Expert Opinion: Building Brand Legacy through Festive Marketing

FestiveMarketingWeek Over the years brands have managed to create legacies on the back of some of the most path-breaking festive campaigns. Experts discuss what it is like to pursue festive marketing with the objective of building brand legacy in the post-pandemic day.

Year after Year brands and agencies create campaigns that steer emotions and human sentiments. From Sindoor Khela to Big Bazaar’s Paper Patakha, brands have managed to create not just recall but an advertising legacy that lives beyond time. The experts, Swami Mehra, VP Marketing, Tata Sky BroadBand Kiran Giradkar, Chief Marketing Officer, Nilon's, and Krishnarao Buddha, Senior Category Head at Parle Products decode what dose sit mean to build a brand legacy through festive marketing in the current scenario.

Festive Marketing – Pre & Post Pandemic

The experts feel that in the milieu of all the changes that have happened, people have become more reflective during the festive season and the entire sense of empathy is going to drive the market for the next few months.

Mehra adds, “The way people view life has now changed. The real customer value proposition has to develop now. We see a heightened sense of emotions that will take the center stage of most brand communications at this time.”  

Giradkar sheds light on another customer consumption pattern that has evolved.

"It’s a no-brainer that e-commerce has emerged as a very significant channel,” says Giradkar. “Also, from an advertising perspective how the consumer is consuming the content and the credibility of the ads has seen a sea change. Influencer marketing gives that credibility. Customization to the consumer In terms of product offering. These are the three things that I have picked up from last one and a half years.”

During the festive season, Parle saw huge traction especially for certain categories including its premium offerings and savory snacks. For the last 10 years, the brand has been quite focused on gifting solutions.

“Festive gifting has turned out to be a big business for us,” notes Buddha. “On the other hand, Modern trade has become stagnant in terms of contribution to the business but what has shown a huge delta of almost about 3 times is eCommerce. At Parle, typically 7-8% business would come from modern trade and about 2% from e-commerce and this percent has shot up to over 6% in last 18 months.”

According to him, in two years, eCommerce might surpass modern retail.

Brand Objective From Festive Marketing

The acquisition of customers usually decreases for the broadband category during the festive season. Mehra says, “It's not that Diwali comes and your sales double up. Ours is a very human-intensive industry. Word of mouth is one thing and the quality of the product is going to drive consumer behavior in the long term. Communication has to be relevant. You either create an ad or piece of content which is so compelling that a person wants to see it or you have a relevant influencer.”

Tata Sky Broadband's Diwali plans are to building customer propositions on reliability and satisfaction.

Giradkar shares that Nilon’s has very strong traction from upmarket. Currently, the brand's spends are in a 20:80 ratio for Digital versus Television. But the ad spends on digital will certainly grow this festive season, he adds.

Parle on the other hand will be focussing on driving its gifting offerings. “Certain biscuits or confectionaries might not do as well during festive times since there are a lot of homemade preparations. But the gifting options where we have the premium offerings, the opportunities lie there as people like to indulge in savory snacks."

40% of Parle Products' annual sale comes from the festive season.

Also Read : Understanding Festive Marketing for D2C brands ft. The Man Company & The Souled Store

Building Brand Legacy Through Festive Campaigns

Essentially it's thinking long term, being uni-focused, and speaking the customer’s language – it’s a simple and long-drawn process to building the brand legacy, quips Mehra.

“Tanishq is one brand that comes to my mind. It has built on human emotions so beautifully that it yet remains topical. This is something as a marketer we need to pick from brands like these,” he says.  

When it comes to festivals, Giradkar cannot miss seeing an ad from Cadbury because the campaigns are weaved around great insights of sharing love and celebrating moments. According to him, to build legacy brands, you need consumer trust, be relevant to the consumers with the changing dynamics of the ecosystem, and constantly listen to the consumers to upgrade and bring value to their lives.

Buddha too opined that Cadbury has been consistent for over two decades and they have been able to bring a very strong linkage with festivals. Likewise, other categories that have made a huge impact, according to him are Paints, they typically keep coming up with interesting communication during this period.

“Taking about e-commerce, the likes of Flipkart and Amazon, though they are here to sell so many other products what is astonishing is that the kind of advertising they have invested and the impact they have made on reminds of the consumers at large,” he asserts.