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<ul><li>Philip recently completed 90 years in India and a huge focus on innovation has helped it stay relevant in the Indian market.</li><li>The brand is witnessing lots of changes in <keyword id="139079" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-behaviour">consumer behaviour</keyword> and is working hard to adapt to these changes, while coming up with products that will help them stay relevant in these changing ecosystems.</li><li><keyword id="2491908" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gulbahar-Taurani">Gulbahar Taurani</keyword>, Vice- President, Personal Health, <keyword id="138096" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Philips-India">Philips India</keyword>n Subcontinent, Philips India talks about the brand’s efforts in building a strong connect with its consumers, to make sure they are an important part of their lives.</li></ul>A brand that celebrated 90 years of its existence in India, Philips is doing a lot to make sure it stays relevant to its consumers. Innovation has been at the heart of Philips, and is one factor that has helped the brand not only survive but thrive in the country. During the <keyword id="8637077" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coronavirus-lockdown">coronavirus lockdown</keyword>, despite manufacturing and supply chain coming to a complete halt, Philips made sure it stayed connected with its consumers. It made use of the Digital platform to come up with engaging content, to not simply push its products but also build a deeper connect with consumers, to make them a part of the brand’s journey, and to make them feel more involved in the brand’s story. It got them results. They have seen a lot of engagements and meaningful conversations with consumers who feel that the brand really cares for them. Meanwhile, it also dialed up its social listening and actually focused on solving problems that consumers were facing in their day-to-day lives. The result was the launch of many DIY products that will help simplify a consumer’s everyday life. Recently the brand launched the Intelligent SenseIQ Hair Dryer and <keyword id="2440927" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hair-straightener">Hair Straightener</keyword> to solve the age-old problem of getting the temperature of a dryer right. Meanwhile, since the lockdown led to the closure of parlors, Philips has recently launched a Pen Trimmer that can help getting rid of facial hair. Most of these launches are the result of effective social listening. Going ahead too, the brand is planning to focus a lot more on the DIY segment, as the lockdown has led to massive changes in consumer behavior. “As a brand, Philips is committed to providing meaningful innovations that help in improving a consumer’s life. Going ahead as well, we will stay true to that. We aim to grow our business further in India by innovating even faster in the space of DIY products, cooking and home appliances,” shared Gulbahar Taurani, Vice- President, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent, Philips India. The year so far The weeks following the initial phase of the lockdown, specifically the months of April and May, have been challenging for most brands, not just in India but across the world. With lockdowns and a complete halt on manufacturing, businesses came to a standstill. However, with the lockdown being relaxed across the country, things are slowly starting to look up. “We have been seeing recovery from June onwards. Initially, there was a bit of pent-up demand. However, we have also realized there has been a behavioral shift with more and more people wanting to use more gadgets and appliances that make them self-sufficient. This was something that had been already happening, but it got accelerated due to the lockdown. And we believe this is a trend that is here to stay,” shared Taurani. During the lockdown months, Philips also made sure that it stayed connected with its audience. “If there was a time that communication took on a very important role, it was in these last few months. We realized the consumer was moving to Digital and spending more time on the medium which is why we diverted more of our spends to the medium too. Our aim was also to make sure that we don’t just give consumers information about our offerings but make it a two-way conversation. During these past few months, we have realized that consumers want to talk to us, give us their feedback and in general want to feel more involved and we have tried to help them in doing just that with our communications,” added Taurani. He also added that going ahead too, Digital will see increased spending from the brand. Growing Philips in India Owing to the fact that Philips has been in India for close to a century now, the brand has been able to localize itself over the years, almost making itself seem like an Indian brand. It has also been doing a lot in terms of having local manufacturing and R&amp;D which again has helped the brand innovate and come up with products specific to Indian consumers, and that has helped the brand stay relevant. Moreover, the Indian market contributes quite substantially, thereby making it important for brand Philips in the global scheme of things, shared Taurani. “We are leaders in many categories in India and are contributing in terms of sales and profitability. The company is committed towards investing more in the Indian market to grow even further here,” he added. This year, despite the lockdown, the brand went ahead with its plans of launching new products, and will keep doing that in the months to come. Going ahead, he added that faster innovation will be their key focus area. “We will keep innovating to help solve consumer problems. We will also work on creating new platforms for the consumers to stay connected with us. Therefore, we will go aggressive on innovation and consumer dialogue,” he said.

