How brands can stand out in festive clutter without falling into generic storytelling

A recent festive advertisement featured a young couple entering their home, surrounded by lights and exchanging gift boxes. The emotional storytelling was beautiful, but the twist came at the end. This ad could have belonged to any brand: sweets, lights, or even a bank. The logo at the conclusion was the only differentiator in what had become an interchangeable piece of festive content.

This scenario captures the fundamental challenge facing brands during India's festive season, where 40-50% of annual business is generated. As the calendar fills with celebrations, from Diwali and Navratri to regional festivals like Durga Puja and Onam, brands rush to capture consumer attention, often falling into the trap of generic storytelling that prioritises festive themes over brand identity.

During the first panel discussion on festive storytelling at Social Samosa, titled “The Festive Storytelling Interplay: How to Stay Fresh and Stand Out in a Sea of Sameness”, moderated by Karuna Sharma, Associate Editor, Social Samosa.

The panellists included:

Hemant Shringy, CCO & Managing Partner, Wondrlab

Pawan Sarda, Chief Growth Officer, The House of Abhinandan Lodha

Shaziya Khan, Chief Strategy Officer, Enormous

Chandni Gaglani, Head of Aisle Network 

The leaders dissected this challenge of sameness and offered insights on how brands can maintain their distinctiveness while tapping into the cultural significance of festivals.

The core identity paradox

The root of the sameness problem lies in a misunderstanding of festive marketing's purpose. Many brands approach the season believing they must shift from brand communication to festive communication, inadvertently diluting their core identity in the process.

Hemant Shringy, Chief Creative Officer and Managing Partner at Wondrlab, who has worked with brands like Ariel, Whisper, and more, identified this as the primary culprit behind interchangeable campaigns. 

"It's the time when everyone's going to be speaking about festivities. How are you going to make sure that the core of the brand's heart comes in the festive campaign as well?" he questioned, emphasising that festivals should amplify brand identity rather than replace it.

The solution, according to Shringy, requires a counterintuitive approach.

 "It's actually during the festive season that you should say, I want to hold on to my core so tight that I may go anywhere and I may have any kind of execution, but yet my brand core should shine through with the festival communication."

This principle extends beyond creative execution to positioning. Pawan Sarda, Chief Growth Officer at The House of Abhinandan Lodha, emphasised that the festive period represents an opportunity for category integration. The real estate sector, for instance, benefits from the cultural significance of days like Dhanteras and Akshaya Tritiya, when property investment is considered auspicious. 

Rather than generic festive messaging, successful campaigns leverage these cultural touchpoints while maintaining clear category relevance.

This approach ensures that even in a crowded festive marketplace, brands maintain their distinctiveness. While acknowledging that festivals are about traditions and celebrations are universal and timeless, Shringy suggested there's an opportunity to give timelessness a twist of the times. "How can you hold on to the tradition and add something of the times to it?" he asked, advocating for letting go of repetitive narrative patterns while maintaining cultural relevance.

The challenge becomes particularly acute in the digital age, where brands must balance core identity with creator authenticity. He noted that as brands increasingly collaborate with influencers and content creators, maintaining brand core becomes even more critical. The brand must be strong enough to allow creators linguistic freedom while ensuring the essential message doesn't get lost in translation.

From mass appeal to mindset mapping

The traditional approach to festive marketing: creating one campaign to reach all consumers, is increasingly becoming obsolete. The myth of a pan-India viewer has given way to a more complex reality where the same person might engage with festivals differently based on life stage, location, and personal circumstances.

Chandni Gaglani, Head of Aisle Network, a dating app, shared her company's experience. Dating apps face unique challenges during festivals, as traditional celebrations often highlight relationship status and family expectations. 

"The myth of pan-India viewer... forces us to go hyper-local. It forces us to see multiple layers and nuances that we really will have to address if we want to talk to that user in a meaningful way," she explained.

This shift from demographic to psychographic targeting has revealed multiple celebration contexts that brands previously ignored. The NRI experiencing loneliness during Diwali represents a different opportunity than the young professional returning home for the first time after college. Each cohort requires distinct messaging approaches while maintaining brand consistency.

