Myntra bets big on south market, expects bigger demand this festive season

In view of the excitement and sentiment among shoppers, and given that people have started to step out with some semblance of normalcy setting in, fashion e-commerce company Myntra is betting big on the festive season and is spending a sizable share of its H2 budget on it.

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In an interaction with BestMediaInfo, Harish Narayanan, CMO, Myntra, discussed the brand’s marketing strategy and expected demand on the back of its festive season campaigns.

The platform’s marketing efforts is yielding a positive response from shoppers so far. Its Big Fashion Festival from October 3 to 10 is followed by events and offerings for Diwali. 

Nearly four million products were sold on the opening day of the sale, recording the highest-ever day one traffic on the website.

“In fact, 20% of the customers who shopped at the Myntra Big Fashion Festival were first-time users,” he said.

Its advertising strategy during the season is to gradually build up its user cohorts and hold pre-events, which happened this time in August and continued until mid-September.

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Narayanan said the marketing efforts built enough salience because of the reach and frequency. Their communication picked up pace about 10-15 days in advance with strong calls to action (CTA), offers, event date release, category-specific callouts and so on. 

The brand is leveraging digital platforms, TV channels, OTT, and social media. It is heavily leveraging its own social media channels to reach a wider customer base.

As part of its strategy, the company on-boarded celebrity ambassadors to strengthen its foothold among their large fan base across the country, and especially in regional clusters down south. Together, with more than 100 high-impact celebrities and influencers driving awareness through pre-buzz and event days, while harnessing the reach of Myntra Studio and other platforms, it expects a 3X jump in social media impressions for the campaign. 

It has signed up cine stars such as Hrithik Roshan, Vijay Deverakonda, Silambarasan and Dulquer Salmaan, Kiara Advani, and Samantha Akkineni to reach out to more shoppers, and to emphasise Myntra’s hold on the Indian fashion sphere. Disha Patani continues to be its beauty ambassador. In addition, a host of B-town and OTT celebs, reality TV stars and digital content creators such as Bhuvan Bam have come together  to drive high-impact communication amplification for the festive season buzz. 

South continues to be Myntra’s focus region

“We have gone much heavier in terms of investments for the south. The on-boarding of our new regional celebs, covering the biggest clusters, is a direct outcome of this effort. With their wide fan base, we hope to bolster our presence and reach in this region,” he said.

Overall, the whole ecommerce ecosystem in India lights up during this quarter. The demand peaks during the days leading to Diwali and this year is turning out to be no different, he said.

“It is expected to be much bigger than the last time with the current situation looking slightly more hopeful,” he said.

This year, Narayanan said, it isn’t about revenge buying but rather optimism-led buying. With the pandemic in control, the sentiment is a lot better this time, he said.

Most offices, shops, schools, etc., are starting to open up, and so are the occasions and the inclination for dressing up. Folks want to refresh their wardrobes as they haven’t bought work clothes or perhaps occasion wear in a while. During the festive season, there is high organic demand among consumers to buy apparel, beauty and lifestyle-related products, he said.

“We expect high demand from across geographies and markets — metros, tier one, two, three cities and beyond,” he said.

Last year, for Myntra, there was a deliberate focus on tier two and three cities. However, this time, it is keeping it a lot broader with an equal focus on metro tier one users.

Asked how different is its approach towards the festive season compared to its competitors, Narayanan said it is focusing on building an audience and heightening consumer engagement closer to events such as Big Fashion festival, ­Diwali events, etc.

“Being cognisant of our wider audience, we have gone heavy on regional languages. We have made about 400 versions of our creatives, bringing in regional elements, and leveraged star power to reach a wider geography and across categories. This targeted communication by category, calling for best offers, is something we had not done before,” he said.

Narayanan said the platform's strategy is to offer a joyous and rewarding experience to existing customers and over a million new customers by enabling them to meet their fashion, lifestyle and beauty needs. It has ensured an array of benefits for first-time users.

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