How Philips is strengthening its consumer engagement to grow in India

New Delhi, Dec 15 () Leading air purifier makers witnessed up to 60 per cent jump in sales in the peak season, mainly October and November, this year, helped by growing pollution levels and steep rise in air quality index (AQI) in Delhi-NCR and northern region.
 Air purifier makers like Philips, Blueair, Panasonic, Eureka, Forbes, Sharp, Xiomi and Blue Star reported high double-digit jump in sales.
 Besides Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), the companies also saw higher demand from tier-II cities like Lucknow and Kanpur. 
 The norther region contributes more than half of the sales of air purifiers.
 While Delhi-NCR continued to top sales chart for air purifiers, this year also saw some of the companies reporting higher number of sales from markets like Kerala and North East.
 "This year, the air purifier market in India stood at Rs 450 crore and we have witnessed a strong surge in air purifier penetration, recording a 60 per cent growth over last year till date," Philips Personal Health, Indian Subcontinent Vice-President Gulbahar Taurani said.
 Sharp sold around 15,000 units in the month of October and November this year.
 "Sharp witnessed 27 per cent growth in sales in these two months," Sharp Business Systems India President Consumer Electronics Kishlay Ray said.
 "This year, we have witnessed sales of our air purifier in strange markets where we never thought pollution is an issue. For example, Kerala and North East (which accounted for nearly 3 per cent of our total sales), apart from well-known pollution hotspots like Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and so on," he added.
 Similarly, Eureka Forbes also reported a 30 per cent growth, its Chief Transformation Officer Shashank Sinha said.
 "The air purifier market was dominated by one market predominantly that is Delhi-NCR, followed by certain non-metros which did fairly well during the peak season," Sinha added.
 While the market for room air purifiers is in a nascent stage, limited to some key metro cities a few years ago, it has now started expanding to smaller cities.
 FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), which operates in air purifier category with its brands Blueair and Pureit, also saw a double- digit growth.
 "We have seen a healthy double-digit growth during the peak season this year. More than 70 per cent of our sales still come from the north region," a HUL spokesperson said.
 "While the category is nascent in smaller towns, we have seen signs of demand picking up in tier II towns in north India," he added.
 With the rise in air pollution, the companies believe that air purifiers are gradually becoming a lifestyle product and are likely to see sales throughout the year by shedding the tag of being a seasonal product.
 According to Xiaomi India Head - Categories and Online Sales Raghu Reddy, "The response to air purifiers has been overwhelming and positive throughout the year owing to the fact that today it has become a necessity for Indian consumers."
 "We have noticed a trend of awareness and acceptance of the poor air quality and environmental issues than before. Today, people are pro-actively taking precautions and improving the quality of indoor air that they are breathing."
 Panasonic India General Manager, Air Purifier Business Syed Moonis Ali Alvi said, "With the rise in pollution levels, backed by the increasing awareness and growing preferences for health and wellness products, air purifiers have become a part of our lifestyle today."
 According to market experts, the segment is growing at around 15 to 20 per cent annually and more than 15 companies are operating in the space.
 However, Blue Star, which witnessed 25 per cent growth in the segment, cautioned about the quality of products being sold in the market and demanded that its standards should be defined and regulated.
 "Air purifiers are sold from Rs 800 to Rs 57,000 in the market. Someone has even put charcoal and is selling it as room air purifier," Blue Star Managing Director B Thiagarajan said.
 "This should be treated as health care product and should be regulated. There should be some certification," he added.
 According to him, some of the makers are simply importing products without understanding the market.
 "In this chaos which is going on, suddenly one week or 10 days after stubble burning, people are buying it," he said, adding that it is very important to assure the people that the air is being purified.
 According to Assocham-TechSci Research report published in February 2019, air purifiers are among the fastest growing products in home appliances space. KRH RVK

