Experts Speak: Mapping Gujarat's media consumption patterns during Navratri

Navaratri, the annual Hindu festival observed in honor of the Goddess Durga and spans over nine nights, is celebrated differently in each state. Gujarat sees this as an opportunity to dive into the dance form of Garba with decked-out on-ground celebrations. Hence, brands tap into the power of local activities with the Navratri media mix in Gujarat being spread across mediums that help connect with the audiences according to their consumption patterns. 

Media experts dissect the common media patterns that are explored during Navratri in Gujarat with ways to tap into the consumption patterns of the target demographics.

Expected media mix 

Ritu Trivedi, Vice President - Business, Lodestar UM, deems print as the local hero for the state of Gujarat during Navratri. 

She says that the state 'dances to the tunes' of TV and Print as Hindi GECs thrive, creating a festive surge. 

"The front page of Gujarati newspapers is a canvas of ads, defining the festive spirit unique to this vibrant market. Marketers also delve into hyper-local campaigns in specific locations, adding another dimension to the festive advertising mix."

She deems that brands in automobiles, white goods, FMCGs, e-commerce, smartphones, jewelry, apparel, and personal care will be seizing the opportunity to captivate consumers this Navratri.

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Crisil Ratings estimates that revenues of the print sector are expected to grow at 13-15 percent to ₹30,000 crores this fiscal and this demand for fast-moving consumer goods, retail, clothing and fashion jewelry, launches of new automobiles, online shopping contributes about two-thirds of the print media ad revenue, will keep the momentum in ad revenue growth going.

Ashwini Kumar Das, Senior Vice President, Client Operations, Merkle Sokrati comments, “Festive season 2023 is massive with a 30% of growth in ad spends. As we step into the realm of Navratri and other festivities, the confluence of various media channels emerges as a potent force.” 

To truly resonate with target audiences, Kumar suggests that brands need to orchestrate a blend of videos, audio, and influencer marketing that sit well with their festive values.

For most national brands, Gujarat is a priority market due to its affluence, says Eeshita Ghosh, Managing Partner, Motivator South.

She continues, "The usage of local, micro, and nano influencers has increased across all markets, and so is in Gujarat. Digital focus to target the micro focus markets and doing targeting in a very localized way also increases."

Many players are also likely to leverage the airport OOH inventory, including digital screens, during the festivities.

This goes hand-in-hand with the Cricket World Cup happening in India after a long time with high-intensity matches, and advertisers are encashing on this opportunity, Ghosh elaborates. The new-age consumers are being targeted mostly on digital platforms as it is trackable, has low entry cost, and can be geo-focused.

Tapping into the mediums

Considering the fact that the most opportunities lie within the on-ground festivities happening in the states that celebrate the festival, more and more brands are seizing these opportunities and reaping the benefits of on-site as well as print and TV exposure during this period, as per Tejal Shastri, Senior Vice President - Media, Publicis Beehive.

With this, making the most effective use of the mediums is important.

Shastri notes, "They (brands) can establish promotional stalls and give away sample products via co-branding activities with publications and TV channels."

Lodestar UM's Ritu Trivedi adds that ground events serve as the perfect opportunity to test and learn from location-based advertising, integrating it seamlessly with digital and mobile platforms. 

"QR codes, NFC tags, AR can enhance the online-offline interaction, providing easy access to information, interactive experiences, and social sharing, amplifying the reach and impact of the campaign."

HiveMinds' Chief Strategy Officer, Deepti Bhadauria, on the other hand, comments that today, even in a crowd amidst celebrations, people are connected with their cellphones all the time. 

Alongside Google and Facebook, which form the mainstay and a good mix of news and print, she mentions that digital and OOH (and DOOH) have become the prime platforms for experimenting with innovative ad formats. 

"One of the innovations we are piloting is the 'Home to Store' campaign - where we identify upscale apartments near our client's store locations and target the DOOH screens in that apartment - as well as the CTVs of houses of that apartment by cleverly linking deliveries from the DOOH & the CTV technology systems. This enables us to talk to the consumer holistically and create the brand love for them to come to their nearby stores," Bhadauria says.

She also states the media mix across states will still be skewed towards Metros and non-metros, noting that this is the best time for regional media to get adex from brands looking at acquiring new customers beyond metros.

Merkle Sokrati’s Ashwini Kumar Das agrees that short-form videos are known for their audience engagement and believes that the content format should rightfully assume the spotlight in crafting the right communications for audiences. 

Giving a handy tip for regions where Navratri or other festivities may not be as prominent, he says, “A tactful approach would be to craft campaigns that resonate with the latent festive or celebratory spirit of the audience (eg. The spirit of World Cup).”

Which medium takes the largest spot?

Shantanu Bhattacharyya, Sr. VP - Digital Strategy Planning and Client Success, LS Digital believes that flexibility is key when it comes to tailoring brand messages to the local culture. 

While Navratri is celebrated heavily in Gujarat and West Bengal, states like Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and more bring their own flavor and colors to the festival. Hence, the media mixes differ quite a bit due to regional variations and preferences. 

"In our analysis, we're seeing OOH and more so DOOH taking a prominent slice of the ad spending pie during these festivals. It just has this unique ability to capture the festive spirit and reach a wide range of people," shares Bhattacharyya.

Reports suggest that 2022’s Navratri brand spends reached the pre-COVID levels in terms of the number of brand advertising, budgets spent, and campaign scale, with both National and Local spending at a ratio of 60% and 40%, respectively. 

The automobile category stood out as the highest spending category amongst the national brands, while the jewelry and clothing categories were the major ones to spend amongst the local brands.

Motivator's Eeshita Ghosh believes the media mix is unlikely to be very different in different markets. She further says that South has a high TV focus as it is media-isolated, and the entry cost is not very high.

Publicis Beehive's Tejal Shastri sees digital advertising as likely to corner the largest share of ad expenditure this Navratri. 

Over the years, the medium has emerged as an effective advertising channel, and advertisers, too, have been steadily increasing their digital advertising budgets. 

"The medium unlocks capabilities such as geo-tagging and contextual targeting, which not only empower advertisers to target a specific geographical area but also allow them to contextually tailor their message based on parameters such as age or gender," Tejal observes.

HiveMinds’ Deepti Bhadauria remarks that since most of the brands are primarily targeting young and affluent customers, there will be a surge of ad spends on video-first digital formats.

She further adds, "There will be significant adex increase in traditional media from advertisers in Real estate, electronics, and automobile, digital media will still get the lion's share of growth."

Overall, this year, media consumption patterns in Gujarat during Navratri will be taking over with OOH, DOOH and print in a bid to reach out to the younger consumer base.