MAM
Appliance advertising to exceed pre-pandemic level by 24% in 2023: Zenith report
Mumbai: Forced to spend more time at home, consumers are investing in making their homes more pleasant to live in, fuelling rapid growth in demand for both large and small appliances, particularly cookers, washing machines, dishwashers, and air conditioning units, as per Zenith report. Zenith forecasts six per cent annual growth in home appliance ad spend in 2022 and 2023 in 12 key markets, including India, predicting that home-appliance advertising will grow ahead of advertising as a whole in 2021, expanding by 12.6 per cent while total advertising grows by 11.5 per cent.
According to the report, digital advertising accounted for 55 per cent of home-appliance ad spend in 2020, up from 51 per cent in 2019 with brand building and e-commerce expected to further drive 10 per cent annual growth in digital ad spend. According to Euromonitor International, e-commerce rose from 23 per cent of home-appliance retail sales in 2019 to 32 per cent in 2020, compared to 16 per cent of the market as a whole in 2019, and 21 per cent in 2020.
Zenith expects home-appliance brands to continue to invest in e-commerce over the next few years, driving 10 per cent annual average growth in their digital ad spend between 2020 and 2023. Digital advertising will rise from 55 per cent to 57 per cent of their ad budgets over this time.
The strongest growth in home-appliance advertising was observed in India and Russia as consumers make more first-time purchases. Zenith forecasts it will grow at an average rate of 18 per cent a year between 2020 and 2023 in India. The rapid growth will be in part a reaction to its decline in 2020, which was much steeper than average, with spending down 15 per cent in India. But growth should remain strong after a swift recovery in 2021, as rising personal incomes allow households to buy new types of appliances for the first time.
Over the past few years and especially during the pandemic, home appliances in India have witnessed substantial growth, said Zenith India CEO Jai Lala. “Consumer sentiments are changing towards the category – from being a luxury item to now as a need-based one. An increase in spends will be towards digital followed by TV and print amongst other mediums,” he added.
Television is still a vital channel for home-appliance brand-building, supplemented by out-of-home, as per the report. Home-appliance brands spend substantially more on these media than the average brand: in 2020 they spent 29 per cent of their budgets on television advertising, compared to an average of 24 per cent, and 7 per cent on out-of-home, compared to four per cent. Zenith forecasts out-of-home expenditure by home-appliance brands to grow eight per cent a year between 2020 and 2023. Television, suffering from the continued migration of audiences to digital channels, will lag behind slightly, with growth averaging six per cent a year.
Zenith predicts that advertising expenditure by home-appliance brands will rise from $4.4 billion in 2020 to $ five billion in 2021, well ahead of the $4.5 billion spent before the pandemic in 2019. By 2023, ad spend will reach US$5.6 billion. Despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Zenith expects consumers will continue to devote more of their time and budgets to the home than they did before the pandemic.
“In most markets, the increased appetite for home improvement is incentivising home-appliance brands to step up their communications activities substantially,” said Zenith head of forecasting Jonathan Barnard. “Most of this growth is going to digital channels to support increased e-commerce activity, but traditional media like television and out-of-home will remain essential tools for maintaining mass brand awareness.”
Digital advertising will become even more important to home-appliance brands over the next few years as they continue to embrace e-commerce, as per the study. Home-appliance brands were already well ahead of the market in adopting e-commerce before 2020, but the pandemic led to a step-change in home-appliance e-commerce. It is essential both for brand building – mainly using online video, native advertising, and social media – and performance, using paid search.
“Faced with rising interest in the purchase, the increased role of digital in the mid-to-lower funnel, and a greater focus on delivering direct-to-consumer experiences, appliance brands have never operated in a more demanding and complex marketplace,” said Zenith global strategy lead Drew Erskine. “Successfully building brands for the long term will require agile strategies that find the balance between cultivating desire through broad communications and converting interest, often digitally, in more relevant ways.”
The 12 markets included in the report are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US, which between them account for 74 per cent of total global ad spend. The report covers large and small home appliances, including air conditioners, dishwashers, fridges and freezers, heaters, kitchen appliances, ovens, personal care appliances, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
