“As consumers turn price chasers, more categories are falling prey to commoditisation”

The year 2023 has started on a rollercoaster note, with an accelerated adoption of generative AI, AI chatbots, and digital innovations. This is bringing in new operational efficiencies, stronger strategies, a far greater emphasis on building deep bonds with various stakeholders and consumers. In keeping with the current market ecosystem, technology and a human approach are seen as going hand in hand.

As part of our annual TRENDING NOW series, Adgully has been approaching key industry leaders to Crystal Gaze into 2023 to highlight the major trends and developments that they see dominating the industry in the year ahead.

In conversation with Adgully, Ankita Srivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, KISNA, emphasises on building brands in a sustainable manner, innovation in digital media breaking new grounds, key trends in the jewellery industry, and more.

Key industry trends in 2023

As consumer turns price chaser, more and more categories are falling prey to commoditisation. It is crucial to continue to build and invest behind brands in a meaningful and sustainable manner without blindly giving into the “conversion” funnel. The tussle is as relevant for new age D2Cs finding their footing as it is for established brands anchoring on promos and discounts.

The consumer needs more reliable information not just when buying gadgets, but also skin care and makeup. Witnessing this shift in beauty over a decade and a half, I am amazed at how prudent and efficacy oriented the consumer is becoming. Product portfolio and messaging will need to build in sharper functional deliverables and address barriers.

Needless to say, analytics will be mainstay irrespective of category. Innovation in digital media will break new grounds, but marketers must be mindful of the objective if one doesn’t want to end up with expensive eyeball grabbers that do little for the business or brand building.

Major expectations from 2023

The diamond jewellery sector is where beauty industry was two decades ago – in a mode of democratisation. In the coming year, we are expecting precious jewellery to continue to move from “locker to the drawer”, which means the emphasis will be on price accessibility, everyday wear and multi-wear designs, which can be re-styled to complement your outfits. This marks a major shift in the attitude towards jewellery and category interaction – with bearings on communication, distribution and the shopping process.

Brands like KISNA have put the consumer and her slice of life centre-stage in their communication instead of relying on opulent celebrity forward messaging. Online will start to play an even more important role from a “discovery” to “conversion” platform, particularly for the entry level design pieces. Across the board, established and new brands are looking at rapid retail expansion, particularly in Tier 2, Tier 3 cities. This goes hand-in-hand with pricing accessibility to boost growth. Technology will play a key role in optimising input cost as much as design will amp up appeal. We are expecting lab grown diamonds to start finding their own space, led by smaller insurgent brands.

Key focus areas for KISNA in 2023

KISNA is the domestic consumer brand of HK Group, amongst the world’s largest diamantaire and suppliers to marquee global and national retailer brands. Our ambition is to attain the same dominance in the India market as we have globally. Two fundamental levers for this are building the brand meaningfully and sustainably and ensuring accessibility. We restaged KISNA and the new campaign (#ladkiheerahai) has been noticed for breaking the category communication narrative. In a first for the brand, we have created the new KISNA store design identity basis the new brand visual semiotics and philosophy, opening more than 5 stores since November. We aim to have the fastest EBO expansion across all brands in the coming year, making the brand familiar and with a distinct retail presence.