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  • FMCG shopping by eco-actives to reach $446 bn in 2021: Kantar Study

    FMCG shopping by eco-actives to reach $446 bn in 2021: Kantar Study

    Mumbai: Environmentally sustainable grocery market is forecast to double over next five years, as per a new sustainability study from Kantar. FMCG/ consumer packaged goods shopping by environmentally concerned households (eco-actives) will total $446 billion in 2021, up $70 billion vs 2020, the data analytics firm estimates. It forecasts this segment will grow to $925 billion by 2026 – a CAGR of 15.7 per cent, more than five times faster than the grocery market as a whole.

     

    Interestingly, the ‘Who Cares, Who Does’ study that interviewed almost 90,000 respondents in 26 countries, also throws light on the importance of children as critical influencers in making daily household shopping habits more environmentally responsible. Family, mostly children, were identified as the biggest influence (36 per cent of respondents) after product packaging, in shifting habits according to the global study. Almost half of households, at 49 per cent, said the Covid-19 pandemic has made sustainability even more important to them.

     

    The percentage of ‘eco-active’ households has grown from 16 per cent in 2019 to 22 per cent in 2021, the study, in its third year, found. The Eco-active segment has grown six percentage points over the past two years, to account for 22 per cent of global households. Kantar projects this segment will grow to 40 per cent of all households over the next five years, and more than half of households by 2029.

     

    The ‘Who Cares, Who Does’ study segmented households into three categories of eco-actives (22 per cent of households), eco-considerers (40 per cent of households) and eco-dismissers (38 per cent of households) based on their actual behaviours on sustainability

     

    “Eco-actives are driving growth for brands that embrace sustainable strategies. As a segment the Eleco-active market will grow five times faster than the overall grocery market, so building a competitive advantage through your sustainability strategy represents a major opportunity for brands,” said Kantar’s Worldpanel division CEO Guillaume Bacuvier. “Companies that get it right will reap the rewards, those that fail to act risk turning away a growing number of shoppers. Two-thirds of all shoppers have stopped purchasing a product or service which has a negative impact on the environment at least once.”

    Kantar also asked consumers to identify their major sustainability concerns and their major barriers to acting sustainably. Climate change, Water pollution and Plastic waste were the top concerns while ‘products are harder to find or more expensive’ were the top barriers to sustainable behaviour.

    “For retailers, there is a much more to do. Only 44 per cent of shoppers are somewhat or very satisfied with the in-store offering. A good choice of local products and affordable options are the most important sustainability factors shoppers consider when choosing a store for their shopping. Fewer people are looking for a specific sustainable section,” Bacuvier further said.

  • Bhujia, extrudes and the festive season: Bikano’s go-to-market strategy for H2

    Bhujia, extrudes and the festive season: Bikano’s go-to-market strategy for H2

    Mumbai: The second half of 2021 began on a bustling note for packaged snacks brand Bikano. The Company has launched two new snack ranges – a tea-time maida-based snack range and an extrude range under sub-brand Fatax, a new campaign for its star product – Bhujia, and the festive blitz focusing on sweets. The launches are part of Bikano’s well-thought-out strategy for the rest of the year even as the Delhi-based FMCG firm sets out to achieve its larger goals of establishing itself as the Bhujia specialist and market leader, developing the extrudes category and driving volumes for sweets with festive offerings.  

    Bikanervala Foods, head of marketing, Dawinder Pal takes us through these developments and their strategic importance for the Company in the light of trends, that emerged out of the pandemic year. When Pal joined Bikano from Bonn Group of Industries in October 2019, little did he know that in addition to transitioning from leading a premium western snacks category to heading marketing function for a traditional snacks brand, he will also have to deal with another unexpected industry-wide transformation, just six months down the line. Fortunately, the change was largely positive for him as well as Bikano.

    Taste and flavours reign supreme

    There’s no denying the emergence of health and hygiene consciousness as the most important trends out of 2020. From sanitisers to ‘virus-resistant’ clothing lines, brands across categories grabbed the opportunity to come up with new offerings. Bikano also introduced a range of diet namkeen mixtures and multigrain chips. However, with the setting in of post-covid rationalisation, it became clear that while snacking had definitely embraced hygiene, thus providing an advantage to packaged foods brands, the wave of health-consciousness was short-lived.

