Cycle Pure Agarbatti has been a household name in the retail incense section. While enjoying a successful festive season, the brand, on the marketing front, has been tackling the new challenges that traditional brands have been tasked with when it comes to moving from offline to online mediums.
In an interview with exchange4media, Arjun Ranga, the Managing Director of Cycle Pure Agarbatti, reflects on the brand's journey, recent campaigns, and the impact of the festive season. Ranga emphasizes the brand's evolution over 75 years, attributing their growth to original fragrance creations and ongoing product innovations. He proudly declares, "Today, Cycle is the world’s favorite prayer brand, integral to prayers in over 75 countries."
Discussing the recent World Cup campaign, Ranga shares insights into the #PrayForIndia initiative. “Our most recent campaign #PrayForIndia was most exciting. As a brand that has been with India’s prayers since Indian independence. We understand that nothing unites the nation and provides hope to the nation like cricket does. We created the #PrayForIndia campaign about a decade ago. This world cup, we wanted to harness the power of social media and enable every Indian with a phone to be able to share their prayers for their team.
We composed a catchy anthem, “Win Win India, Pray for India”, and created an Instagram AR filter that every Indian could use to create and share their prayer. To popularize it, we created the #PrayForIndia Challenge. The challenge was launched by collaborating with some of the nation's most popular influencers from across genres. The timing and the creativity were perfect. The prevailing sentiment of prayer for victory found a perfect expression in our filter and the campaign went viral. The track trended on Instagram with over 2000 reels made using the track, and #PrayForIndia trended on X too. We were thrilled to see the enthusiasm and engagement of the younger generations.”
With the limitless possibilities of media mixes right now, Ranga explains, “Media is getting increasingly fragmented. The attention of the audience is fragmented. From one shared screen, with one programming schedule, we’ve gotten to a multitude of screens with infinite on-demand and “infinite scroll” viewing options. The new media planning is changing, challenging and honestly quite exciting. It’s all dynamic. We use a mix of traditional media like tv, radio, outdoor, print with an increasing presence in digital and social channels. We find that the ratio is tipping in increasing in favour of digital and social.”
Addressing the challenges in the marketing space, Ranga underscores the complexity of the offline-to-online shift. He observes, “The migration of offline to online is the task of the moment. What works for offline, doesn’t necessarily work online. The audience may be the same, but the buying behavior is totally different. And inconsistent. Unlike shopping in a store aisle with limited options, the online customer has the choice of the entire spectrum of products to choose from. So, brands have to create sharper communication that is relevant and connects with the consumers online.
Consumers are more conscious and tend to prefer purpose driven brands over others. Consumers are seeking meaning in their lives and by extension of the same sentiment, they are choosing brands that are contributing meaningfully to the environment and doing good to the society.”
The festive season holds particular significance for an incense brand, especially in its 75th year. Ranga recounts, “The festive season is always special for us. This year, we celebrated our 75th anniversary. Our Founder’s Day coincided with the Dasara celebrations. For the first time in its history the Royal Mysuru Dasara celebrations opened up to sponsorship and we were happy to be the platinum sponsors for the cultural spectacle so deeply connected with the heritage and legacy of the sacred land that is Mysuru. The king released a book about our founder along with a special edition agarbathi “darbari”, with royal fragrances. This festive season was truly special for us.”
Looking ahead, Ranga outlines the company's future focus, stating, “We are constantly in “innovation and expansion” mode. Our product portfolio continues to grow ambitiously. Our global presence is extending beyond 75 countries. Relevant product innovation that helps keep our traditions alive for the benefit of future generations remains our focus.”
