Premiumisation Is The Key Trend This Festive Season, Cite Consumer Durable Brands

Come Onam, and India gets into a festive mode each year. The festive season is also a reason for many to discard old belongings, and replace them with new ones, and these include mainly consumer durables. The Indian consumer is always on the lookout for a good deal here and a satisfying discount there, to get just the appropriate product for his/her home and needless to say, it has got to be the latest and updated version.

BW Marketing World spoke to the best in the consumer durable business to gauge the consumer sentiment towards this category, this festive season.

As per several reports, the consumer durable sector in India will see a revenue growth of 16 per cent to almost Rs 1 trillion for the FY 2023 and supported by a volume increase of 12 per cent.

Focus this festive season, for wooing customers

NS Satish, President, Haier Appliances believes that festivals unite India as a nation, bringing a holistic platform to create experiences and reach out to customers innovatively. “As we approach the festive season, at Haier, we are eager to witness the enthusiasm and joy it brings to households across India. We are ready to celebrate with our customers, by offering a wide range of lucrative offers and innovative marketing campaigns. With the expected rise in demand for consumer appliances, we are committed to providing products that enhance convenience, efficiency, and overall quality of life. This year we are expecting a growth of over 30 per cent.”

With the festive fever catching on, a lot of consumer durable brands are betting heavily on premiumisation. Satish expects the premium segment to perform even better than last year as more consumers are looking to upgrade their appliances. “Our experience during Onam in the South has been encouraging with significant growth in the Southern markets. We've observed that premiumisation has been a consistent trend in the consumer electronics industry, and we anticipate premium segments will continue to lead the festive sales, contributing significantly to our success. We have further launched a range of new products across categories for the festive season and shared special offers that will provide greater value to our customers to complement their celebrations.”

Fumiyasu Fujimori, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing India, Panasonic Life Solutions India mentions that they are foreseeing a promising festive season this year and are optimistic about achieving double-digit growth during this period. “Today, the market is witnessing an upward surge in demand for premium appliances characterized by user-friendly interfaces, energy efficiency, smart connectivity, and health and hygiene attributes. As India gears up for the festivities ahead, we are looking at adding value to our consumer’s lives through our exclusive range of offers on our value proposition products and solutions.”

Deepali Agarwal, Business Head - Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent brings out that owing to the confluence of events especially in India, the period commencing from July holds significant importance in the realm of personal care and grooming. “It presents the brand with a lucrative opportunity to enhance affinity amongst consumers and thereby experience multiple avenues of growth such as new consumers entering the category, upgrading to more sophisticated/convenient products, or gifting purposes.”

Festive season coupled with the cricket fervour, keeping purchasing spirit high

This festive season is unique as the Cricket World Cup is taking place at the same time. “As a result of this, we are observing a notable upswing in the desire for LED lights and air conditioners. Consumers today are increasingly inclined towards creating a lavish, cinema-like ambiance within the confines of their own living areas. This trend highlights a growing preference for experiencing the excitement of the Cricket World Cup in the utmost comfort and style,” Fujimori expresses.

Agarwal, like most, feel that this year, it is extra special as this season coincides with the Cricket World Cup, which presents an additional opportunity to participate in the euphoria & celebration.

Satish adds, “At Haier, we have a range of breakthrough series of LED TVs - OLED, QLED, and UHD that have revolutionised the viewing habits of Indian consumers, who are willing to invest in future-ready appliances. With the rise in the demand for a power-packed viewing setup right at the customer's home, the need for best-in-class technology has also gone up. This demand has shaped a pathway for the premium segment to perform even better as more consumers are looking to upgrade their appliances. In line with the market trend, staying true to our philosophy of ‘Inspired Living’, our wide range of LED TVs is backed by industry-leading features, a modern design, suited to the customer need of a package viewing experience during the World Cup season. We have already seen a significant uptick in the overall sales of LED TVs and are expecting to see a growth of over 40 per cent in the category.”

Damyant Singh Khanoria, Chief Marketing Officer, Oppo India is of the view that consumers seek products that provide a unique and satisfying experience, and their Oppo Find N3 Flip is a smartphone for all seasons. “It perfectly complements your festive attire and easily fits in your kurta or handbag. Designed to cater to your busy, on-the-go lifestyle, it adds convenience to your daily routine.”

Advertising and marketing strategy by brands to lure consumers 

Consumer durable brands rely a lot on offers, discounts, schemes that they provide to entice customers – most of the times, the same is communicated through various advertising and marketing tactics. Campaigns are also conceptualised in a way to engage the consumer with the brand in the best possible manner.

To enhance the celebratory spirit, Panasonic India has introduced the 'Dream More, Celebrate More' campaign. “Under this initiative, customers can take advantage of exclusive festive offers available until 30 November. These offers include a complimentary 43" Google TV with the purchase of an OLED TV, cashback rewards of up to 20 per cent, totaling Rs 15,000 on select models, a generous 3-year warranty on specific Refrigerators and Washing Machine models, a substantial 38 per cent discount on Extended Warranty for certain home appliances, and the convenience of zero down payments. Furthermore, customers can benefit from up to 12 months of No Cost EMI and special long-term tenure EMI options. These exciting deals are accessible at both our exclusive outlets and multi-brand stores, making this festive season truly special for our valued customers,” affirms Fujimori.

To further deepen its connection with consumers, Philips India kickstarted its campaign #HowIndiaCelebrates to participate in the festivities. “This has become the bedrock of our campaign which brings together the regional diversity of styling and the homogeneity of festive spirit. This elevated engagement campaign encompasses several key components - a substantial content creator program, collaborating with both prominent stylists and micro-influencers and seamlessly integrating our online and offline store presence through direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels and partnerships with other retail outlets,” reveals Agarwal.

She goes on, “We have additionally introduced another campaign i.e., #MatchReadyWithPhilipsAIO to capitalize on ongoing cricket enthusiasm and inspire consumers to get match-ready, by either wearing their favourite player’s t-shirt or using the Philips All-in-One to achieve that professional trim at home.”

Overall, with its digital-first approach, the right strategies, and investments in innovation and marketing, Haier has been capitalising on the growing demand for home appliances. “Our region-specific festive marketing campaigns like ‘Bring Home Happiness’ for Ganesh Chaturthi and ‘Welcome Mahabali to a Smart Home’ for Onam, have seen a tremendously positive response from customers across the nation and we will continue with the momentum,” tells Satish.

“This season, our marketing strategy revolves around offering valuable experiences to our customers through discounts and exciting rewards to enhance their festive celebrations. As part of our 'My Oppo Exclusive Diwali Campaign,' anyone who purchases an Oppo Smartphone has a chance to win incredible rewards, including a whopping Rs 10 Lakhs, gold coins, a motorbike, and much more. Plus, there's a range of guaranteed gifts available until 19 November," says Khanoria.

All-in-all, it’s turning out to be quite a cracker, this festive season, for the consumer durable segment, as the brand and consumer sentiments are soaring high.