40% of annual spends in cooking oil category happens in August-November: Subin Sivan

This time of the year marks one of the most crucial periods for businesses, as consumer sentiment is at its highest, with spending patterns reflecting the festive spirit. From offers and discounts to large-scale campaigns and personalized engagement, brands are exploring every avenue to stand out in a highly competitive marketplace. The rise of digital marketing and the increasing role of e-commerce have also intensified the focus on omnichannel strategies, ensuring that consumers are met with consistent messaging across both online and offline platforms.

Adgully’s special annual column, FESTIVE MOOD, delves deep into the intricacies of these marketing activities, offering a holistic perspective on the trends that define this season. From ad spend projections to consumer behavior analyses, the column covers all aspects of the festive landscape. It highlights how brands are planning to position themselves, what marketing strategies are being adopted, and how consumer sentiment is shaping the promotional and communication tactics being deployed.

In this interaction with Adgully, Subin Sivan, Marketing & Commercial Leader, South Asia - Cargill Foods, speaks about his observations on the overall consumer and market sentiment during the festive season this year, what forms the core of Cargill’s festive marketing strategy and campaign strategy, and more.

What forms the core of your festive marketing strategy this year? Could you share any industry-wide insights or upcoming campaigns planned for the festive period that highlight Cargill's approach to engaging these consumers?

Festivals and food are deeply intertwined in India, with each festival having its unique culinary traditions. They are marked by liberal consumption of a variety of food items and calls for higher consumption of edible cooking oil too. The edible cooking oil category sees a swing of 10%+ over the pre festive months. Hence, festivals offer a great opportunity for our brands like Gemini, Rath, Sweekar and Nature Fresh to assert leadership through a bigger share of the visibility and consumption pie.

The onset of Ganesh Chaturthi marks the beginning of the festive season in Maharashtra which is followed by Navratri and Diwali across most parts of the country. It is quite challenging to not only be present in the consumer’s mind but also stand out amid the noise of the competing categories/brands. Given the cultural and emotional significance of festivals, it is extremely important to mindfully integrate the brand into the festive spirit and give a boost to the visibility, brand recall and sales.

What specific marketing strategies is Cargill implementing to effectively tap into consumer preferences in Tier 2 markets during the festive season?

During the festive season, Gemini invests significantly on regional Marathi TV channels to reach out to Tier 2 Cities in Maharashtra.  Digital content penetration and consumption is universal and the numbers in Tier 2 cities are very strong. Therefore, In addition to TV, digital presence on platforms like YouTube and OTT plays an important role to drive incremental reach in the core female TG across the breadth of the state.

This year Cargill also partnered with Colors Marathi for a 4-week collaboration as an associate sponsor with Maharashtra’s most watched non-fiction show Bigg Boss Marathi. The participation allowed the Gemini brand to be consistently visible in the daily show and helped assert the core message of Ranked No. 1 Sunflower Oil in India through the program integration.

Vanaspati sees a strong upsurge in consumption during festive season as it finds strong relevance in the mithais, sweets and other culinary applications. Rath has planned to build brand salience through below-the-line van activation programs in small towns of Uttar Pradesh around Diwali.

What are your observations on the overall consumer and market sentiment during the festive season this year?

The market and consumption sentiment for the edible cooking oil and other categories look favorable with an uptick in consumer spending expected.

What is your marketing/ advertising budget for the festive season in 2024? What percentage increase (or decrease) is it compared to the previous year?

The festive season attracts a disproportionate share of the overall annual spend. Across the category, 40% of the annual spend in the edible cooking oil category happens in the months of August-November every year.

Given the increasing fragmentation of media consumption, how are you allocating festive ad budgets across different platforms?

The festive marketing mix that Cargill brands adopt has an integrated approach to seed strong persuasion towards preference and conversion. While TV continues to be the primary reach builder for Gemini in purchase cycles, it is complemented by digital activation for incremental reach and continued presence. Out of home activations such as billboards, bus shelters help drive brand saliency closer to the markets and point-of-sale visibility helps nudge shoppers towards purchase both in offline and online retail channels.