Brands
Digital takes centre stage on tepid Valentine’s Day for brands
MUMBAI: Love has been in the air and on the internet all week. Valentine’s Day is no longer about just a day you spend with your loved one but is rather a week-long affair of gifts and celebration. Valentine’s Day has become no less than a festival in India, a country that takes much pride in its traditions and culture.
Although the phenomenon is only a few years old, the enthusiasm of brands investing in Valentine’s Day seems to be only increasing every year. Gifting and food and beverage (F&B) industry are most active during this time of the year and it is a big occasion for all sectors other than BFSI.
Earlier, brands focussed mainly on print advertising backed by television for Valentine’s Day promotion. But that seems to have changed now. Brands are increasingly looking at newer avenues to connect with consumers and remind them about the brand. Although the market sentiment for the day in 2018 has been tepid as major brands chose to stay away from advertising, some SMEs and new players leveraged the day to connect with consumers. The day also saw e-commerce, a major advertiser during major festivals and occasions in India, not being too gung-ho but small gifting websites such as Chumbak, Bigsmall, Dailyobjects among others got the most from the occasion on the digital platform.
iProspect India associate vice president, branding and affiliate marketing Mihir Mehta notes that brand sentiment this year has been weak as advertisers have stopped force fitting their products to occasions.
Over the years, Mondelez India has built and led the occasion through its concerted marketing efforts and gifting innovations. This year, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk announced the launch of its new special edition pack with a heart pop, which urges consumers to not hold back from expressing their love.
Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital agency, Carat, collaborated with Snapchat to create India’s first ‘National Snapchat Lens’ for the product. Through this lens, one can blow a kiss with the Silk bar, which creates a drool effect around the consumer. Additionally, the agency also used 3D filters on Facebook that allowed users to engage and post a variety of animations on their pictures/videos, which could be downloaded and shared later.
This year, we saw brands leverage digital as the primary medium for brand activation as the occasion caters to people in the age group of 16-30 years and as the millennials are more active on digital than on traditional mediums. Other than the usual promotional ads, brands started Valentine’s hashtags to attract online audiences and organised social media contests.
Consumers have today become more product-centric and brands are making sure they deliver that. Mehta says that this year brands have not used Valentine’s Day for customer acquisition but have rather concentrated on engagement with existing customers.
Food-delivery platform Swiggy created an opt-in platform called, My ValenDine, that used interested Swiggy users’ order history, and matched them based on their favourite food and preferences. On Valentine’s Day, users could come back to the microsite to find out who their Valendine’s matches were.
Jewellery brand Tanishq created an 8-minute digital film that captured seven real love stories. Kellogg’s launched a digital-only campaign on Facebook and Instagram to create buzz around its chocolate flavoured crunchy snack.
A post shared by Kaneez Surka (@kaneezsurka) on Feb 7, 2018 at 2:26am PST
Kellogg’s believes that the response to its campaign has been very encouraging as both their branded creatives as well as content co-created with leading youth influencers like Tanmay Bhat, Ashish Shakya and Kaneez Surka have surpassed their expectation. This goes on to show that bite-sized and engaging pieces of content create relevant conversation around the brand.
Brand-Building.com founder and brand guru Ambi Parameswaran notes that this year Valentine’s Day did not see too many ads in the daily newspapers as brands decided to play it low key. “It is possible that after the furore around Padmaavat they were just playing safe but the final pudding is in the eating and if Indian upper-income consumers and youngsters do want an occasion to celebrate, then they will use Valentine’s Day to do that.”
Also Read :
How iProspect’s Vivek Bhargava foresaw a digital future two decades ago
Kids’ candy segment: Communication sees a shift
Dairy Milk innovates Silk for Valentine’s Day
Brands
Raj Cooling Systems launches Agreyas appliances brand
Emraan Hashmi named brand ambassador for consumer appliance push.
MUMBAI: A company known for cooling solutions is now heating up its ambitions in the home appliances market. Raj Cooling Systems Pvt. Ltd. has launched a new consumer appliances brand, Agreyas, marking its entry into India’s rapidly expanding home appliances sector valued at more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The move represents a strategic diversification for the company, which has traditionally focused on cooling solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Through Agreyas, the firm plans to tap into growing consumer demand for energy efficient and technology driven household appliances.
To build brand visibility, Agreyas has appointed Emraan Hashmi as its brand ambassador. The campaign has been developed under the banner of Zoommantra Productions, with actor and filmmaker Rohit Roy contributing to the creative direction.
The brand’s initial portfolio will include mid premium air conditioners, washing machines, geysers and other white goods designed to cater to modern Indian households seeking efficient and reliable appliances.
Raj Cooling Systems, founder and chairman Kalpesh Ramoliya said the launch aligns with the company’s broader expansion plans.
“The launch of Agreyas is in line with our vision to build a strong presence in India’s consumer electronics and home appliances market. The brand has been developed as a standalone identity to meet the evolving needs of Indian consumers,” he said.
Hashmi said the collaboration comes at a time when Indian buyers are increasingly looking for innovative and functional home solutions.
“I’m looking forward to working with Agreyas at a time when consumers are seeking more innovative and efficient home products. The brand reflects changing consumer behaviour around functionality, innovation and ease of use,” he said.
Raj Cooling Systems plans to invest around 10 million dollars in developing the brand, with an additional 5 million dollars earmarked over the next three to five years for product development and distribution expansion.
Agreyas will follow a multi channel distribution approach, selling through online platforms, retail outlets and dealer networks aimed at both urban and semi urban markets across India.
With the launch, the company is positioning Agreyas as a standalone consumer facing brand while continuing to leverage its existing manufacturing, engineering and research capabilities built through its core cooling solutions business.
