Summer of content for ceiling fan brands this year

Come summers and all cooling machinery become our constant companions – more so when one is confined to one’s home due to the pandemic. As no one is stepping out of their homes, converting homes into comfortable dens has become a priority. Hence, the focus on ceiling fans, room coolers, air-conditioners, air purifiers, home entertainment systems, net connectivity equipment, kitchen appliances and more.

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The fans category is usually a very low involvement category, and over the years brands have marketed using their strong pedigree. Brands mostly sell their products on strong brand name, sound distribution network, strong word of mouth and supported by good customer service support. While there are some leading brands from the organised sector, but there are also some local brands from certain regions, who have some good presence in smaller towns. Some of the old and trusted brands which are still visible in the market are Usha, Polar, Crompton, Bajaj and Orient. But there are some new entrants like Polycab, Havell and Luminous, who recently made their foray into this category and who have tried to bring in some innovation and designs in their product to garner some market share. According to industry estimates, around 50 lakh fans are sold every month in the country.

Tier2 & 3 towns generate demand

Demand for fans has been increasing in the rural markets and small towns mainly due to the migration of labourers to their native places in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and an improvement of the living standard of people in these areas, he said. Ever since the pandemic hit the nation the demand for the rural markets has been growing. Also, the change in lifestyle and the aspiration of people in smaller towns and cities especially in the rural areas is responsible for rise in demands. Also, most of the brands have tightened their distribution and have movedto online business so that they can even reach the smaller towns during these times when lockdown has been imposed in many states once again.

Journey of fan brands

While fans have been largely driven by some advertising and good distribution through retail outlets, but your next-door electrician or your nearest retail outlet can be a key influencer who will tell what brand to go for. Times have changed and today a fan is no longer just a necessity, now it is also seen as an important part of one’s home décor. Customers are looking and ensuring that design of the fan matches the four walls of the room shade. Even construction houses and builders are installing high end stylish designer fans to give a better appearance of the rooms .Consumers are also looking at designer fans, energy efficient fans and technologically advanced fans, which should be noiseless and the breeze from the fan should reach all the corners of the room. The other significant change that one has noticed in the last few years are brands offering sleek looking regulators, addressing noise issues and offering low electricity consumption which customers are eagerly seeking to save power.

The ad campaign approach

Differentiation has been the name of the game when it comes to the advertising strategy of most fan brands to stand out in the market. Many years back we had Polar Fans, which spoke about double bearing and highlighted it strongly that it became a powerful property of the brand for it to get noticed. Then we had the PSPO (Peak Speed Performance Output) property from Orient Fans, which also caught the attention of the people. Orient Fans had also roped in MS Dhoni for that campaign and he still happens to be the brand ambassador. Recently, another brand, Luminous, made its foray into the fans market and launched a new campaign which humorously captures the essence from an interesting insight of how in India all of us put a kala tika on beautiful things to keep away the evil eye. The idea here was to get the attention of consumers with the humour and then surprise them with the stunning range of fans which Luminous had to offer. The brand had roped in their brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar for this campaign, who was already associated Luminous Power Technologies.

Rohit Mathur, President - Electric Fans, Pumps and Water Heaters, Usha International, spoke "As a leading market player in the fans category, besides focusing on strengthening both our offline and online channels, we are ramping up our market penetration, our supply-chain and distribution network, and growing our presence across e-commerce portals too. We are also going the ‘digital first’ route, engaging and listening to our consumers. We’ve already launched 10 models including ceiling and pedestal fans that are technologically advanced, look elegant and premium, and are energy-efficient, including the very well received Colossus, Pentacool, Bellflower (an addition to the Bloom Series), and our Striker exhaust fans that have been a super success.

Usha is a brand trusted by consumers, and these last few quarters have proved that customers are preferring us for the value promise we offer and we are optimistic we will grow our business by at least 20% in the coming financial year (2021-22).”

Sharing his views, Rangarajan Sriram, Vice President – Fans, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd, said, “With the summers at its peak and given the current situation, people are spending more time indoors. While fans generally create a cool atmosphere at home, it becomes difficult to relax especially when fans create unnecessary and irritating noises throughout.”

“Crompton’s SilentPro Enso is our key offering in the premium fans range – a highly differentiated product since it delivers not only a more silent operation compared to a regular fan but is also powered by an energy efficient BLDC motor that offers up to 50% savings compared to an induction motor-based fan. Hence, it not only guarantees superior air-delivery, but also energy efficiency. On the design front the Crompton SilentPro Enso has also been awarded the international, world-renowned IF Design Award 2021 for its exceptional design.”

“With the summer season entering its peak and with more people working from home the season has opened well for us,” remarked Anshuman Chakravarty, CMO, Orient Electric Limited. Continuing further, he said, “Fans are being seen as a healthy cooling solution as they not only help to beat the heat, but also help to maintain good ventilation and fresh air circulation, especially in this COVID-19 period.”

“As regards to advertising, we started well in advance by airing our ceiling fans ad on television during the India-England cricket series which greatly helped in increasing brand visibility and recall. During IPL, we have taken ad spots during all CSK matches to leverage our longstanding association with our trusted brand ambassador MS Dhoni. We are currently promoting our premium Aeroseries and i-Series range of fans that are not only innovative with IOT & voice controls but are elegant and energy-efficient at the same time. We have plans outlined to push for more vernacular, digital and retain advertising in this season,” Chakravarty added.

For Indian consumers, ceiling fans are an integral part of their home décor and hence consumers look for designer fans which reflect their personality and go well with the overall aesthetic essence of their homes. Commenting on the same, Jitendra Agrawal, Senior VP, Luminous Power Technologies, informed that his company offers an array of beautiful designer fans from the new designer Energy Efficient fans’ category that are both energy-saving and aesthetic in looks. “This is what differentiates our product from the rest of the products available in the market. I would also like to share that Luminous is the only brand that has a wide range of Designer Energy Efficient Fans in its designer fans portfolio,” he added.

“With 40% Energy Saving and an annual electricity saving of Rs 1,250 per fan, our strategy this year will be to drive awareness on the benefits of saving electricity using EE Fans and that too without compromising on the overall looks of the fan. In 2021, we expect 15% of our fans’ revenue to come from EE fans. We have 750 distributors currently, who cover 70,000 retailers across the country. As we go forward, we will also increase our distribution footprint across India,” Agrawal concluded.

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