We allocate 60-70% of adex in reaching out to new customers: FNP CMO Avi Kumar

New Delhi: Sending gifts is a tricky business due to the need for constant innovation and personalisation to meet diverse customer preferences. The business must manage logistics and maintain product quality, all while competing in a crowded market with fluctuating demand and seasonal peaks.

Avi Kumar, CMO of Ferns and Petals, is one of those in the business of selling gifts. While the festive quarter was a tough one for most brands, FNP recorded growth in its B2B and B2C verticals. 

Defining how the festive season went for him, Kumar said, “Gifting has seen a significant spike, with a shift towards premium and personalised gifts. Large organisations have increased their investments in gifting for clients, stakeholders, and employees. 

From a B2C perspective, new trends have emerged, such as sustainable gifts, curated hampers, and personalised items for festivals like Diwali and Navratri. The action, which began around August with Ganpati, peaked during Diwali and remains high due to ongoing events like weddings and Valentine's Day.”

Since Kumar mentioned personalisation, we asked him about the personalisation efforts being taken by FNP to which he replied by saying, “There are two aspects to personalisation. One is personalising the product itself, such as having a card with the recipient's name or customising the product. This makes a significant difference in gifting. 

The other aspect is personalising the entire consumer journey, making it more relevant to the consumer's choices and preferences. This involves showing the right ads, displaying the right products, and reaching out through the preferred channels. Using technology and AI makes this process easier and faster by evaluating signals more effectively. At FNP, we focus heavily on personalization across both customer experience and product offerings.”

Moving forward Kumar mentioned FNP’s focus on a digital-first strategy. From the man himself, “We spend 60 to 70% of our spends in reaching out to the new customer and the rest goes to retention. Our customers primarily engage with digital media, so our spending is heavily focused on digital channels. Beyond digital, we invest minimally in experiential and outdoor advertising. Occasionally, for larger campaigns, we utilise mediums like TV. Within digital, it's a mix of performance marketing as well as brand marketing.”

According to Neilsen's study, more and more brands are focusing on premium customers nowadays, however, a lot of these premium customers also sit behind a paywall and reaching them can be a challenge. 

Sharing his thoughts on the subject, Kumar said, “This is where brand experience and brand equity come into play, making brand-building efforts equally important. Once a customer is on the platform and aware, maintaining constant awareness is crucial. For engaged users, creating top-of-mind awareness or brand consideration is easier than for new brands. Many customers already prefer us and appreciate reminders about birthdays and the ability to send emotions through gifts across cities and countries. 

This creates a funnel of customers within the ecosystem, including those receiving gifts from friends. Platforms like Meta and Google have vast user bases, and while YouTube may be behind a paywall, interactions on Instagram and other content consumption are significant. Instead of relying solely on passive pure-play ads, we focus on integrating into the customer's content consumption.”

Moving on, Kumar highlighted the importance of correct data because, for the modern marketer, data is not an issue. What matters is what a marketer does with the data. 

Sharing his thoughts on the subject, Kumar said, “You will always derive certain insights the more you delve into data. The beauty of data lies in its ability to reveal these insights. One of the key challenges is integrating data from the many different sources available. Often, these sources do not communicate effectively with each other, or when they do, there is a significant mismatch in the numbers they provide. 

To address this, we have worked to minimise the discrepancies between multiple sources and create a single window into the customer and consumer data. This approach helps in obtaining accurate data, ensuring that while there may be a lot of data available, it is consistent and reliable across different sources.

Wrapping it up, we asked Kumar what FNP’s current focus is, to which he replied by saying, We observe that the patterns of Gen Z gifting show higher frequency, with this demographic visiting and purchasing from our platform quite often across multiple channels. Gen Z is a priority for us, and we will continue our efforts to attract them. This includes our physical shops, online platform, and even the quick commerce platforms where we are present.”