    “Even though there’s more awareness and talk of healthy-snacking, the quantum of it is quite low. When it comes to snacks, people are more glued to the taste; there’s still an unwillingness to compromise on it,” says Pal.   

    With renewed confidence, Bikano decided to go full throttle on traditional tastes and flavours, delivered with the hygiene advantage of packaged foods. Bhujia emerged as the obvious choice to lead the Indian snacks category. The humble snack contributes a whopping 35 per cent to Bikano’s namkeen category sales. “We are targeting Rs 200 cr in revenues from Bhujia (Aloo and Bikaneri) in the next two quarters,” says Pal.

    The namkeen and snacks market in India is valued at about Rs 35,000 crore, with Bhujia and Sev enjoying a 25 per cent share. Currently, the second-biggest player, Bikano wants to become the market leader in Bhujias. To this effect, the brand recently launched a campaign – ‘Hum Se Behtar Bhujia Ko Jaane Kaun’ – positioning itself as the “Bhujia specialist”.

    Bikano’s new tea-time range of refined wheat flour (maida)-based snacks, launched in July is further expected to provide it an edge over the competition. Consisting of seven products – Bhakar Badi, Tikoni Mathi, Gol Mathi, Matar Para, Methi Mathi, Mini Samosa and Chai Puri – the range is primarily targeted at the northern markets.

    Unlike traditional Indian snacks where it is the second biggest player, Bikano’s foothold in the western category which includes extrudes, wafers and bridges are not as strong. Pal tells us that since the time he joined, efforts to capture the western snacks market have picked up significantly. With a minimal presence in wafers and bridges ensured, the brand decided to aggressively pursue the high-volume, high-growth extrudes category which targets kids.

    In July, Bikano introduced a revamped extrudes range consisting of Ringz, Puffees, Cheese Balls, Pasta Crunch and Jungle Safari for children aged three to ten years. The objective was to augment presence in the 16000cr western snacks market, within which, extrudes (6000cr) is the fastest-growing sub-category at 23-25 per cent YoY.

    During the launch, Bikano, director Manish Aggarwal had stated that the new range is expected to give the Company a sales surge of up to Rs 15 crore in this fiscal.

    Another top gainer of 2020 for Bikano was the sweets category. Explaining the phenomenon, Pal states, “While our snacks TG remained unaffected, as consumer behaviour shifted towards hygiene, we felt the change – a positive one – most prominently in the sweets category, with volumes doubling in the last two years. That’s also when festive became an important part of our portfolio and yearly plans.”

    Last festive season, the brand achieved 40 per cent growth over the previous year. It has the same target for this year.

    Overall, the Company is eyeing 125cr in revenues from global markets and 1250cr from domestic market in this financial year.

    Changing Media Needs

    Bikano’s media strategy has been a combination of ATL and BTL, with print (newspapers and magazines), tactical outdoor, BTL activations, PoS branding and digital dominating the mix along with some TV. The brand has collaborated with Chhota Bheem for the launch of its Fatax extrudes range. As its builds the kids-oriented extrudes category, more such associations can be expected to increase the quantum of advertising on TV.

    Within digital, Bikano prioritises social media. “We are using the modern social media platforms to build preference for our traditional products among millennials who are more inclined towards western snacks,” Pal remarks.  

    Pal has deployed the OTT medium significantly for the brand’s advertising needs in the US and Canada. Commenting on the rather muted presence on Indian OTT platforms, he notes, “OTT brands in the US offer clear audience segmentation, for instance, the Willow TV app is dedicated exclusively to Cricket. The phenomenon is yet to happen in the Indian OTT space, where there’s no evident differentiation, but we do plan to explore it in the coming year.”

  • Brands gear up for the festive season 2021

    Brands gear up for the festive season 2021

    Mumbai: It’s September. And, there is palpable anticipation tinged with hope, as the country gears up for yet another festive season in the post-pandemic world. Onam has already kick-started the celebrations in Kerala with brands launching exciting offers. Unsurprisingly, a huge chunk of a brand’s annual marketing budget is spent during this time of the year. So, how’s the buzz this year around? Are the brands and businesses buoyant in their expectations on the festive season, or are they wary about going full throttle, amid a looming threat of the third wave?

