50% Consumers Likely To Increase Festive Spends: Report

MMA, GroupM and Amazon Advertising have launched the ‘Decoding Consumer behavior and Winning the 2021 Festive season’ Playbook, a handbook for marketers on expected consumer sentiment along with recommended strategies for Diwali this year. The 2021 Diwali festive season will be an unprecedented test for marketers. As consumption is on a natural upswing post-pandemic restrictions, brands are looking to stand out and capture the mindshare among the new-age ‘digital’ consumers.

Multiple brands have deferred their product launches and are counting on the festive season to drive incremental reach and sales. As a result, shopping aisles will be choc-a-block with new launches supported by high-decibel marketing campaigns. At the same time, consumer journeys have become more complex and non-linear, and the role of digital has become more prominent across the journey. As a result, this festive season will require marketers to re-think their media strategies in order to be successful.

The playbook is based on findings from a consumer survey, brand marketer survey, and inputs from key opinion leaders.

A few takeaways from the playbook:

-Consumer sentiment remains positive: ~50% consumers are likely to increase their festive spends this year

-Consumers are still not fully decided on their purchase: 62% consumers are currently undecided about the product/brand choice

-Digital channels will be crucial across the journey: 80% consumers journeys will be ‘digital’ influenced and 77% endemic journeys will involve amazon.in

-Brands should leverage multiple touchpoints: Be visible across touchpoints leveraging Connected TV, Video, Search advertising etc. to drive active/passive discovery and leverage ‘efficiency’ related metrics to assess performance holistically

Moneka Khurana, Country Head, MMA India commented, “MMA is proud to have co-authored the white paper in collaboration with GroupM and Amazon Advertising to provide the much-needed insights and guidance for the upcoming festive season for the ecosystem helping brands navigate the challenging times and drive optimal visibility and performance. 76%of marketers mentioned they will be allocating more spending for digital as compared to last year. Hence it’s key to understand omnichannel users better in the changing times as we continue to drive the narrative of shaping the future of marketing.”

Tushar Vyas, President – Growth and Transformation, GroupM South Asia commented, “Digital influence in consumer journeys has increased significantly while the e-commerce adoption has accelerated in last 18 months. Hence, Digital is no more a support media platform but is core to media plans.  Ecommerce platforms offer brands the opportunity to hand-hold consumers across the purchase funnel by not only aiding in active/passive brand discovery but also in closing the loop by measuring performance objectively. This playbook contains several key insights and is a must-read for any marketer who is planning for the festive season.”

Vijay Iyer, Director-Ad Sales, Amazon Advertising India commented, “Digital is a part of our lives now like never before and the influence is only increasing. Ecommerce portals act as gateways to this world that we are so quickly embracing and are playing a crucial role in brand and product discovery. For marketers, this presents an unprecedented opportunity – to be able to identify and leverage customer intent at an unprecedented scale. This playbook will help brands in not only sharpening their online strategy but will redefine how they measure and drive business outcomes.”