We plan to spend 8% of our expected Rs 800 crore revenue on marketing in 2021-22: Aakansha Gandhi, Vadilal

• Ice-cream maker Vadilal is all geared up to make a splash with a new 360 degree campaign to woo young consumers this year.
• Despite a difficult business year in 2020, Aakanksha Gandhi, Brand Director, Vadilal tells us the brand is eyeing Rs 800 crore revenue in FY2021-22 and that it plans to spend around 8% of that on marketing.

Homegrown ice-cream brand Vadilal has big plans for 2021-22. After last year’s lockdown led to a difficult year for the brand in terms of sales, this year it is confident of a good comeback. The brand expects to see revenues to the tune of Rs 800 crore in 2021-22 and aims to spend 8% of this on marketing, to woo consumers back to its brand.

The brand which is more than 100 years old is working on making itself appeal to the younger population. It has a series of launches planned for the year and is also making sure it increases its presence online, to make sure it is able to cater to people who are stuck inside their homes.

The brand has also launched a 360 degree campaign, conceptualized by Lowe Lintas, to make sure it is able to grab eyeballs and talk about the wide range of products within its portfolio.



Today, the brand holds a 16% market share in the organized ice-cream industry and despite 2020 being a rough year, the brand is hopeful to make a good recovery in FY21-22. It also plans to launch 12-15 new flavors every quarter.

“In 2019, we had witnessed revenues of around Rs 650 crore. 2020 was a disturbing year for all of us but we are already seeing good growth in terms of demand this year. We are hoping to cross revenues of Rs 800 crore in this financial year,” said Aakanksha Gandhi, Brand Director and a third-gen Vadilal family member.

While the brand had spent around 6% of its revenue on marketing in 2019, this year, it aims to increase its marketing spends, to increase its visibility. “In 2019, we had spent 6% of our sales revenue on marketing. This year, we are hoping to spend around 8% of our expected Rs 800 crore sales revenue on marketing,” explained Gandhi.

The brand has just launched its campaign titled ‘Har dil bole Waah! Vadilal!!’. The aim of the campaign is to talk to the younger audience between the age of 18-30 and introduce them to the wide range of offerings from this legacy brands' stable. To further increase its appeal to the younger audience, Vadilal has launched 12 new products this year, expanding its portfolio to 200 products. Apart from spending on Print, outdoor, TV and Radio, the brand will be heavily investing on digital mediums including IPL and OTT platforms to reach to its target audience.

It has also steadily been growing its online presence to make sure it is easily available to people stuck at their homes. It is currently present on platforms like Zomato, Swiggy and BigBasket, amongst others. It also launched its own online portal in 2020. "We have incorporated our sales team and our distribution network with our e-commerce platforms. Currently, we have over 250 retail points involved in the e-commerce which we are aiming at raising to about 400 this year," shared Gandhi.

The brand currently has over 1.5 lakh retailers and around 1,000 distributors and they are trying to bring them within their e-commerce ecosystem too.

The brand has also witnessed good growth in its revenue from exports owing to the fact that ice-cream consumption saw a 15% increase in the global markets. Currently present in the UK, the US, UAE and Australia, it saw revenues to the tune of Rs 250 crore from these markets in 2020-21 (this includes their ice-creams, processed as well as frozen products). “We have witnessed good growth in our export revenue and this year we hope to see revenues between Rs 350-400 crore from the overseas markets,” added Gandhi.