Brands Ride High On Festive Fervour

Optimism runs high with brands signaling a bump-up in their advertising budgets, along with consumers exuding positive buying sentiments to amp up the shopping decibel

- Soumya Sehgal

IT IS THAT time of the year when joy, celebrations, and togetherness permeate brands and consumers alike, making way for some big wins at both ends. With brands across sectors eyeing the pent-up demand, revenge shopping looks to be bold and underlined on the consumer cards. This year's festive calendar is also expected to bring some respite from the humdrum of daily lives as consumers indulge in rather extravagant travel and shopping and overlook their financial plans. Reports also suggest an increase of 10-20 percent in advertising spend over the previous year to tap the anticipated recovery.

"We are very optimistic about the upcoming festive season. After two years of muted celebrations, the country is finally going to celebrate festivals free from the pandemic scare. There seems to be a positive sentiment among people. We expect consumers to go all out on festivities," says Mayank Shah, Senior Category Head, Parle Products.

Going into the festive season with good Q1 numbers for FY23, MVS Murthy, CMO, Federal Bank is betting that this festive season will be different. "You will see our brand absolutely in top gear seizing the opportunities, the celebrations present. From a business perspective, our cards, loans, deposits, and channel teams are all looking at ticking the greens in all the metrics they are chasing."

For Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India, the brand is looking forward to the festive season and is prepared to delight its consumers with a diverse portfolio of products with lucrative offers. "We are planning to provide products across categories at never-seen-before offers to bring cheer to all our consumers. With the heightened interest in 5G-enabled devices amongst consumers across the country, our priority is also in strengthening our product portfolio with 5G offerings," he asserts.

Mapping Sentiment