    Online retailer Myntra said it has witnessed a rise in the pent-up demand over the last few months. “Overall, the whole e-commerce ecosystem in India lights up during this quarter. We are looking to ride the wave by using this opportunity to serve our customers while focusing on every possible festive shopping occasion starting with Durga Puja and moving on to Navratri and Diwali,” said a Myntra spokesperson. “We expect this festive season to be bigger than last year.”

    According to the fashion e-tailer, the demand peaks during the 30 days leading up to Diwali, and it expects the same to happen this year. In fact, the demand in the two months leading to the festive season is expected to be much more than last time, especially across metros and Tier 2/ Tier 3. The adoption of digital channels for shopping also continues to accelerate.

    According to Modi Naturals, chief marketing officer, Shardul Bist, there is a huge pent-up demand, which will make sure, the upcoming festive season is better than that of 2020. It is also planning a 360-degree media campaign this year. “This is the time when people across the country are looking forward to indulging with their loved ones at home. So definitely, this festive season MNL is going all out to woo consumers,” said Bist, highlighting that the FMCG firm is also entering the ready-to-eat segment this time, with a new sub-brand – Oleev Kitchen, and launching new categories – Pasta and Peanut Butter- to bolster its food division.

    The brands are hopeful of a better festive season in terms of business and sales. The sales for certain categories have already begun to rise, and brands hope, it sustains itself during the next few months. For instance, the two-wheeler tyres demand remains strong with substantial growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities amid increasing preference for private mobility amongst customers.

    “Our expectations are to create impactful visibility at the retail level by focusing on offtakes. We are happy that sales bounce back is happening, and are witnessing balanced volume growth prior to the festive period,” said TVS Srichakra, head-brand marketing Kavitha Ganesan, who expects consumer sentiments to improve with the resumption of IPL and T20 World Cup. “Barring 2020, our category has always seen consistent investments for brand building and advertising. Comparing ad spends with last year may not be prudent as last year was muted for the category with respect to media spends. Considering the buoyancy in the category, we do feel the ad-ex would grow this year.”

    The brands are all set to celebrate the buoyant outlook of this festive season with curated trade and consumer promotions. This is the ‘Lock and the unlock phase’, highlighted Madison Media Ultra COO Jolene Fernandes Solanki. “Brands had started gearing up for the unlock stage much before to reap the benefits of the unlock period. We will observe a surge in spends by the time the festive season approaches since maximum sales for many categories take place during the festive period. The budgets which were not utilised during the lockdown may be also utilised during this period,” said Solanki.

    However, there is are also apprehensions of a fresh wave of Covid cases, and brands and advertisers remain mindful of it. 

    There is an omnious sense of déjà vu when discussing the ‘pent-up demand’ a year later too, for it was this time last year that there was the beginning of lockdown relaxation in many parts of the country shared Wunderman Thompson, South Asia, chairman, and group CEO Tarun Rai. Brands were then focussed on servicing the pent-up demand of all the previous six months, and because of the ‘second wave’, marketers find themselves in a similar situation to last year.

    Nevertheless, Rai does not rule out a promising season for most product categories, with the general mood on the Covid front getting better every day. He also noted that unlike last year, brands are better prepared and the supply-side issues are largely addressed. “So yes, this year the season is again going to be one of huge importance to marketers. This is the time that brands should not hold back,” added Rai.

    Online marketing agency CupShup co-founder Sidharth Singh also drew attention to the supply bottlenecks due to which brands might not be able to fulfil the customer’s demand. “Trade wars, global turmoil impacts the supply much more than we imagine and impact both the availability as well as pricing of the product. Brands are watching it unfold closely and aligning their spending and strategy accordingly,” he said.

    Nonetheless, brands are looking forward to better investments to accelerate growth. According to iProspect senior VP Kaushik Chakraborty, key sectors such as Automobiles, E-Commerce, FMCG, and BFSI are set to increase spends during the season to make up for the impact of the second wave.

    Historically, the festive months of September-December contribute more than 40 per cent of overall ad ex. This year the contribution will increase further with the eight weeks of intense cricket from the upcoming IPL second phase and T20 WC. Also, with leading GEC channels launching big-ticket shows like KBC, India’s Best Dancer, Big Boss, advertisers will definitely utilise this opportunity and expects significant growth in ad ex in comparison to 2020, he added.

