"Usha has allocated around 5% of its marketing budget for festive season at Rs 20-25 cr"

After a muted festive season last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this year saw a higher willingness to spend. As per a ZestMoney Survey, 72% of Indians plan to splurge on electronics & gadgets, while 59% prefer BNPL to fund festive purchases. 62% of the respondents revealed that festive budgets have gone up compared to last year. A recent market research by YouGov gives a big boost to the Diwali Expense Index, which is generally indicative of Q3 sales growth in India.

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The Indian festive season is a crucial time as consumer demand is at its peak with many planning several small and big-ticket purchases. With increased vaccination and the general opening of the economy, the survey has witnessed a positive sentiment around budgets and shopping at physical stores, even as online shopping continues to be popular among people.

As part of Adgully’s Festive Mood series, we have been covering the market, brand and consumer sentiments during the festive season this year. In conversation with Adgully, Saurabh Baishakhia, President, Appliances, Usha International, speaks about the company’s festive marketing plans, ad spends, key consumer trends seen this year and more.

What kind of trends have you seen in consumer spends, ad spends by brands and sales during this festive season?

This festive season, consumers have a reason to cheer as COVID-19 cases are down, vaccination percentages are up and markets/ offices/ social engagements are back on the calendar. Having said that, we still need to follow the necessary precautions for the health and safety of our families. There is a healthy surge in demand and we are definitely expecting sales to surpass pre-COVID-19 levels. It is heartening to see steady growth in the rural economy and this has made the growth in the economy more evenly distributed.

The one very important consumer preference trend that has also undergone change is moving from price consciousness towards quality and value proposition.

For us, this has meant a surge in demand for products like food processors, OTGs, mixer grinders, wet grinders, rice cookers, cooktops, fabric care products like steam irons and garment steamers, as well as air-coolers or room heaters as the weather demanded. Each of these product categories has been doing very well across segments and regions, however, it is the home and kitchen appliances which have been leading the demand during the festive season.

The ad spends on digital channels have been consistently growing, aligned to the increasing engagement of consumers with digital. Digital spends are now almost at par with print media, followed by TV, OOH and Radio. Brands have also realised the importance of having a 360-degree approach to obtain optimal results across demographics and geographies.

What is the kind of online/ offline split seen in brands marketing strategies?

A major trend that has grown beyond anyone’s expectation is the adoption of online and digital – whether it’s work from home, or online browsing and buying, or skill building. Our journey towards becoming a digital economy has picked up an unprecedented pace. We believe the digital touch-point in the consumer’s buying cycle is here to stay.

With markets opening up and signaling recovery, as well as the wedding season now in full swing, buying is definitely on the rise – both in-shop as well as via online channels. Our strategy for attracting consumers will be a holistic 360-degree mix. Our intent is to achieve the perfect equilibrium between offline and online sales, and to also further build a robust omni-channel strategy.

E-commerce has risen multi-fold and we are today creating unique retail experiences for our consumers by offering seamless services on online platforms like Brand Stores on Amazon, engaging demo videos across product categories, A+ Content, etc. We are also building our product portfolio on all digital platforms as people now are more digitally influenced and inclined in terms of their purchase journeys and decisions.

What is your overall festive season spends for this year? What kind of campaigns and marketing strategies have you drawn up to engage with your consumers this year?

We have allocated close to 5% of our marketing budgets for the festival season amounting to around Rs 20-25 crore. Recently, we launched a 360-degree marketing and communications TV campaign featuring our brand ambassador and National Award winner Keerthy Suresh to announce the launch of four new products in the appliances category. The TV campaign was rolled out in nine languages and covered both traditional and digital mediums, aimed at amplifying connect and engagement with consumers across India.

Just ahead of this festive season, we also launched a whole slew of new products – Heleous Fans, Trienergy Mixer Grinder, Rice Cooker, Calypso OTG, etc. – in order to offer our customers a wider range of innovative products across price-points that work for them.

Festive offers on easy financial schemes, combined with advertising through the right channels, help aid the consumer’s journey from browse to buy. In order to make the festive season even more joyful, we have a host of easy financing options to facilitate customers fulfil their aspirations of acquiring and owning an appliance they long for, an appliance that aids convenience and enhances their lives.

Our strategy is aimed at reaching customers at all touch points of their purchase journey, and offering them a seamless online and offline experience. Ease and convenience of purchase, availability of various options, and easy finance options are going to be the main growth drivers this festival season.