Festivals are the Same, but Festivities are Changing: Adapting to Consumer Behaviour Shifts
By LS DigitalOctober 2, 2024
Festivals are the Same, but Festivities are Changing: Adapting to Consumer Behaviour Shifts
Executive Summary:
As consumer behaviour shifts—especially during festival seasons—the traditional, social celebrations are evolving into more individualistic, digital-first experiences. This shift presents unique challenges and opportunities for brands. In this session of “DBT: Lead the Change”, marketing leaders discussed how brands can adapt to these changes to stay relevant and impactful.
The session explored how consumer shopping patterns and engagement with festivals have evolved in recent years. As digital platforms, social media, and influencers increasingly shape new-age festivities, marketers must rethink their strategies. The conversation centred around how brands can use data to personalize offerings, adapt their creative messaging, and leverage technology like AI to enhance consumer engagement during festivals.
Questions Addressed:
- Changing Consumer Behaviour: How have shopping patterns and festival engagements evolved in recent years? What cultural shifts are driving these changes?
- Digital Influence: What role do social media, influencers, and e-commerce platforms play in shaping new-age festivities?
- Leveraging Technology: How can AI, data analytics, and technology help brands understand consumer behaviour and personalize festive campaigns effectively?
- Future of Festivities: How might consumer behaviour and marketing strategies change in the coming years? What trends should marketers watch out for?
Attendees:
- Alok Agarwal: CMO- Orient Bell
- Ashish Tiwari: CMO- Home Credit India
- Manish Guptaa: Director, Digital & Technology- Yum! Brands
- Vanda Ferrao: CMO- WOW Skin Science
Prasad Shejale: Founder & CEO, LS Digital Group (Moderator)
Excerpts:
Festivals have long been synonymous with consumer indulgence and spending in India. However, the dynamics around how consumers celebrate and spend during these times have evolved significantly over the years. In a recent discussion featuring industry experts, the conversation cantered around how festivals impact consumer behaviour, uncovering unique insights into shifting market trends and the strategies that brands employ to navigate this evolving landscape.
Festivals: A Unique Buying Occasion for Every Brand
Alok from Orient Bell, a key voice in the industry, and a seasoned marketer, opened the discussion by highlighting the variance in consumer behaviour across industries and brands. He emphasized that what constitutes a festival varies widely depending on the industry. “For retail consumers or B2B customers, like real estate companies, there is no specific festival. They buy tiles uniformly around the year. But for the garment contractor, the year-end is a massive festival. That’s when they really look at closing contracts, utilizing budgets, and finishing their financial allocations,” he explained.
To further illustrate this point, Alok shared his experience working with one of the FMCG company. “For this particular FMCG brand, the sales of their milk-based kid’s health drink spiked was during Chhath Pooja in Bihar. People bought this health drink discontinuously for the entire family, unlike during Diwali or Christmas. The spike for Chhath Pooja occurred because it was customary for families to buy a 2-kilogram pack of this health drink. It’s a festival unique to the region and an example of how each brand can define its own festival based on consumer behaviour.”
“For a particular kids health drink brand, the sales spike was during Chhath Pooja in Bihar. People bought it for the entire family, unlike during Diwali or Christmas. Every brand can define its own festival.” -Alok Agarwal
He also drew attention to the versatility of online marketplaces. “If you are a generalist or a marketplace, festivals can be almost any occasion. The 15th of August can be a festival when you have sales, or any other day that can drive traffic and consumption.”
Cultural Festivals as a Gateway to Indulgence
Vanda from Wow Skin Science, an expert in beauty and consumer care, highlights the cultural factors influencing festival consumer behaviour,“Festivals are always an opportune time to sell these products, but I want to take a step back. We as Indians have a lot of cultural barriers,” she noted. “We have always been austere as a society. Manusmriti, our ancient text, highlights festivals as moments that give us the license to indulge. It is why at Durga Puja, Diwali, or other festivals, people allow themselves to buy special meals, new clothes, and gifts.”
Vanda explained how festivals are ingrained into Indian culture as occasions to let go, celebrate, and enjoy life with friends and family. “In festivals like Bihu, Pongal, or Vaisakhi, people have money from the harvest, and they go out there to buy. So, these occasions are tied up with consumption, allowing people to open their pockets,” she added.
“Festivals are our occasions to get the license to indulge. As marketers, we need to understand these cultural underpinnings and create consumption moments throughout the year.” -Vanda Ferrao
However, she pointed out that brands now leverage these moments in diverse ways to ensure sales are not confined to one period. “Marketers have gone out and created consumption occasions through the year to balance sales. For instance, Mr. Kishore Biyani of Big Bazaar introduced shopping events on the 15th of August and the 26th of January, turning these national holidays into major shopping occasions,” Vanda remarked. “E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart soon followed suit, transforming festivals into multi-month sales seasons.”
Festivals and Food: The Changing Landscape
Manish from Yum! Brands, with his extensive experience in the food industry, provides insights into how cultural nuances impact the food industry during festivals. He pointed out a shift in consumer behaviour patterns: “It’s surprising how cultural ethos are changing in India. Take Shraadh, for example, it used to be a period when people refrained from making big purchases. However, in recent years, we have noticed no significant drop in food consumption during this period,” he shared.