    According to a recent report by Dentsu International, adspend is expected to grow by 10.8 per cent in 2021 to reach $9 billion. India’s television, print, and digital advertising revenues are showing signs of revival after declining by almost 20 per cent in 2020. This data, coming on the back of the setback suffered by the industry during the April-June quarter this year, is significant.

    “India is estimated to grow more than 20 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020. Growth in advertising would be led by Digital followed by TV, Print, OOH & Radio. With increased demand, we will also see some rate hikes by the broadcasters to make up for the lack of ad rate growth in the last 18-24 months,” said Havas Media India, managing partner – South, Saurabh Jain adding that the vaccination drive has also uplifted consumer confidence. “This spike in positive sentiments will result in ‘revenge shopping’ this festive season as more people step out for shopping or consumption.”

    In terms of festive ad spend and marketing strategy this time around, Jain said, “Since COVID-19, the campaign duration and planning cycles have become shorter and the shift to digital has accelerated, impacting the overall marketing strategies.”

    Industry executives are, however, not without caution when it comes to the upcoming festive period. “There are a lot of brands with their ears to the ground and they are working with much more alertness and dexterity in their plans. The fear and anxiety associated with Covid third wave are noticeable. So there would always be a plan B and plan C. Brands will stock up on a limited quantity,” said Tiger Advertising partner Pantul Kothari. “Having said that- most businesses believe that it is an opportunity that can’t be missed. And we expect aggressive marketers leading to a huge media noise.”

    Industry executives agree businesses have achieved a new normal or baseline of business after the effect of the pandemic. The aim will be to move forward from that point. Going back to pre-Covid trends and spends is no longer part of the industry’s playbook. Brands are trying to cover up for what is lost by upping their game and leveraging the festive season to connect with their audiences.

  • GUEST COLUMN: FMCG companies took to apps, bet big on direct-to-consumer reach

    GUEST COLUMN: FMCG companies took to apps, bet big on direct-to-consumer reach

    Mumbai: The eruption of COVID-19 has left millions and millions of businesses scurrying for survival. Although somewhat less affected than some categories, the FMCG companies also faced headwinds for some time. And to counter these headwinds, technology has been the single most important intervention that they have employed during these trying times. And of the technologies, applications enabling a direct route to the consumer as well as other businesses in the value chain have been most prominent.

    While placing their faith in these applications, FMCG companies have also recast their value chains weeding out unnecessary elements at various levels allowing themselves greater leverage vis-à-vis their vendor partners and establishing a more direct connect with their end-consumers. And among FMCG firms, food companies, or those with prominent food product portfolios have been particularly noteworthy for taking the app route.  A step ahead of general trade, modern trade, or even traditional e-commerce channels, these apps have been popular yet necessary go-to modes for these companies.

    The big B2C advantage

    How does B2C prove to be advantageous for FMCG companies? Until now, customer-relationship building and acquiring customer insights were largely the preserve of the retailer community. However, what B2C apps do is that they facilitate a direct and one-on-one company-to-consumer relationship, with the former no more having to make efforts to establish bonding with a faceless consumer. On top of allowing deeper end-consumer insights for companies and brands, they can catalyse more relevant and individualised product and service propositions by the brand to the consumer thus leading to a more enriching customer experience which in turn would drive increased customer acquisition, conversion, and retention for the brand. And needless to say, the power balance between the brand and the retailer is further shifted in favour of the brand and away from the retailer.

    B2B applications not too far away

    However, this taking to applications has not been limited to B2C channels. FMCG companies have also incorporated apps in their business processes directly targeting retailers and kirana stores who offload their products and serve as a last-mile seller/supplier to end-consumers. Identifying and prioritising retailers who delivered top volume businesses, the companies made sure that the retailers continued to place orders for their products, and even more efficiently using these applications than they did before. In fact, thanks to Covid, the earlier forecasts projecting a contribution of around 10 per cent digital channels in the total FMCG market in the next ten years in the country has been advanced to next three to four years now. And at the same time, cutting out or minimising the role of distributors especially in terms of selection of retail outlets, the brands have reclaimed their power vis-à-vis the latter while effecting greater streamlining and consolidation of their distribution systems.

