Samsonite's Pradnya Popade on crafting a marketing strategy that resonates durability

Almost 73% of consumers are planning their weekend trips as travel plans are evolving, including solo travelers. For the premium luggage brand Samsonite, solo travelers take up 8-10% of its bags’ share, including family vacationers who are going from domestic travel to international because of its accessibility. 

This insight shaped the legacy brand’s collaboration with New Balance, which aimed at appealing to the younger audiences leading their multi-faceted lives, according to Pradnya Popade, Head - Marketing Communications at Samsonite South Asia. 

“We thought of offering them something which doesn’t have a Samsonite DNA, but an association that would give us stronger value from New Balance is known for its design and youth appeal,” comments Popade.

Talking about ‘Live Undefined’, Popade mentions that they invited almost 80 influencers across the fashion, lifestyle, sports, travel, and film fraternity to experience the brand, with filmmaker Karan Johar hosting it. 

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Building a brand experience seems to have helped Samsonite as it saw organic traction from these influencers who posted about the same on social media. 

“Almost 60 of them posted their experience in the initial period of four or five days. It gave humongous reach to us, and we even saw purchases from Tier II towns,” she continues. 

Popade states that the brand invests approximately 30% into its digital efforts while 70% goes into traditional, including OOH, especially when they are working on a holistic campaign twice a year. The other times it goes 100% digital. 

During the first half of 2023, Samsonite International South Asia said net sales in India jumped 38% in India. The numbers come on a high base of the previous year when net sales in India increased 109.1% year-on-year. 

With its marketing efforts spanning 10 years, the brand has managed to communicate the durability of its products through a show-not-tell strategy. One of its campaigns, ‘Tested Like Samsonite’ saw partnerships with personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Mithali Raj and influencers expressing strength and durability through unique stories. 

The campaign was born from extensive research conducted by Centre of Gravity, a strategic consulting partner, to identify its core consumers and develop an insight into what they care about. 

The core segment ended up being the serious travelers who believed in the innovations of Samsonite and bought the product for its durability and reliability, as per Popade.

“We looked at the life scripts of people who have gone through struggles and tests. But the test had to be of the highest level of imaginable circumstances,” she said, referring to struggles the personalities have through, including Mithali Raj paving the way through her journey in the Indian Women’s Cricket Team and Yuvraj Singh beating cancer.  

A parallel campaign with seven to eight influencers showcased real-life stories of strength and durability. If it meant getting choreographer Rukmini Vijayakumar to perform Bharatnatyam on the bag itself, the brand went for it. 

Popade reveals the brand’s strategy behind its marketing communication, “Whatever we are communicating, there has to be a brand truth and a product truth. It has to be authentic, only then will we be able to make that claim to the consumers.”

The campaign has garnered an engagement rate of 63.7% and helped bring close to a million visits to the brand’s website. 

Talking about the mediums that are significant for the brand, Popade asserts, “Before we look at the medium, we don't plan anything for a threshold, but we plan it for the impact. Once we fulfil that objective, we move to the next best medium.”

Aiming for a high impact, the brand advertised at the airports since about 60% of the brand’s market audiences make up business travellers, which is really a crucial cohort for Samsonite.

In collaboration with Rapport Outdoor Advertising and Times OOH, it chose locations at the airport to ensure consistency. An exclusive digital video wall constantly showed the different product campaigns designed by the brand and was placed at the Security holding area entry point as it is the common area for all passengers to proceed at the airport ensuring maximum visibility for the campaign.

The next touch point is the connected TV. “Today connected TVs get very less penetration of maybe 5%. But 100% of the Samsonite audience would be having the connected TV and that's what becomes really important for us.”

It caters to the niche audience through business channels and connected TV – since the consumer cohorts belong to the top 10 metros. 

The brand has also established a viral factor to it. And how does one know that a campaign is viral? When one starts seeing it on WhatsApp groups. 

One such campaign that the brand worked on during the 2019 elections as the team watched out for insights given by travel portals. One insight stated that 91% of the Indian population who are living in the city, away from their native place, don’t go and vote, despite receiving one holiday.

The original video posted on YouTube received two million views and was being shared via WhatsApp.

As the brand has managed to bring impact and virality to its durable messaging, Popade believes that there’s an audience that can buy Samsonite products but isn’t buying. She mentions there’s a huge potential to grow the brand and reach out to this consumer.