New brands flooding this festive season; experts caution against getting lost in clutter

The lead-up to the most grossing period of the year, the festive season, is often a period where most brands come up with new collections, products, campaigns and even sales amongst other things and this time has been no different.

However, a trend that has been gaining pace this time around is that of individuals and conglomerates launching their own new brands. Whether be it Isha Ambani’s Tira Beauty, 9skin by Nayanthara, Kriti Sanon’s Hyphen, Reliance Retail’s Yousta or any other new entrant in the market.

Taking note of this trend, BestMediaInfo.com spoke to industry players to find out what in their views is fuelling the trend of new brand launches ahead of and during the festive season and found out that some of the factors that are at play here include the pandemic, high consumer intent for making purchases, etc.

Anand Narasimha

As per Anand Narasimha, a Brand Marketing Expert and Advisor to Brands, the reason why there is so much emphasis by brands on the festive season is very simple- the markets are driven by positive consumer sentiments owing to the period being a time for celebration, for get-togethers and for enjoyment.

“But not everything necessarily starts selling more in the festive season and only certain categories are the ones which see a spike in the sales. For example, if you look at the category of consumer durables like television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, apparel, etc. it shows a high spike in the festive season because people generally postpone their purchases to this time in the light of the great discount offers that brands come up with during the time. Similarly, other categories such as apparel, automobiles, etc. also see a spike in the festive season,” he said.

Having said that, he also pointed out that targeting the launch of new brands during the festival season out of sheer Fear of Missing Out, which is also fuelling the number of new brand launches taking place during the festive season, which although is an opportunistic move, but cashing in on it is not a good idea.

“It's not a good idea because to cut through the clutter and get noticed, you will have to spend much more than the rest of the category players since there's so much noise. Also, the reason why consumers are bullish during the festive season is because they expect good deals and discounts and those are really known to drive sales for existing and established brands which consumers already know rather than with new brands. Apart from this, what also matters is the category that the brand operates in because if you are in a regular or monthly purchase category which consumers are buying all year round, the festive doesn't really create a spike,” he said.

Nisha Sampath

Nisha Sampath, Brand Consultant and Founder, Bright Angles Consulting, also opined that at times of both festivals and wedding season, people not only make purchases related to the occasion but also try to stretch the budget to buy other things which they might have postponed earlier as ‘non-essential’ due to price, or lack of funds, amongst other things which is why a festival becomes a time for delayed gratification and brands help to trigger decision making with a slew of offers and discounts.

“Some categories have traditionally seen blips during festivals. For example, cars, jewellery white goods, clothes. But increasingly, festival purchases are category agnostic. It’s almost as though people treat the festivals as permission for the fulfilment of personal dreams and self-indulgence. We have seen categories like lingerie, mobile phones, and home décor also aiming for festive sales,” she said.

Further, she also emphasised that brands which choose to launch during the festive season need to find the relevant cultural insight that will drive consumption at this particular time of year and obviously, they do need to spend more to break clutter, but a relevant insight will achieve this more effectively.

“People’s intent to buy is stronger during the festive season, across categories. They are actively evaluating and comparing choices. Hence they probably pay closer attention to new product launches and ads. This helps brands to break through clutter at this time of year,” she said.

Samit Sinha

Similarly, Samit Sinha, Founder and Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, also pointed out that because there is quite a lot of bullishness in the market, from a macroeconomic scenario, the festive season becomes a very opportune time to launch new products owing to the fact that a lot of purchases take place during the time. But in certain cases, it also happens to be an auspicious time to launch new products.

“In the past couple of years, especially from 2019-2022, there were pandemic-related interruptions, which is why a lot of new ventures have to suspend their launches in the country. But, post-pandemic things have bettered and the surge in general consumer sentiments is back in the marketplace. So, I do foresee this trend of having more launches of new brands during this period, which is typically October to December period, because traditionally, this is also the time when most people go shopping across categories such as home improvement, apparel, cosmetics and even travel during the festivities,” he said.

But having said that, what also happens is that these newly launched brands are also subjected to a slight amount of clutter, however it is not necessary that all the clutter would happen in the same category at the same time, and it is the sheer higher propensity to spend during festive season, in his views, which more than compensates for the clutter.

“The festive period is the one where there is lots of advertising noise, so these new brands would have to spend more to actually be heard above all. But the upside to it is that the brand is launching when the consumer is actively seeking avenues to spend money on,” he stated.

Shubho Sengupta

Shubho Sengupta, a Digital Marketer, also highlighted that since marketing budgets have shrunk over the years, it makes sense for brand launches to happen around the festive season when the buzz is high, along with fatter wallets.

Pointing out that while the new launches happening in and around the festive season does piggyback on the hype and the buzz of the marketplace during the October, November and December quarter, what has also fueled the rise of this trend is the pandemic because covid cut household budgets in a major way and when the pandemic ended, the same jumped ferociously as people spent with a vengeance.

“Today, the economy is also in better shape which is why people want to spend. However, in the case of new brand launches also, if it is the brand values are not adhered to, it's just a flash in the pan, like a Diwali cracker,” he added.

Vikas Mehta

On the other hand, Vikas Mehta, an Independent Consultant, did agree with the fact that while festival time is the time when a lot of spending happens but what is essential to note is that the launch needs to happen a bit earlier because the case is not such that a new brand launches and their sales begin from Day 1.

“Usually what happens is that the festive season is the bonus time in India and it is also the period when harvesting happens in the rural markets and therefore money comes into the ecosystem and alongside this there is an increased willingness to spend the money on painting homes, buying new clothes and jewellery, etc. but what happens is that all this coincides at the same time and therefore most brands try to utilise this time for launches. But to do that as well, what one needs to do is launch the brand a quarter earlier,” he said.

Launching a quarter earlier, in his view, will enable brands to ensure a comparatively robust distribution and significant brand awareness.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com