How Pulse Candy uses on-ground activations and AI in festive campaigns

In India's FMCG sector, where brands compete for consumer attention during the festive season, Pulse Candy has built its strategy around on-ground experiential marketing. The brand's approach responds to a pattern in consumer behaviour: people expect something new each year while also expecting the core elements that define the brand. This understanding shapes how they design installations and integrate technologies.

Jyotiroop Barua, Business Head, Confectionery at DS Group, explains the thinking behind their campaigns. "We have observed that consumers expect something new from the brand each year, while also expecting the core excitement and playfulness that Pulse candy stands for," he says. This creates a tension—maintaining brand consistency while delivering fresh experiences. 

The approach, Barua outlines, involves aligning with local customs and celebrations while focusing on youth and families who participate in community celebrations such as Onam, Garba, Durga Puja, Rath Yatra, Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri.

The brand’s campaigns this year have focused on this philosophy. For Ganesh Mahotsav 2025, marking its fourth consecutive year of association with Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai, Pulse introduced the "My Mushak, My Wish" campaign. The centrepiece was a three-foot-tall Mushak (Lord Ganesh's vehicle) installation crafted entirely from Pulse candies. Visitors could whisper their wishes into the Mushak's ear, which used voice-enabled technology to activate a dispensing machine that released either a Pulse Candy or Pulse Golmol. The campaign extended across Maharashtra's key markets, including Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, and Jalgaon, with life-size modak installations and tattoo corners offering Bappa-themed designs.

In West Bengal, the third season of 'Pujoy Pulse' ran from September 4 to October 8, 2025, in collaboration with TV9 Bangla. This year's campaign centred on "GOL KA MOL", the circular motifs that appear in Durga Puja, from the roundness of a bindi and bangles to a rosogolla and puja thali. The campaign positioned women as custodians of tradition and change-makers, featuring roundtables titled ‘Real-life Durgas’ and honouring women artisans whose craftsmanship shapes the celebrations. The Pujoy Pulse Canter Roadshow covered 22 towns across West Bengal, with experiences including a giant 3D acrylic "Imli" installation filled with Pulse Golmol candies where participants could scan a QR code to guess the number and win rewards, a Wheel of Blessings game, and AI-powered caricature portraits.

The function of physical engagement

The scale of on-ground investments raises a question in a world where digital channels dominate: what role does physical engagement play that television or social media cannot replicate? For Pulse, the answer lies in what Barua describes as a different value proposition. He elaborates, "On-ground experiential marketing provides a unique and irreplaceable value proposition that transcends the capabilities of traditional and digital media. It facilitates direct, one-to-one consumer interaction and enables immediate product trial."

The mechanics of this engagement are designed to be functional. At pandals and festival sites, consumers participate in experiences that involve product sampling. The Ganesh Mahotsav installation with voice-enabled technology and the Pujoy Pulse roadshow's gamified elements follow this approach. Entry to activities requires the purchase of a Pulse Candy pouch worth ₹10, making participation accessible while ensuring product trial.

This physical engagement serves a function in the consumer journey. While digital platforms deliver reach, on-ground experiences position the brand to create what Barua calls the "once you have it, you feel like having one more" response. The brand then amplifies these in-person activations across digital channels, creating a link to quick commerce platforms. This ensures that consumer interest generated at the event can be converted into purchase behaviour.

The scale of these operations has expanded in 2025. The entire product range, including Pulse Candy, Pulse Golmol, and Pulse Pops, is now featured together at major festivals. 

Technology as cultural connector, not novelty

As the brand scales its festive marketing, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into festive campaigns serves a functional purpose. In 2024, the brand introduced "Meri Bhakti Mere Bappa" during Ganesh Mahotsav, an AI-led activity that allowed people to generate personalised visualisations of Lord Ganesha with over 2,600 possible combinations. Devotees could interact with AI through tablets at pandals, describing their vision of Ganesha, which the system would then generate and project on large screens. This personalised image included Pulse candy.

For Durga Puja 2024, a two-minute AI-generated video titled "Pulse of Durga Puja" explored the origins, evolution, and cultural significance of the festival, featuring lesser-known facts, traditions, and rituals. The visual narrative premiered on TV9 Bangla and digital platforms as part of an integrated campaign. That campaign generated 10 million website impressions and 5 million social media impressions, demonstrating AI's capacity to scale cultural storytelling beyond physical limitations.

When talking about the intent behind these technology integrations, Barua clarifies, "For the confectionery team at DS Group, AI is not about personalisation alone. It is about creating relevance and resonance.” The 2025 campaigns build on this foundation. 

The Pujoy Pulse roadshow features AI-powered caricature portraits framed with circular Pujo-inspired motifs, offering participants personalised keepsakes. Meanwhile, the digital property 'Pulse Ka Pandal' introduced a Festive Treasure Hunt Game where participants took on a 60-second challenge, spotting cultural icons like dandiya, dhunuchi, conch shells, and bow. Completing the challenge unlocked festive rewards and AI-personalised greetings shareable on WhatsApp and Instagram.

The technology enables personalisation at scale, something not possible through traditional marketing channels. However, while on-ground activations provide experiences and technology like AI provides scale and innovation, the brand amplifies its messages through digital platforms. Physical installations exist for limited durations in specific locations, but digital experiences can reach millions simultaneously and remain accessible throughout the festival season.

This digital extension matters given the evolving profile of the target audience. "Today, the core festive TG has also become more digital-savvy and engagement-driven," Barua notes. "To meet this shift, we now extend every on-ground idea into digital spaces, which helps scale participation and keep the excitement fresh." 

The 'Grab the Pulse' installation, which began as a physical activation, was developed into a digital version that multiplied participation from a few hundred to over a lakh consumers. This omnichannel approach creates what Barua describes as "a unified brand experience across multiple touchpoints."

The communication strategy has been adapted to each platform's characteristics while maintaining core consistency. On Instagram, content is delivered through six-second video clips designed for immediate attention. YouTube allows for storytelling with videos of 60 seconds or more. At pandals, the strategy shifts to direct in-person engagement with product sampling. The core idea remains unchanged, according to Barua, but presentation is tailored to each medium's consumption patterns.

Measuring ROI

Through all these activations, measuring the return on these investments requires a framework that accounts for multiple metrics. Pulse employs quantitative analysis by comparing sales data from three-month periods immediately preceding and following marketing activities to identify uplift. 

Beyond direct sales, the brand tracks engagement duration with gamified experiences, crowd sizes around activation zones, and differentiates between direct reach (individuals who actively participate and sample products) and indirect reach (those exposed through social media sharing). Cost per contact is calculated for each activity and benchmarked against previous initiatives to determine which formats yield optimal results.

"This comprehensive evaluation, which considers sales performance, consumer engagement, and digital virality, allows us to gain a holistic understanding of our ROI while ensuring the brand remains consistent with its core identity," Barua explains. 

The pattern that has emerged from these campaigns depends on consumer expectations. "The key lesson has been that you can't repeat the same engagement activity every year," Barua emphasises. "Whether it's a repeat consumer or someone new, they come in expecting to see what fresh idea Pulse is bringing this festive season. That's why we keep the annual properties consistent, but change the execution, introduce multiple formats of gamification and new ways to participate. The property stays familiar, but the experience always feels new."

The brand has embedded itself within India's local customs, especially during the festive season, by creating experiences that focus on tradition while using engagement formats.