Philips Personal Health India axes TV from media mix while 50 percent of AdEx goes to brand building

Mumbai: Philips India is targeting business growth two to three times the country’s GDP, backed by a streamlined product portfolio, sharper consumer segmentation and dedicated marketing investments. 

It’s a bold target in a market that has been unpredictable this year, from muted summer sales to uneven consumer sentiment across regions. But for Vidyut Kaul, Vice President - Head of Growth Region, Royal Philips, the plan rests on staying close to consumers while running tighter marketing and distribution systems.

Speaking to BestMediaInfo.com, on the sidelines of the launch of Philips OneBlade Intimate, Kaul stated that the company’s strategy now revolves around deepening penetration in everyday health and grooming categories while ensuring that every new product or marketing decision delivers measurable impact.

The new growth lens

Kaul shared that the company has managed to bring down their cost of acquisition “quite significantly.” He added, “Earlier, our advertising-to-sales (A-to-S) ratio used to be in double digits; now, it’s down to single digits. That shift has happened for several reasons, primarily because the traditional way of marketing is no longer effective. You can’t just launch a product and expect it to sell; that era is over.” 

He explained that for Philips, engagement comes first. “We start with an engagement strategy where content, not product, is the first thing that consumers experience,” he noted.

Philips has set a simple KPI for itself. “Our goal is simple: if you search on any platform or walk into any store, Philips should be the first brand you see. That’s the KPI we’ve set for ourselves,” said Kaul. 

Speaking on the spend patterns, Kaul stated, “We follow normal seasonality patterns and don’t make major changes around them. Unlike large electronics companies, we operate as a Fast-Moving Consumer Durable (FMCD) brand. So, there isn’t a strong seasonality effect. There may be minor fluctuations, but our spending are largely aligned with sales trends.” 

The marketing shift

While Kaul sets growth direction, Smit Shukla, Head of Philips Personal Health India Subcontinent, is the one reworking the brand’s communication machinery to support that ambition. 

Shukla highlighted that the brand has brought traditional media spends “down to zero.” And by “traditional,” Shukla pointed at Television. 

“Until 2024, we still had some investments there, but we’ve completely shut that engine off. Now, nearly 80% of our spending goes into digital, with the remaining 20% focused on on-ground activations,” he said. 

Shukla also revealed that Philips India is exploring partnerships with platforms like Reddit and Discord. “While we’re still in early discussions and evaluating how best to create meaningful engagement there, we’re certain that these are the spaces we’ll be active in moving forward,” he told BestMediaInfo.com.  

Expanding on the mix of spending, Shukla stated that more than 50% of their overall spending is dedicated to awareness and brand-building initiatives. Typically, 30-40% of the total spends is channelised towards activations. However, the ratio for activations fluctuates month to month.

“For instance, during the festive season, we often double down on events and on-ground experiences,” said Shukla. 

He also admitted to being very aggressive on influencer marketing. 

Choice of creators

Philips India is making influencer marketing its core strength. However, the brand is very assiduous in choosing the kind of creators to work with. 

“Influencer marketing has become a core strength for us, but we’ve taken it a step further by building a strong capability around UGC (User-generated Content). We’ve developed this muscle to the point where we’re now able to churn out over 300–400 content pieces every month,” Shukla noted.

When it comes to user-generated content (UGC), Philips India follows a markedly different approach from the conventional influencer playbook. 

Instead of chasing top-tier influencers, the focus is on engaging younger creators who are authentic and expressive. For instance, with the OneBlade product, the brand collaborated with 18-19-year-olds who are experimenting, creating, and sharing their individuality, even if they have as few as 10,000 to 40,000 followers. 

This strategy stems from a non-transactional mindset, prioritising genuine connection over scale.

“Instead of paid collaborations, we focus on giving them the product experience and inviting them to share their genuine perspectives if they like it. It’s an entirely organic process. 

What makes this approach powerful is the invisible yet highly engaged ecosystem it builds, one that many brands overlook, but which we’ve been able to tap into deeply and very successfully,” Shukla told BestMediaInfo.com.  

‘At least three agencies’ for OneBlade campaign

This was an interesting vertical. 

A brand survey of more than 6,000 young Indians found that 90% do intimate hair removal. Building on that data point, Philips India launched Philips OneBlade Intimate in India, which has had a proven success in the global markets. 

Around the product, Philips brought to life the #DontBeatAroundTheBush campaign. For the particular campaign, it wasn’t one agency behind it but multiple agencies bringing various aspects of the campaign alive. 

“It was a campaign that had multiple agencies. It was developed through collaborative brainstorming between our internal teams and WLDD, who also executed the entire out-of-home activation featuring the downward arrows. FleishmanHillard served as our strategic thinking partner, while McCann contributed at the early stages,” Shukla shared. 

What is interesting is how multiple agencies came together, creating an ecosystem and bringing their A game, and Philips India picked the best ideas from the collective pool. 

Walking us through the process of their agency review process, Shukla zoomed in, saying. “For each campaign, we start with a clear objective and strategy, then roll out the brief to four or five partners. We assess their ideas collectively and decide which ones to execute, depending on the project’s complexity or importance. For high-impact campaigns like this one, we intentionally pool ideas from multiple partners, usually three or more, to ensure the strongest creative output.” 

But this was for creative execution. Shukla stated that the media planning and buying is done with a single partner, OMD, “since that function demands scale and consistency.”

Growth delta

With upwards of 50% market share in the country, Philips is targeting category creation and penetration building as their primary growth drivers, while maximising market share. 

A major growth driver, as Shukla highlighted, is the premium segment.

“Premiumisation in India is on a strong upward wave, and we’re leading that journey in the personal grooming devices category. Consumers are increasingly willing to upgrade, and our premium products have been driving a major delta in our overall growth,” he said. 

Summarising the growth trajectory, Shukla explained that for emerging categories like electric shavers, the strategy is category creation and penetration building. For established categories like male grooming and trimmers, it’s about maximising market share. 

“Growth, as a result, naturally stays ahead of the category, and that’s been our consistent track record,” he concluded.