Effective storytelling targets purchase frictions, not award juries: Alok Agarwal

Picture yourself standing in the middle of a half-built living room. The walls are bare, sunlight streams through unframed windows, and the floor is still a cold stretch of concrete. In your hands is not just a catalogue of tiles but a set of decisions that will define the character of your home for years to come. Will the finish make the room feel warmer? Will the surface hold up against daily wear? Can you truly imagine what it will look like once it’s laid down?

It’s at this moment that a homeowner realises tiles aren’t just construction material, they’re the canvas on which the entire space comes alive. Purchases are seldom impulsive; they’re deliberate, functional, and deeply aesthetic. Yet for decades, tiles in India have been treated as commodities: functional, replaceable, often an afterthought.

That perception gap is exactly what makes the opportunity so vast. The India Ceramic Tiles Market size is estimated at USD 10.45 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach USD 19.71 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 13.54% during the forecast period (2025-2030).

As rising disposable incomes and design-conscious consumers shape India’s ceramic tiles market, brands must do much more than dazzle with visuals. They must solve tangible anxieties: How will it look? Will it last? Can I visualise it before committing?

It's in navigating these very questions that Alok Agarwal, CMO of Orient Bell, sees both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity. His insights reveal how to shift consumers from hesitant deliberation to confident decisions through smarter marketing, stronger digital tools, and a renewed internal ethos. Below, his voice frames a roadmap for tile brands to build equity, ditch commodity mindsets, and continue rising in a premiumising, post-pandemic market.

Breaking the commodity mindset

For decades, tiles were seen as interchangeable commodities. Agarwal calls this the toughest misconception the brand had to tackle.

He said, “The toughest misconception you’ve had to tackle is that tiles are a commodity. Any pattern can be printed on a tile. Winning brands treat tiles as a solution. Changing that internal mindset, from ‘sell SKUs’ to ‘making tile shopping easier’, was the biggest internal shift we’ve fought for and overseen.”

That shift in perspective is only half the journey. The other half lies in execution, how brands translate this mindset into a shopping journey that feels less intimidating and more reassuring.

Quite often see marketeers apply the same playbook. Instead, start from first principles: who decides, when, and with what anxieties? Fix the common, concrete frictions, visualisation, clearer specifications, contractor-friendly data, and you’ll move a slow, anxious chooser to a confident yes. In short: don’t spray confetti; remove the bumps on the road.

- Alok Agarwal

Once those bumps are addressed, the focus moves to communication, how the brand frames its promise, not just what it offers. And that’s where messaging must step in to close the gap between product and reassurance.

Storytelling that solves problems

In tiles advertising, functional communication often takes precedence over glamour. Orientbell’s recent campaigns underline this approach, positioning itself with the line “100% Tiles, 0% Celebs”, a move away from endorsements towards product demonstrations.

On its social media channels, one video showed a truck being driven over a finished patch of tiles, underscoring their ability to withstand the weight of a 30-ton vehicle. Such executions focus on typical buyer concerns, durability, strength, and long-term use, rather than aspirational imagery.

Agarwal explained, “Effective storytelling targets purchase frictions, not award juries: ‘Will it scratch?’ ‘Will it survive in my parking lot?’ A memorable ad of a truck rolling over a finished patch of tiles is more persuasive than a celebrity smiling in a TV ad.”

This principle also guides Orient Bell’s approach to direct-to-consumer (D2C). Rather than disrupting dealer networks, their D2C engine qualifies and educates customers before routing them to trusted partners.

A recent example was the launch of Inspire Aroma, a tile collection designed to release fragrance on contact with water. The campaign film featured Orientbell’s senior leadership, including its CEO, CMO, Head of Consumer Insights, etc who explained the thinking behind the innovation and demonstrated how the product works. The approach was less about promotion and more about education, underlining both the functionality of the tiles and the consumer insights that shaped their development.

“D2C should simplify discovery, not elbow out the dealer. I think of it as matchmaking, not for drama, but for long-term partnerships,” he said.

That same spirit of simplification carried over into the digital sphere, especially as the pandemic reshaped how Indians think about their homes and the way they shop.

Digital and convenience as the new differentiators

The pandemic accelerated a fundamental change in how people engage with home improvement. 

The pandemic made us fall in love with our homes again. When bedrooms became offices, people started valuing design and comfort more than ever. I think that shift is permanent, home as haven, it’s here to stay. And it's driving premiumisation for us.

- Alok Agarwal

Along with valuing their homes more, consumers also embraced digital with newfound trust.

“The pandemic didn’t teach people how to use tech, it taught them to trust it. Remote visualisations, contactless discovery, store staff who use apps to sell, these moved from being a novelty to a baseline expectation,” Agarwal added.  

Orient Bell leaned heavily into this shift, investing in digital visualisation tools, partner apps, and a robust website. These innovations reinforced brand equity by making the buying process easier, faster, and more transparent.

Convenience, Agarwal noted, is what consumers truly pay for. He said, “Consumers don’t buy tiles for thrills; they buy them to avoid future problems. Make the path clear and they’ll pay for peace of mind.”

If digital adoption and convenience have become baseline expectations, the next frontier is responsibility, to the environment, to communities, to the future.

Shaping the future

While sustainability is still in its early stages in tiles, Agarwal believes it will soon become non-negotiable.

He said, “We’ve built zero-waste processes, large scale tree planting and water-positive initiatives because it’s the right thing, and smart for future projects. Today, only a few buyers choose solely on green credentials. Tomorrow, specifiers and institutions will expect it. Plant trees now; grow brand preference in the long term.”

Alongside sustainability, design influencers and architects are emerging as powerful players in shaping consumer choices.

“Architects and designers are often the primary trust bridge to premium customers and project finances. When they specify our tiles, their endorsement bypasses price negotiations and focuses discussion on design fit and durability. Design influencers help with inspiration/discovery, and architects deliver conversion in large projects,”Agarwal added.

These shifts reveal a clear roadmap. From repositioning tiles as solutions to embedding digital convenience, leveraging influencers, and committing to sustainability, Agarwal’s playbook reframes what marketing means in this space, shifting it from commodities to confidence.