    Proliferation of new products

    While pivoting to digital technologies, B2C and B2B apps, the FMCG companies have also realigned their product portfolios in a major way capitalising on the shifting consumer preferences and behavior in times of the pandemic. And as part of this realignment, there has been a proliferation of new and innovative products which have been introduced to the market in the last few months. With health and hygiene being a predominant consumer focus, as many as 3,000 products in the health and hygiene category have been estimated to be launched in the September quarter alone last year. Earlier, in the April-September quarter, as many as 9,700 new products were launched by FMCG companies. Mindful of and in response to the country-wide lockdowns in place and customers being confined to their homes, 125 products were introduced in-home cooking segment alone during March-August 2020 in categories including ketchup, jams, cheese, and milk powders.

    Exploring alternative channels of distribution too

    Even as D2C apps gain traction, the FMCG companies are also exploring tie-ups with new-age delivery startups, food-tech service players, food aggregators, hyper-local apps, and courier firms to have their products delivered to the doorsteps of the end-consumer. In fact, some FMCG companies are also making product-specific tie-ups with delivery platforms and micro delivery platforms.

    Digitisation not limited to distribution: Influencer marketing gets a boost

    Rising uptake in apps and the broader digitisation has not only been confined to retail and distribution but also advertising and marketing. And riding on the increasingly entrenched position of social media and its consumption, influencer marketing has become a big part of FMCG’s digital marketing strategy in recent years. According to a report, globally, nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of FMCG companies have raised their influencer spending significantly as compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. And within India, during the festive season campaign alone, influencer marketing saw a 20 per cent jump in campaigns. A digital marketing agency has estimated India’s influencer market at $75-150 million a year, as compared to the global market of $1.75 billion, which is only set to get bigger in the coming months and years.

    Other technologies that could aid the B2C momentum

    At the same time, apart from apps, there are several related B2C technologies and platforms that could add teeth to the ongoing B2C drive. They could range from customer data platforms to data management platforms to marketing automation tools to business intelligence and data visualization tools to social listening tools, among others.

    So, in the future, there is no doubt that the B2C apps as part of an FMCG company’s digitisation program will acquire a more permanent dimension. Notwithstanding a resurgence of Covid in certain states, now with vaccination underway and revival of consumer sentiment in urban India, FMCG businesses including food companies are set to see greater activity and growth.  

    (Manish Aggarwal is director, Bikano, Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd. The views expressed in the column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • Amway India onboards Mirabai Chanu as brand ambassador

    Amway India onboards Mirabai Chanu as brand ambassador

    Mumbai: FMCG major Amway India, through Emmanuel Global Consultancies, has partnered with Olympian Saikhom Mirabai Chanu as the brand ambassador to promote Amway and its Nutrilite range of products. 

    Chanu will spearhead brand campaigns focused on its foundation range such as Nutrilite Daily, Omega and All Plant Protein amongst others, across platforms. The association with the Olympic medalist is in line with Amway’s focus on consolidating its health and nutrition category, especially targeting women and youth in the country, the company said in a statement.

    Amway India CEO Anshu Budhraja said, “Amway and Nutrilite symbolise the best of entrepreneurship, opportunity, women empowerment, nutrition, and wellness globally. Our association with Mirabai Chanu is a natural choice. She exemplifies our values of hope, commitment, self-empowerment, healthy living; and her commitment to fitness is unparalleled. This makes her the perfect partner to further amplify our ethos of helping people live better, healthier lives.” 

    “Our association with Ms Chanu is also a tribute to our incredible women leaders who have been leading from the front and re-imagining the future, for themselves, for their families, and ultimately for the society at large. Comprising over 60 per cent of direct sellers, women and youth are at the heart of this incredible organisation and are the enablers in helping us drive the commitment towards entrepreneurship to empower the women and our women,” he added.  

    Amway India chief marketing officer Ajay Khanna commented, “As the nation prepares to build their health and strengthen their immunity, we are delighted to welcome Mirabai Chanu to the Nutrilite family. Her unmatched dedication to fitness and youth appeal resonates well with Nutrilite’s world-class image offering the best of nature and the best of science for optimal health.” 