The need for personalisation extends to timing strategies as well. Gaglani shared insights about the "afterglow moment" that follows festivals, when individuals reflect on family questions about marriage and relationships. This post-festival period offers an untapped opportunity for brands to connect with consumers in a more introspective mindset.

Social media has amplified this trend by democratising festivals. Pawan Sarda noted that platforms have transformed lesser-known regional celebrations into nationally recognised events. "Social media has made every small festival a big festival today,” he observed.

This digitalisation has created both opportunities and challenges. While brands now have more festival touchpoints to leverage, they also face increased competition for consumer attention across a broader calendar of celebrations.

The preparation economy: Mining the pre-festival opportunity

Perhaps the most underutilised aspect of festive marketing lies not in the celebration itself, but in the extensive preparation period that precedes it. This phase, often lasting several months, represents a rich opportunity for brands to provide value and build relationships before the competitive intensity peaks.

Shaziya Khan, Chief Strategy Officer, Enormous, whose agency works across multiple categories, emphasised this preparation phase as crucial for consumer connection. "The destination is a destination, but preparation itself is a journey," she noted, highlighting how consumers require hand-holding and expert advice during planning stages. 

She continued, “The celebration time is long, but the preparation is equally long, and that’s where brands can reach out to audiences early and empathetically.”

Khan introduced the concept of "preparation for celebration," highlighting how the season before the season is the time to potentially connect with consumers when they're most receptive to brand assistance. This approach allows brands to become integral to the celebration process rather than peripheral advertisers competing for attention during peak moments.

The preparation economy extends beyond traditional retail categories. In the dating app sector, Gaglani described how Onam celebrations led to community-building initiatives where Malayalam-speaking professionals in other cities organised traditional feast gatherings that doubled as networking events. "We did an Onam meetup, Onam mixer, Malayalis came, had a sadya, did their festival celebration and found their partners," she shared.

This approach highlights a broader trend toward experience-based marketing that goes beyond transactional relationships. Brands that successfully tap into preparation phases often become integral to the celebration itself, rather than peripheral advertisers trying to capture attention during peak moments.

The timing element becomes particularly crucial when considering the extended celebration periods characteristic of Indian festivals. Khan pointed out that while everyone faces clutter, grabbing consumer attention early is an advantage. especially when the consumer themselves is preparing earlier than the actual season. This should give brands an advantage. Moreover, there’s an opportunity to reach out during the peak-moment activation and post-celebration reflection. Each phase requires different messaging and engagement strategies.

Sarda added to this multi-phase approach. He noted that for most businesses, festivals represent 40-50% of annual business and provide great opportunities to close gaps. Sarda emphasised that India offers extensive celebration opportunities throughout the year, whether through fasting or feasting, creating multiple touchpoints for brand building and business creation.

He also highlighted the importance of understanding the cultural undercurrents of different festivals, noting that different parts of India require different approaches since one solution doesn't fit across all regions. This is important given that brands need to sustain attention long after the period ends.

The data support this extended timeline approach. Consumer decision-making processes during festivals are rarely spontaneous, particularly for higher-consideration purchases. The preparation phase allows brands to influence these decisions before competitive messaging reaches saturation levels.

However, successful preparation-phase marketing requires authenticity rather than premature promotional messaging. Consumers during this phase seek practical assistance, cultural connection, and community building, not sales pitches. Brands that understand this distinction often build stronger relationships that extend beyond individual festival periods.

It is also important to reach out to different kinds of consumers based on their stories. Khan notes that “the imperfect perfect families” are generally avoided in festive ads, and believes “a lot of the festive ads can potentially embrace them.” 

Successful festive marketing in 2025 requires a shift from campaign thinking to relationship building. Shringy summarised, "If you made a point that only you can make, you will be remembered. If you are interchangeable with anything else, then you won't be remembered."

This principle applies across all aspects of festive marketing, from creative execution and influencer partnerships to timing strategies and consumer segmentation. In an environment where festivals provide universal cultural touchpoints, the brands that stand out are those that use these moments to strengthen their unique value propositions rather than blend into generic celebration messaging.