Air purifier sales see up to 60 pc spike on rising air pollution

<ul><li><keyword id="31174" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="brands">Brands</keyword> have seen early signs of recovery during <keyword id="126295" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Akshaya-Tritiya">Akshaya Tritiya</keyword> and <keyword id="6385850" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Raksha-Bandhan">Raksha Bandhan</keyword> and their businesses are approaching normalcy. </li><li>After surviving the storm during the lockdown, brands have a lot of hope resting on the festive season to bring in cheer and profitability in their businesses. </li><li>With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, we decided to speak to a few brands across categories on how they are preparing for the festive season and what kind of expectations they have pinned on the latter half of the year for recovery. </li></ul>Brands are pinning a lot of hopes on the festive season this year to help them bounce back. They have started working on their advertising campaigns in full swing to win back consumer trust and help shape the <keyword id="29547" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Market">market</keyword> sentiment. The festive season, which begins in August and continues till January, often results in a disproportionate increase in demand of goods and services, marking an important period for most consumer brands. However, the pandemic this year has made consumers frugal and the current market unrest has taken a sharp toll on the total spends. As per Madison’s report, AdEx collapsed by as much as 65% because of COVID-19 in Q2, indicating how badly the economy has been performing so far. Last year for Television, the Indian Premier League (IPL), ICC World Cup and Elections in Q2’19 contributed around Rs 3,000 crore (34% to the TV AdEx in Q2’19). However, the pandemic removed both these money-spinners from the AMJ quarter this year, which has added to the decline. This year, brands are trying to come up with innovative solutions to reach out to their consumers at their door steps and are optimistic about seeing a stable growth in the next few months. Fashion e-commerce giant Myntra has seen early signs of recovery and <keyword id="1549018" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="consumer-sentiments">consumer sentiments</keyword> picking up during Raksha Bandhan as it witnessed a surge in demand for women's ethnic wear, men’s occasion wear, kids wear, and accessories such as watches, handbags. It also saw 3.5 million customers shopping during the June edition of EORS, a testimony of how consumer sentiments are getting back on track. “The festive season, followed by winter, is the most exciting quarter for Myntra. This year we are expecting a massive scale and growth in festive buying as consumer sentiment continues to be strong. Myntra is already operating at a pre-lockdown scale, and this upcoming festive season will definitely help us in boosting our growth further. Our focus will continue to be on enhancing customer experience by providing high-quality merchandise in a curated and personalized store, along with safe and fast delivery. Our new customer acquisition is at an all-time high and we are ensuring we help them in all their lifestyle needs. We are witnessing a spike in our Tier II and Tier III customers and orders as well,” said Ayyappan Rajagopal, Head of Business, Myntra. Another new-age brand Melorra that specializes in modern jewellery, has managed to avoid the losses incurred by various other businesses during the pandemic months. It saw a 400% growth in the last financial year, and is confident of matching that level of growth with a strong performance in the upcoming festive season. “The festive season this year is expected to be even more impactful than the past for Melorra. Firstly, the lockdown that started in March slowed down the jewellery purchase due to disruption in the delivery logistics, and most of the people are looking to buy jewellery now that the deliveries have resumed. Given the pandemic, all festivities in the first 2 quarters of the FY was a washout, hence there could be a trend reversal during festive season – but not at the previous levels. Since the prices are also at an all-time high, customers would opt for lightweight and trendy gold jewellery that is not only stylish but also easy on the pocket. Melorra caters to women who live in the moment and do not keep gold stacked away in lockers like before. Hence, it is definitely a key period for the brand and the jewellery industry at large,” said Sharat Krishnan, Head of Marketing, Melorra. The festive season has always been the most important part of the year for the jewellery business. Titan has already seen 80% recovery because people are celebrating their milestones with their families at home. It has a campaign and launch of a new collection lined up for October. Ajoy Chawla, CEO Jewellery Division, Titan Company Ltd sees no reason why the festive season shouldn’t be as good as last year. “It would be as good as last year or slightly lesser. The most optimistic expectation is that it should be as good as last year. Even if it is 90% or 80% close to last year’s performance, that’s good. We’re currently seeing 80% recovery and this is my best estimate. We’ve seen this recovery because people are still celebrating milestones like anniversary, birthdays, etc. They understand that the reality is grim but how long can you keep your life on hold? They want to feel good. Also, Q3 is wedding season but the festive season is delayed this year so the season may start a little slower unless there are massive rebound cases. Some markets also take two steps forward and three steps back, there is always some fluctuation. However, after October, we are hoping to see more stability. We will also launch a new collection and campaign around October,” shared Ajoy Chawla, CEO Jewellery Division, Titan Company Ltd. On what the consumer sentiment would likely be this festive season, Nidhi Sinha, Head of Content, Mintel India said, "One of the most important things people are looking forward to once the restrictions of the pandemic are lifted is meeting friends and family. However, according to research from Mintel’s Global COVID-19 Tracker in August, 42% of Indian consumers are looking forward to meeting family and friends in person compared to 34% of consumers in early July. This