    Speaking about the brand association, Mirabai Chanu said, “Nutrilite is an iconic brand, recognised globally for its plant-based approach to dietary supplements. As a professional athlete, I am always looking for ways to improve my fitness and thereby, my game. Hence, proper nutrition through a balanced diet is extremely important for me. I am excited to join hands with Nutrilite –which is the world’s top vitamins and dietary supplements brand, committed to making people’s lives healthier.” 

  • Parle emerges as India’s Most Chosen FMCG Brand: Kantar India

    Parle emerges as India’s Most Chosen FMCG Brand: Kantar India

    New Delhi: Parle Products has once again emerged as the top FMCG brand in the ninth edition of the annual Brand Footprint India report released by Kantar India.

    The report ranks the ‘Most Chosen FMCG Brands’ based on the Consumer Reach Points (CRP’s), which consider the actual purchase made by consumers and the frequency at which these purchases are made in a calendar year. Higher the CRPs, higher the opportunity for brand growth.

    With a CRP score of 5715 (million), Parle holds the top spot for a record ninth year in a row, said Kantar India. It is followed by Amul, Britannia, Clinic Plus and Tata Consumer Products.

    In a year dominated by health & hygiene, Dettol grew a whopping 48 per cent in CRP’s (923 Mn) and entered the top 25 brand list. Dettol was followed by Lifebuoy with a growth of 25 per cent CRP’s (1798 Mn), Vim at 21 per cent CRP’s (1454 Mn), Dabur at 14 per cent CRP’s (1458 Mn) and Britannia at 11 per cent CRP’s (4694 Mn).

    The overall consumer reach points (CRP’s) have increased from 86 billion to 89 billion however, the rate of growth has plummeted down to four per cent, from eight per cent in 2019. COVID impacted the frequency of purchase as average trips made to purchase grocery reduced but more purchases per trip were recorded in 2020.A

    According to the report, purchase frequency reduced by one per cent but spend per trip grew by five per cent, which led to lower number of brands (50 per cent) growing in terms of CRP as compared to 2019 (72 per cent). Growth in CRP is also directly proportional to the brand hierarchy in the ranking. Across the board, the percentage of brands growing fell by 22 per cent however brands in the top 50 only fell by 14 per cent (over 2019).

    Penetration continues to remain the driving force. Low penetrated brands showcase a CRP growth of three per cent while high penetrated brands show a 4.5 per cent growth. At 88 per cent, Colgate (including all brands like Dental Cream, Cibaca, Active Salt, Gel etc) recorded the highest household penetration in 2020. The overall brand gains (in terms of penetration) are led by health and hygiene brands like Dettol (13.3 per cent), Lifebuoy (6.3 per cent), Savlon (5.4 per cent) and Harpic (4.3 per cent).

    Worldpanel Division at Kantar, managing director- South Asia, K. Ramakrishnan said, the brand footprint is a great way of measuring and rewarding brands by the extent to which they are chosen by consumers. “Choice is a function of penetration and frequency. However, year after year, we find that brands grow a lot more on account of penetration gain than frequency gain. The biggest gainers in brand footprint 2020 were expectedly the hygiene brands. That said, the traditional leaders also held their positions by ensuring penetration growths even during the pandemic,” he added.

    Brand Footprint Top 10 Most Chosen Brands of India in 2020:

    2020 Rank

    2019 Rank

    Brand

    CRP (Mn)

    1

    1

    Parle Products

    5715

    2

    2

    Amul

    5107

    3

    4

    Britannia

    4694

    4

    3

    Clinic Plus

    4171

    5

    6

    Tata Consumer Products

    2391

    6

    5

    Ghadi

    2195

    7

    8

    Nandini

    2178

    8

    9

    Colgate

    2069

    9

    7

    Aavin

    1984

    10

    13

    Lifebuoy

    1798

     

     

  • Companies pin hopes on monsoon season to lift the ‘Covid-gloom’

    Companies pin hopes on monsoon season to lift the ‘Covid-gloom’

    MUMBAI: Monsoons are critical for the revival of consumer demand in our agri-dependent country, both in rural and urban regions. In a market already marred by the pandemic, how’s the sentiment this monsoon season? To gauge the marketing mood in this season of renewed hope, IndianTelevision.com spoke to a few marketers and industry stakeholders on the opportunities and challenges during the season in the backdrop of the pandemic, the marketing strategy adopted by brands to reach out to customers, and more.

