Marketing 2020: Looking at digital with new lens, focus on web traffic, says Spykar's Saisangeeta Israni

Saisangeeta Israni, GM, Marketing of Spykar Lifestyles, feels that because of the impact of reduced consumer spending last year, the brand’s marketing spends would be a factor in sales and consumer sentiment this year. To maintain buoyancy in brand visibility, it plans to focus more on point-of-sale and digital advertising, Israni said.

Talking to BestMediaInfo.com for the special series ‘Marketing 2020’, Israni said the brand is upgrading and launching an all-new website this year to boost web traffic. Israni said until now it has been more of social media but now it hopes to take the mantle forward.

Excerpts:

What were your unmet expectations in 2019 that you wish to achieve in 2020? What factors would help you meet your goals?

For the brand Spykar, a lot more needs to be done across all channels of communication. We are like start-ups finding our way through new-age media. Consumers are getting upgraded to new apps and new media and therefore it is important to keep pace. As consumer sentiments and buying have been low in 2019, we expect 2020 to look up with the launch of new trends, new concepts and better market sentiments.

One thing in marketing that you couldn't implement last year but like to do it this year, and the factors?

We are upgrading and launching an all-new Spykar.com website. We have never initiated web traffic for the brand. For 2020, web traffic will be as important as store footfalls. We are, therefore, looking at digital advertising with a new lens. Until now, it has been more of social media, but we hope to take the mantle forward.

How do you see advertising and marketing trends evolving in 2020?

I believe all brands are going to look beyond conventional advertising. It will be sharper targeting, more homogenous groups and becoming many things for your loyal followers. As markets get more challenging, your current sets of customers are going to become critical to retain and engage with your brand.

Do you plan to increase your marketing budget for this year? If so, any rough estimate on the percentage increase? Would your category behave in a similar fashion?

Apparel is a discretionary spend category and one of the first to brace the impact of reduced consumer spending. Our spends would, therefore, be a factor in sales and consumer sentiments. Yet we plan to maintain certain buoyancy in brand visibility and ensure our season launches reach the shoppers.

How would your budget allocation for various mediums change in 2020? Would it be different than your category? 

The percentage break up would remain more or less on similar lines as 2019. But the media will need to work harder to give performance-oriented results. We will focus on POS (point-of-sale) advertising, digital advertising as well as some amount of awareness/ saliency building with mass media.

How do you expect your agency/communication/content partners to change in the next year?

We expect a more realistic, performance-based fee to be charged by content and media partners. While a lot of spends are done towards “brand building” which cannot be measured, be it completed views or clicks or pre-rolls, it has to result in a guaranteed, measurable outcome.

What's your brand's outlook in the next three years?

Spykar is a mass premium brand spread geographically across the length and breadth of the country. It has a huge amount of contribution from loyal customers. In the next three years, we plan to focus on the youth and Gen Z, who are looking for quality apparel. We also plan to strengthen a few more product lines that can give our customers a width of offerings. 

Social media and consumer behaviour are changing the dynamics of marketing faster than brands could even get the grip on the current trend. What would help you and other brands keep abreast with these quick changes?

A lot of direct interaction with consumers and media giants will be helpful in mastering the trends. For example, Google is just piloting the visual positioning in their maps and using lens in a whole new way. Keeping abreast of such enhancements through media and content partners and direct updates from media houses will be helpful.  

Info@BestMediaInfo.com