desire has accelerated due to the onset of the festive season." Mintel's research data indicates that consumer sentiment is improving and there is more willingness to spend on luxury items and good brands in the market. Sinha added, "Ganesh Chaturthi, which is round the corner, would be one such important festival that would entail celebrations in a different way so as to be in line with the pandemic protocols. As people continue to be under restrictions due to the pandemic, this festival is expected to be low key compared to regular times. However, Mintel research highlights that 30% of Indian consumers are planning to spend more on clothes and accessories, presenting an opportunity for brands. This is indicative that people are planning to spend on indulgences despite a negative economic outlook. Brands like Gemini oil, Ferns and Petals and Cadbury have been very agile in talking about the changing face of the festivities and how it is an opportunity for people to spend such festivals at home with their loved ones.” Festive season is an important period for the retail industry. It is a time when consumer spending is at an all-time high. One of the leading sportswear brands PUMA has multiple new launches planned throughout the season to cater to increasing demand. Telling us how the consumer sentiment changed in retail, Abhishek Ganguly, General Manager, PUMA India and Southeast Asia said, “As we’re witnessing right now, online channels will continue to be a convenient option for consumers to shop. Given the precautions around health and safety, we are seeing people shop online or go to a store where they are confident about the hygiene measures being implemented. Having said that, as lockdown continues to be relaxed across the country, we are seeing a steady week-on-week increase in footfalls with consumers visiting our stores to buy fashion essentials.” On festive expectations, Ganguly added, “Over the last 3-4 months, we have been seeing steady growth across both our offline and online channels. The conversions have increased substantially from pre-Covid times as people exactly know what they want to buy and are shopping with a clear intent. Given the trend of how things are continuing to improve compared to the previous months, we are very hopeful of a strong September and October. We hope this trend continues through the festive season and beyond.” Electronics giant Philips has launched a few new products like Smart Hair Dryer, Eyebrows Trimmer this month to ride on the improving consumer sentiment due to the festive season. Gulbahar Taurani, Vice-President, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent, Philips India, said, “The trends indicate that this is going to be a good season. We will have our challenges in terms of supply chain, partial lockdown, movement of products because the number of COVID cases are going up. From a demand standpoint, we see a very positive sentiment. I believe that this is going to stay, which will drive the festive season. As a part of the festive season, we had a couple of new launches last month itself.” The furniture segment, which was on complete halt during the lockdown as it did not fall under essentials, is also gearing up for the festive months. Given that individuals are spending more time at home due to the lockdown, home-grown brand Pepperfry witnessed an uptick in demand for WFH furniture and décor. In fact, Pepperfry is already at 100% of its pre-lockdown sales volumes. Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer &amp; Business Head, Pepperfry is now anticipating to see this trend boost their sales further as people continue to focus on making their home spaces better equipped for everything. The brand is upping its digital media game and has launched a new campaign called ‘Swadeshi is Great’. “Given that household products and celebrations at home play such an important role during the festive season, consumers are constantly looking to revamp/renovate the space such that the home category witnesses a natural upswing in demand during festivals. With this combination of consumer adaptation and brand innovation, we are positive about the consumers’ outlook and demand for categories like home décor and furniture. As consumers have become apprehensive with regards to shopping offline or even stepping outside, they are increasingly adapting to buying online. Our online business is already at 120% of pre-COVID levels. As we move along, we plan to keep innovating with digital tools to enhance our consumers’ buying experiences,” said Vadapalli. The sudden outbreak of the pandemic brought a lot of businesses to a standstill. However, one of the few sectors that have seen an upturn amid the nationwide lockdown is EdTech. Now, to evolve with changing times and to prepare for the upcoming festive season, upGrad is looking at altering its marketing strategy. It is shifting its spends towards TV as consumers would want to spend more time together, while supplementing it with digital. Telling us what kind of changes EdTech has gone through lately, Arjun Mohan, CEO-India, upGrad said, “Given the current scenario, consumer priorities are being re-calibrated. They are now undergoing a behavioral shift which is directly reflecting on their spends. Unlike earlier, individuals today have ample time and money to spend on upskilling options, which otherwise, was parked for a later date. upGrad has seen a big behavioral shift in the mindset of parents too towards learning online, as they have seen their kids benefiting from it in real-time. This is one of the major drivers that has created a massive demand for our specialised online programs, which not only enhances the domain knowledge, revise skill sets, etc. but also help professionals achieve desired career outcomes.” All brands voiced their confidence that the worst has passed, and the markets will only move towards normalcy hereon.

Festive Marketing: Brands are optimistic that improving consumer sentiments will help them bounce back and bring in profitability

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How Philips is strengthening its consumer engagement to grow in India

Samarpita Banerjee

Air purifier sales see up to 60 pc spike on rising air pollution

PTI

Festive Marketing: Brands are optimistic that improving consumer sentiments will help them bounce back and bring in profitability

Karuna Sharma

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