    The outbreak of the pandemic and the subsequent turn of events has not only crippled daily life but also hit industries and the economy hard. After the long, harsh summer, companies are now exuding hope of business gaining momentum from the second quarter of 2021-22 with the onset of monsoon. The steady decline in Covid cases and the relaxation in lockdown restrictions in some states has led to some cautious optimism in the consumer market.

    “Our efforts are to revamp the market sentiment, which has been affected due to the deadly second wave, and in doing so we stand strong. Catering to over 18,000 pin codes and having 550 service centres across India, we have worked on a robust supply chain and logistics to ensure that there are no seasonal factors that impact our operations and the overall consumer experience of the brand,” says Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd (SPPL) – the Indian licensee for French Electronics’ brand Thomson – CEO Avneet Singh Marwah.

    Last June the company announced it would invest Rs 1,000 crore in the next five years to expand its manufacturing capacity and strengthen its presence in the consumer electronics and appliances segment. The firm is also making a foray into the home appliances segment with washing machines and cooling product categories under brand Thomson, as part of its expansion plans. As part of its strategy, the company said it would continue to focus on affordability with aggressive pricing and harness the potentials of e-commerce channels.

    “At Thomson, our commitment is to provide ‘Friendly Technology’ to the discreet online shopper, who wants ‘global technology at competitive prices. Our e-shoppers can benefit and avail various bank offers and discounts this monsoon season too, as we put out offers every season on Flipkart,” says Marwah, adding that it would always remain a D2C brand, with a consumer-centric approach.”

    FMCG has traditionally been among the sectors that tend to benefit from a good monsoon. With IMD’s forecast of a normal monsoon, there are indications of salvaging the sector from the pandemic’s impact.

    Consumer confidence for urban Indians has also shown mild recovery in June 2021 with a slight uptick of 1.4 percentage points, over the previous month, according to the monthly Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI). It had shown a steep drop in May due to the aggressive second wave impact.

    Backed by positive consumer sentiment, Oil processing company Modi Naturals Ltd CMO Shardul Bist says, ”Typically, during the monsoon, consumption for most food and cooking brands goes up. These are the crucial months for edible oil brands like us to build volumes and reach out to consumers. We had already planned our marketing calendar, which had to be revised due to the pandemic for the second consecutive year. We have planned it in three phases – Critical, Recovery, and Stabilizing to match the mood of the consumers as we move through the year.”

    According to Bist, consumers’ preferences generally move towards fried food during the rains, and thus the usage of oil increases. “We have to plan our media strategy keeping the pandemic into consideration. We are bullish on our marketing spends and have planned a strong 360-degree marketing campaign during Q2 which includes TV, Print, and Digital with our brands, Oleev and Pipo. Along with the media, we are planning to diversify into healthy food categories and are planning to launch new products in Q2,” he says.

    Unsurprisingly, the demand for Health and immunity boosters has also shot up. “In the last few months, the demand for multivitamin and mineral supplements has seen an upward growth”, says Mankind Pharma’s Joy Chatterjee. “We changed our strategy at the right time and ‘Health OK’ was shifted into the OTC category. This has generated demand, need, and revenue for us. We are growing in double digits, and we give a lot of stress upon building brand equity as well. With strong brand equity, one can enjoy all benefits of the value chain. Going further, we expect the percentage to increase.”

    Chatterjee says that the Pharma brand’s marketing strategy remains the same, which is basically to make people aware of the product and its benefits. “We are taking on a 360-degree approach to reach our target audience, we can’t just rely on one medium- because our product is such that it caters to different age groups. So, we decided to be available across marketing channels- whether it is TV, print media and even focusing on regional newspapers. However, TV is still our number one choice because of its reach and impact.”

