Festive gifting for all

Digital campaign promotes Brand Factory's offers but targets audience beyond Bengal for Durga Puja

Taking part in multiple festivals, whether they are celebrated by one’s own community or others, is natural for people in India. And as consumers in a more connected world, such events offer a wider audience for marketers in the retail industry to cater to than earlier. A new advertising campaign by Future Group’s Brand Factory tries to seize this opportunity by presenting Durga Puja as an occasion for exchanging gifts between people from different communities.

The digital advertisement shows a Sikh woman waiting eagerly in anticipation of her parents and relatives to arrive at her home in Kolkata, as her husband banters with her. As her family arrives, she greets them and asks her father for the “Pujo gifts” in front of her in-laws. Her family members pass the buck among themselves to save embarrassment and react to suggest the taxi has already left before they could take out the gifts. The woman’s father-in-law then says it’s they who should gift the visitors.

The campaign, which suggests the inclusive nature of Indian festivals, was aimed to cue the brand’s “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” offer last month-end, and is thus named “Gift Smart”. Roch D’souza, marketing head of Brand Factory, says festivals are no longer celebrated by single communities in India, with everyone wanting to be a part of each and every celebration. Calling it a democratisation of festivals in the country, D’souza adds, “Gifting is an important aspect of Pujo celebration and through lucrative discounts Brand Factory enables its customers to gift generously well within their budgets.”

As a youth-centric brand Brand Factory wants to woo millennials. D’souza points out, “We don’t want to restrict this campaign to the Bengali community. The intention is to influence every individual who takes part in festive celebrations across the country.”

The campaign was conceptualised by Karma, a division of DDB Mudra Group. The agency’s creative partner, Vinayak Nayak, says, “The essence of the campaign was to highlight the fact that consumers can gift smartly with Brand Factory.” As Brand Factory is known for its discounts, the challenge was to entice customers to shop at its stores during this festive season while differentiating it. “We needed to stand apart in terms in communication. So, moving away from only Bengali characters, we decided to spice it up with some northern touch,” he adds. Nayak says the film delivers the message that Brand Factory has made gifting easy and convenient, and it communicates with humour the saving offers during festive seasons.

The ad film was launched digitally with promotion on online entertainment platforms and on the brand’s social media platforms, and the company outlets.

Brand Factory identifies as the largest discount retail chain and claims to be the only brick-and-mortar store in India that provides 20-70 per cent discount 365 days a year. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, the size of India’s apparel market in 2016 was around US$ 137 billion (Rs 8,787 billion), which is expected to touch US$ 226 billion (Rs 14,490 billion) market by 2023. Organised retail has a minuscule percentage of the overall industry, and within this segment Brand Factory faces competition from value fashion formats and online brands.