With the festive season beginning to pick up, the consumer durables sector anticipates great sales in the coming months. Industry players expect double-digit growth this season as a result of an improvement in economic conditions and an upbeat sentiment among consumers. This year's summer season was tough for the sector due to unseasonal rainfall, but the industry experienced a positive environment during Onam, indicating that the approaching months will be profitable.

According to Salil Kapoor, CEO, Hindware Home Innovation Limited, there would be a surge in demand for consumer durable products and the sector will see double-digit growth in the kitchen and consumer appliances segment. For the company, says Kapoor, the growth will be on the back of the offline market presence and online retail channel engagement.

He adds, “As we approach the festive season, we're formulating a strong marketing strategy across both offline and online platforms. This includes a balanced media mix. We have allocated a significant ad budget to maximize our reach and impact.”

Ravindra Singh Negi, COO- Consumer Products, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, is also optimistic about the season.

“The consumer durables industry is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming festive season. With festivities spreading across two months of October and November, we expect this time to be the most vital period in the year. Looking at the trends, there is a positive sentiment build-up for growth in the Indian AdEx this festive period,” he shares. The company’s flagship brand Bajaj has recently undergone a repositioning of ‘Built for Life’ and the company, says Negi, is focused on creating awareness about it.

Also, the company has launched a new range of personal grooming products under Morphy Richards just ahead of the festive season. Bajaj has also added new categories to their popular cookware brand Nirlep and roped in a popular face to amplify the branding.

Speaking on the marketing strategy and media mix for the festival season, Negi shares that they are adopting a multi-media campaign approach with a solid focus on ATL.

“Considering consumers’ preference and affinity towards social media and digital media consumption, we are ensuring a robust presence across the leading platforms, be it on social and video content platforms or OTT and e-commerce portals. The average ad spend in our industry is around 2.5-3.5%, and this year, too, we are aligning with the industry benchmarks. As market leaders, we will invest sufficiently to retain our prominent position,” says Negi.

According to the Pitch Madison Advertising Report 2023, the consumer durable category is among the top 10 spenders across media. In 2022, the sector invested Rs 2108 crore in advertising, 9% higher as compared to Rs 1688 crore in 2021. It contributed 4% to the overall AdEx.

When it comes to festivals, the window is not a uniform three-month period, but one with spikes that vary by region. With the celebrations starting with Onam in Kerala followed by Ganesh Chathurti in Maharashtra and Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra, brands are optimistic that sales will go up especially in the month October and November, and so have planned to spend big on advertising and marketing activities during this period.

According to Swati Rathi, Marketing Head at Godrej Appliances, “Onam saw a thrust in Kerala, with a digital and store strategy, and yielded good results. This will be followed by a larger e-commerce thrust for online events pan India. Ganesh Utsav, Navratra and Durga Puja in West and East will see localized plans followed by a Diwali burst.”

Rathi highlighs that the brand’s spending plans will be dynamic and follow their premium product placement strategy. In terms of the percentage of annual spending, she shared that it will be like previous years.

Rathi opines the key trends that are being witnessed in the sector are premiumization, evolving shopper journey and digital influence, shrinking festive window in stores, and lower seasonality of premium products. “All the key product launches scheduled are in the premium segments across categories and these will also be the focus of our communication. The key communication mode will be digital media, with a higher thrust on e-commerce coupled with attention towards store presence,” mentions Rathi.

She explains further that given the premium focus and conversion thrust, digital lends itself well to the sharp targeting of these audiences, especially the intended audience. Driving conversion in the short spike periods through the right store presence and offers will be a focus area in the festive season. Also, lucrative festive offers and cashbacks that enable easier upgrades will continue to play an important role.

Rathi shares that with overall festivities spreading across multiple months and the brand's lineup of new premium ranges in refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines, the company is targeting 30- 40% growth this festive season. “The scenario will get clearer closer to festive in terms of the impact of monsoons and overall consumer sentiment. Overall, the bets are on premium segments rather than mass.”