Why smart planning not higher spending drives festive outcomes

The panellists unanimously agreed that gut feelings have no place in festive media planning. Ritu Mittal of Bayer Consumer Health emphasised that decisions must be rooted in hard numbers. "The decision-making process should always be numbers-based," Mittal stated. "It's a matter of running a mathematical comparison across relevant platforms to determine which one drives the best performance against your KPIs."

Jaikishin Chhaproo of ITC explained that this data-driven approach is built into their annual planning, allowing them to anticipate and manage festive media premiums effectively. "Over the years, we have developed clear benchmarks for our investments," Chhaproo explained. "This ensures that we will not go sub-optimal on any platform we choose to be on."

Beyond media metrics, Tejas Chaudhari from Unilever advocated for drilling down to the P&L to find true profitability. "If you continuously analyse the P&Ls for these channels, you will identify 'dark spots'," Chaudhari advised. "For some platforms and product ranges, you'll find it is actually not that profitable when all costs are factored in."

Navigating inconsistent traffic

While traditional media viewership can be predictable, the world of e-commerce is far more volatile. "While general media traffic can be consistent, commerce traffic is not similar at all," Chaudhari distinguished. "Marketplaces spike once a year, vertical beauty platforms spike every quarter, and quick commerce has spikes every weekend. We have to bake that in and plan our media accordingly."

Instead of fighting this volatility, Chaudhari explained that brands can leverage it as a strategic opportunity, especially for new products. "This period is a key opportunity to give a 'cold start' to new and more premium ranges that are not price-led," he said. "The high volume of branded searches allows you to introduce new offerings to an engaged audience."

However, he cautioned that this high-intent environment is fraught with risk. The competitive "frenzy" can lead to irrational bidding wars, and he stressed the importance of data analysis to determine if paying a high media premium is genuinely justifiable.

Beyond metros

A one-size-fits-all media plan is obsolete in a country as diverse as India. Chhaproo set the stage by highlighting the fundamental shift in how content is consumed. "The audience for linear television has changed," he observed. "Today, the primary viewers are either kids below ten or adults over sixty. Everyone else is consuming content on demand, at their own convenience."

This fragmentation demands a highly targeted strategy. "We recently identified Gen Z as an important audience for Saridon that we were not reaching effectively," Mittal shared. "We targeted them with a tailored influencer campaign that was more relatable and accounted for the regional nuances in India."

The panel's choices for a single essential platform underscored this need for tailored strategies. For a mass brand like Saridon, Mittal’s choice was unequivocal: "I would say TV." Yet for a premium skincare launch, she was just as decisive, "I would simply say that I need to be there on Instagram. That's where my audience is." Similarly, Chhaproo drew a clear line between television for mass products and a digital-first approach for premium brands.

Overleveraged vs. Underutilised

When asked to identify overleveraged trends and untapped opportunities, the panel offered sharp critiques of current marketing practices. Tejas Chaudhari identified the over-reliance on Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) as a critical pitfall. "ROAS-based investment is a flawed approach," he stated. "Decisions are incorrect because platforms have different attribution models that inflate the ROAS, and nothing is comparable without first decoupling the data."

Ritu Mittal highlighted the saturation of influencer marketing when it is executed without strategic depth. "Doing influencer marketing the same way as everyone else is a result of just doing it without understanding how it fits your brand or category," she cautioned.

Conversely, the panel agreed that a significant underutilised opportunity lies in a greater strategic focus on local and regional platforms. Finally, Jaikishan Chhaproo concluded by emphasising a foundational principle. "Amidst the high burn of performance marketing, one of the definite investments we need to make is in brand building," he asserted.

Final advice for marketers

As the session drew to a close, the panellists offered their final guiding principles. Ritu Mittal urged marketers to find a crucial balance: "Chase the clicks, but in the spirit of chasing the clicks, don't forget to build your brand."

Jaikishin Chhaproo advised them to supplement data analysis with sound judgment, reminding them to "not get biased by the numbers" and to always "use common sense."

Providing a sharp commercial focus, Shivam Singh Chauhan recommended that brands "focus on hero SKUs and on monetising the demand created throughout the year, rather than acquiring more consumers."

Finally, Tejas Chaudhari stressed that the work isn't over when the season ends. "Let's not forget about the performance and post-evaluation," he concluded. "It's essential to take the learnings forward to the next year."