    The brand recently released a TVC featuring Health Ok tablets brand ambassadors Anil Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. “Other than this, we are highly active on social media platforms too and collaborating with popular influencers from different speaking markets. We are also increasing our budget on digital to capture the attention of the audience in the digital space,” he added.

    dentsumcgarrybowen India EVP & head- planning & strategy, Vishal Nicholas says that apart from health, a few other categories that do get activated during the monsoons are Tyres, Auto Insurance, and Food-delivery apps. Talking about how marketers can leverage it he says, “This category (tyres & auto insurance) sees a lot of traction during monsoons as roads get slippery. This time around though, many vehicles would have been lying unused, and hence, with the unlock process beginning across the country, the tyres would be more susceptible to under-performing in the monsoons. Tyre brands and even auto insurance brands can sensitise consumers to these potential concerns and even direct them to the nearest place of redressal.”

    On how brands can indulge the spike in food cravings during this season he says, “Food-delivery brands can use the first-party data creatively here as well as their own real estate. They can use location data and intersect it with weather data to highlight geographies and customers where it is raining. Once identified, push notifications on their own platform can nudge the consumer to order his cravings.”

    DViO Digital founder & CEO Sowmya Iyer agrees that the pandemic has certainly changed the overall marketing landscape and that monsoon campaigns are no exception. “Nevertheless, the brands don’t want to let go of that sense of normalcy and marketers are putting in efforts to appreciate the beauty that lies in the weather while being mindful of the safety concerns and sensitive towards the current situation,” she says, adding that the pleasant, nostalgic and romanticised setup of the season is often leveraged by brands for promoting product features. Sharing about the success of a recent digital promotional campaign that the agency curated for Universal Music’s VYRLOriginals, Iyer says it is a testament that immersive and creative campaigns have excellent engagement on digital and social.

    A looming threat of a possible third wave, however, means that we are not out of the woods yet, and treading with caution will need to be the key.

  • Dabur India appoints Rahul Awasthi as executive VP – manufacturing

    Mumbai: Dabur India has appointed Rahul Awasthi as executive vice president – manufacturing. Awasthi was head of planning, technology, and innovation at HUL.

    He has 27 years of experience in the FMCG industry in the manufacturing, technology, innovation, and supply planning domain. “With multiple strategic and execution roles across locations, brings in both local and global perspective on the table,” the company said while welcoming its new EVP.

    Dabur India is one of India’s leading FMCG Companies and among the world’s largest Ayurvedic and Natural Health Care companies.

  • May’21 ad volume 64% higher than last year : BARC

    Mumbai: Television continues to stay strong and resilient as a medium of advertising amid the second wave of the pandemic. Despite a marginal dip in April 2021, ad volumes in May 2021 have witnessed a 64 per cent growth as compared to May 2020, said Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in its latest THINK report for May, 2021. The growth numbers remained at par with 2018 and 2019.

    In a piece of good news for the broadcasters, out of the total of 2142 advertisers in May 2021, as many as 1,347 (63 per cent) were new advertisers. The FMCG category continued to dominate ad volumes with 72 per cent share, followed by ecommerce, with 10 per cent share in May.

    “2021 began on a high note for television Ad Volumes. Moreover, it attracted over 60 per cent of the total advertisers in May this year, indicating that advertisers continue to bank on the medium. With lockdown easing up and upcoming big events, we expect TV Advertising to remain strong this year,” said BARC India Head – client partnership and revenue function Aaditya Pathak.

    Regional genres bounce back

    Advertising on GEC and movies genre continued to grow and both the genres outperformed the same period for the previous three years. While GECs witnessed a growth of 74 per cent, over last year, movies genres saw a growth of 76 per cent compared to May 2020.

    Owing to the increasing consumption of regional content, advertising on South language GECs registered a staggering growth of 103 per cent while the rest of the Regional GECs witnessed 53 per cent growth in May 2021 vs May 2020. South Movies and Regional Movies channels witnessed 85 per cent and 129 per cent growth for the same period.

    Steady growth of Top 10 advertisers

    While over 70 per cent of advertising was dominated by the Top 50 Advertisers in May, the Top 10 advertisers had the highest share of 54 per cent since 2018. Advertising by the Top 10 advertisers continues to see steady growth.

    Growth observed in ad volumes in the first quarter of 2021 has evidently seeped into the ongoing second quarter of the year, despite state-wide partial lockdowns being implemented in various parts of the country. Moreover, the growth witnessed in May 2021 reinforces the strength and robustness of television as a medium.