There is one time in the whole year that everyone looks forward to. Kids, adults, working professionals, business owners, and everyone in India eagerly wait for the festive season! Tis the time of year when people come together to celebrate happiness and joy but what does this mean for FMCG brands that want to capture hearts through their offerings? 

Right from September stretching up to the new year, the festive season is the perfect time for brands to acquire and sell to a huge pool of customers. People exchange gifts, sweets, chocolates, and fancy gift baskets, with one another at this time and so it becomes a crucial time for them to market and brand their products to the right audience. Today, competition is increasing and marketers or brand managers are coming up with innovative ways to brand and market their products. Every brand owner wants that his brand reaches the maximum number of people. 

The Story of Kapil, Brand Manager – Vondelez Chocolates

Kapil Sharma the Brand Manager of Vondelez was going through a similar situation. Kapil knew that the festive season was just around the corner and this means he needed to chalk out an intricate branding plan so his spending and budget can be used optimally and he can increase the presence and reach of his brand.

Kapil wanted to conduct marketing activities like placing billboards, running ad campaigns, putting up store banners, distributing in-store displays, etc. with his primary goal being to increase his reach. But his biggest question was where should he do it? 

He knew that to start capturing the attention of his customers his tools were billboards, flyers, in-store signages, etc. But he was unclear about the locations or stores where he should start his marketing activities. 

With the given budget and limited tools, his aim was to reach a wider audience by taking a targeted approach. He also knew that understanding consumer behavior could make a significant difference in the decisions he takes with regard to his plan. What can tip the scales for Vondelez and Kapil?

Vondelez Knocking the Doors of Data

A huge potential that often gets overlooked is the power data holds in boosting marketing activities. Beyond Kapil’s question what he primarily wanted to do was

• Understand the demand for chocolates in multiple areas
• Identify potential sales locations and locations for marketing

Understanding this would help him identify the locations where should market and brand his products to get maximum eyeballs. Once he understands these three points, he will be able to market his chocolates optimally, without wasting any resources. 

What came to his surprise was that these answers can be easily gained with the help of data. We have two scenarios:

In the first scenario, imagine Kapil using his allocated budget to brand his products using a billboard in metropolitan cities as most people that are interested in eating chocolates stay there. He could plan on placing 10 billboards beside a highway from which a lot of people travel. Do you think this would give him an edge over his competitors? This sounds like a traditional approach. 

On the other hand, imagine Kapil utilizing his internal data to understand where his customers are, and pair it with demographic data of these locations, and location data to understand the footfall of the location, its market concentration, affluence, etc. 

Wouldn’t he have a better picture of how many people will see the billboard? Or wouldn’t he have a better understanding of where his billboard should be placed in the first place?

Data can help Kapil in understanding the optimal locations for marketing. With the help of location attributes like the footfall of a region, school count, office count, and affluence of the area, we can draw insights into how will marketing and branding chocolates in any specific location will perform. For example, if a pin code/ area has a good number of educational hubs and has a high average day-time traffic, billboards or in-store displays in these areas should work. 

Time for Insight-Driven Marketing this Festive Season

At a time when every brand will be coming up with innovative ideas and allocating huge budgets to attract maximum customers, a little data sprinkle helped tip the scale in Kapil’s favor. 

Data helped in making a more accurate and targeted marketing plan. It also identified any gaps in his marketing efforts and put the places that are performing well on the center stage. This way Kapil didn’t need to blindly allocate his budget, in turn, he strategically knew where he needs to spend how much. 

Marketing and branding on billboards, in-store signages, brochures, etc. have been going on for ages but data acts like a catalyst to make the process accurate. This is important as the number of billboards or other branding collaterals has also increased. It has become extremely hard to stand out in this noise. 

Here’s another scenario; Picture your marketing strategy as a brilliant brush, ready to paint a masterpiece on your consumer’s canvas. Data acts as a vibrant palette, adding the perfect blend of colors to bring your strategy to life with stunning precision.

Want to know how can you dip your brush into data to paint your canvas with colors of success? Book a demo with team Data Sutram.