Blue Star doubles ad spends; to go big on news channels during general elections

Delhi: With the general elections commencing today, the consumer electronics brand Blue Star will be prominently featured on news channels, from the exit polls to the final announcement of the election results, said B Thiagarajan, Managing Director of Blue Star.

In an exclusive interaction with BestMediaInfo.com, he mentioned that while the brand has historically maintained a consistent presence on news channels, it is currently negotiating deals with news channels for the LS Polls.

For the record, voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections has begun in 102 seats spread across 21 states and Union Territories.

Blue Star has nearly doubled its advertising expenditure this summer. Thiagarajan mentioned that while the brand allocated Rs 35 crore for air conditioner ads last year, this year the spending has increased to Rs 60 crore, of which, digital will take 40% share.

Of the total Rs 60 crore adex, the brand will be spending Rs 20 crore on IPL 2024, stated Thiagarajan.

However, for commercial refrigeration, the expenditure has only risen by Rs 2 crore to Rs 12 crore from Rs 10 crore last year.

He explained, 'Last year, summers weren't particularly strong. The increase in advertising expenditure for this year's B2C business, i.e, air conditioners, is in anticipation of heightened demand due to the soaring temperatures.'"

Thiagarajan further mentioned that online channels currently contribute only 10% of the brand's total sales. However, he emphasised that due to the significant volume of searches on e-commerce platforms, a large portion of the company's digital advertising expenditure is allocated to online retail.

Blue Star had enlisted Virat Kohli as the brand ambassador for three of their commercials, which are currently being broadcast on Star Sports HD and Jio Cinema CTV during the IPL 2024.

The ad:

However, Thiagarajan expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of using celebrities in advertising. 

He pointed out that attention spans are limited, whether in digital or other formats. "Nobody is going to listen to a celebrity talking in an ad," he stated.

"We advertise under the assumption that everyone watches and absorbs all ads, but that's not the reality. There is a significant amount of waste. I'm not saying advertising is a waste, but waste in advertising is unavoidable," he highlighted.

Even in the case of IPL, there are SD, HD, CTV, mobile, and various other avenues for consuming content, leading to ad spend spillage because viewers might be more interested in the match than in watching a Blue Star ad. Advertising strategies need to be smarter. In our ad, we have ensured that Virat Kohli delivers the brand message very precisely," he further emphasised.

According to the latest report by Kadence International and Crisp, the majority of IPL viewers recall only five or fewer brands due to limited bandwidth, and their primary interest lies in following the game rather than spotting brands.

Thiagarajan highlighted that in terms of retail, there are several avenues the brand explores from modern retail chains such as Croma and Jio to regional retail players and e-commerce. 

“Additionally, we value regional retail players like Ratna, and Satya, which have a substantial impact at the local level. Our network also includes distributors, sub-dealers, and exclusive dealerships, which form an essential part of our sales ecosystem,” he said.

E-commerce is another critical area of focus, he added,  “We engage with major platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart and are also looking into emerging opportunities like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which is gaining traction.”