He further elaborated on how Ganapati celebrations have impacted food sales, especially in Northern India. “Earlier, Ganapati was predominantly celebrated in the West, where we would see a spike in food sales. But now, cosmopolitan areas in Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, and Kolkata celebrate Ganapati on a larger scale. This has led to a drop in food sales in these regions, indicating that people may prefer traditional cuisines during these festivities rather than opting for Western or fast foods.”
“The cultural ethos is changing. Now, in cities like Noida and Gurgaon, Ganapati celebrations affect food sales, indicating a preference for traditional cuisines during these festivities.” –Manish Guptaa
Manish also discussed the influence of holidays and long weekends on food consumption patterns. “Whenever there are long weekends, our sales in Bangalore drop, while in Delhi, they rise. Bangalore has more young, double-income professionals who prefer to go out, whereas Delhi’s family audience stays in, leading to increased sales.” He emphasized the geographical nuances, stating, “These cultural shifts, even within regions, show that festivals now involve more than just religious observance; they are moments of community and indulgence.”
Media, Movies, and the Creation of New Traditions
Ashish from Home Credit India, with his deep industry expertise, discussed the power of media in shaping and even creating new festival trends. “What we see is what we emulate,” he explained. “Look at how Karwa Chauth became a nationwide festival after it was popularized in Bollywood films like ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Previously, it was a niche festival celebrated mainly in Northern India. Now, it’s a phenomenon with ‘Karwa Chauth Thalis’ being marketed by various food brands.”
“What we see is what we emulate. Media can create new cultural norms, like how ‘Karwa Chauth’ turned into a national festival after being featured in Bollywood.” -Ashish Tiwari
He continued, “Marketers have seized these moments to turn cultural trends into commercial opportunities. Another example is the emergence of Santoshi Ma, a Goddess who was relatively unknown until the film ‘Jai Santoshi Ma’ came out. Now, the Goddess is widely worshipped, and specific rituals like not eating sour food on Fridays have become ingrained in people’s behaviours.”
Technology: The New Age Enabler
The conversation then moved to the role of technology in marketing during festivals. Alok emphasized its significance in understanding consumer insights and optimizing marketing strategies. “Technology is everywhere,” he said. “I use tools like Notebook LM for brainstorming and creating brand propositions within minutes. It gives my team superpowers to stand out and deliver phenomenal work. From static creatives to video content, everything is now tech-enabled.”
Vanda added to this point, discussing how technology enables brands to be efficient at scale. “Tech allows us to cohort audiences and tailor campaigns in real-time. For example, during traditional festivals like Durga Puja, technology helps us isolate the metro audiences where consumption is higher. With AI, we can quickly create multiple renditions of creatives for different products, boosting our campaign efficiency.”
Manish chimed in with his experience in using advanced analytics. “Platforms today provide online user panels to help us understand consumers’ purchasing behaviours, giving us insight into our share of wallet. Tools that crawl open platforms for data allow us to monitor consumer trends and market shares, supplementing traditional audits like those by Nielsen and GFK,” he explained. “For marketers, being on the lookout for these tools is crucial.”
Navigating Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies
When Prasad asked the panellists to share their short-term and long-term strategies, Vanda offered valuable advice: “Creating a festival and generating traffic requires significant investment. Smaller brands should latch onto pre-existing festivals where consumer intent is already high. However, start your sales campaigns a few days before the main festival when competition for keywords is not as fierce, or right after the festival to take advantage of the post-lull market.”
Alok supported this approach, sharing, “In one of the online marketplace platforms where I was earlier, we used to start building for the next Diwali one month after the current one. This way, we managed CPM inflation during peak festive seasons and ensured our SEO and keywords were optimized in advance.”
Manish cautioned against trying to create demand during periods that are traditionally considered inauspicious, like Shraadh. “Changing behaviour during such times requires a massive investment. It’s wiser to ride the highs of established festive moments, even if it means competing for high CPMs,” he advised. “Focus on identifying occasions that align with your category, like how Mother’s Day has now become a more significant sales day for us than even New Year or Diwali.”
The Evolving Face of Festivals
In conclusion, the panellists agreed that festivals are no longer confined to religious or cultural observances. They have evolved into dynamic occasions that brands use to drive consumer engagement, influenced by changing behaviours, media narratives, and technological advancements. As Alok aptly put it, “The key for marketers is to find the intersection between the consumer’s needs and your brand’s identity. Understand the consumer first, and everything else will follow as an enabler.”
The discussion highlighted that the modern festival experience is now about community, commerce, and connection. For brands, staying agile, adapting to shifting consumer behaviours, and leveraging technology are essential to creating moments of indulgence that resonate with their audience.
Ultimately, festivals have become multi-dimensional experiences, blending tradition with modern consumerism. For marketers, the task is to identify these evolving patterns and use technology to engage consumers in meaningful ways.
About DBT: Lead The Change
In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying ahead of the curve is not just a competitive advantage—it is a necessity. The “DBT: Lead The Change” series, a fortnightly discussion session moderated by Prasad Shejale, Founder and CEO of LS Digital, is a novel initiative designed to equip industry professionals with the insights and strategies needed to thrive in this ever-evolving landscape. As a by-invite, closed-door virtual session, it brings together a curated group of industry leaders and thought leaders to tackle the most pressing business challenges head-on.
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