials. We anticipate a 2x increase in sales and are boosting our advertising budget to capitalise on this opportunity.”

Also geared up for this festive season is Fixderma. Its CEO and Founder, Shaily Mehrotra, said, “With the rise in awareness in wellness and self-care, we are expecting a huge spike in search and order value in skincare, hair care and foot care. We have some exciting launches this season in the hydration and hair care category which will further diversify our portfolio. While we will give our customers more reasons to celebrate and glow with exciting offers and combos across marketplaces, we are hopeful that skincare gifting takes a rise as there is nothing better than the gift of wellness.”

Sheela Foam’s marketing and communication strategies for this year’s festive season started with a warm-hearted approach, said CEO Nilesh Mazumdar, adding, “We initiated the ‘Did you Sleepwell’ campaign, reflecting our core philosophy that there is comfort in comforting others. At a time when most brands are using technical jargon to communicate with consumers, our campaign stands out by going beyond the mere promotion of products. It delves into the essence of comfort and emotional well-being, resonating with the need for deeper connections in today’s fast-paced world. Our aim through ‘Did you Sleepwell’ is to introduce the human element of emotions and empathy into conversations, deepening the bond people have with the Sleepwell brand.”

“This festive season, our marketing and communication strategies are all about making our customer’s shopping experience unforgettable,” said Sunil Pathare, Chairman & MD, VIP Clothing. ““This festive season, our marketing and communication strategies are all about making our customer’s shopping experience unforgettable. The focus is to get you engaged and excited, through creative digital marketing campaigns and social media buzz to keep the excitement building. We want to make it personal, too, so we are working on making sure our communication speaks to our audience because this season, it’s all about giving you the very best experience. While specific details are proprietary, our approach is carefully crafted to align with our customer’s expectations and the emotional significance of the festive season.”

Meanwhile, Vidushi Goyal, VP - Marketing, Honasa Consumer, said that their strategy was simple – to communicate about their festive offerings wrapped in good content pieces on platforms where these new age consumers are present the most these days.

Elaborating on Mamaearth’s marketing strategies, Goyal said, “There is higher focus on ‘color care’ from Mamaearth, which is being marketed through influencers, digital marketing and offline visibility. Seeing the success of Ubtan Facial Kits last festive season, new offerings in the facial kits segment are being launched for consumers to be ready with a ‘glowing’ skin in a jiffy at home. Switching of gears is happening, where more ‘moisturisation’ related offerings will be focused on, given winter buying starts. From a communication perspective, since a lot of new age consumers are switching to connected TV and OTTs, the idea is to reach out and engage with consumers on these platforms more.”

Amidst heightened competition, brands are strategically increasing their ad spends this festive season to differentiate themselves and anticipate robust sales growth.

Kaushik Mukherjee from SUGAR Cosmetics said, “The increase in ad spends throughout the festive season reflects the competitive situation, and we invest strategically to differentiate ourselves. We anticipate considerable sales growth in our key markets (Tier 2/3 markets), but our agile marketing strategy guarantees that we cater to altering wants and customer habits across the country. This festive season, we're focused on providing outstanding value to our valued customers.”

Vidushi Goyal from Honasa added here, “Our range of offerings has increased considerably across brands this year compared to last year. Similarly, we started our festive planning much in advance this time to be ready on time. Multiple communication campaigns across media channels are planned in October-November period, across different categories. All these factors combined should help us grow at a significantly higher pace than last year.”

Speaking about VIP Clothing’s plans this year, Sunil Pathare said, “we are planning to allocate more resources to our advertising efforts. Our growth expectations look promising as we aim to provide customers with an outstanding shopping experience. With this, we anticipate expanding
our market presence. Although we cannot disclose specific figures at this time, our strategic focus on innovative campaigns and customer-centric marketing sets the stage for a successful festive season.”