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After a buoyant 2021 driven largely by revenge spending, the stage is set for this year’s festive season which has already kickstarted with Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. Brands across categories have started rolling out their festive marketing campaigns, offers and promotions as consumer sentiment remains positive.

Advertising industry executives estimate that there will be a 15 to 20 percent jump in festive advertising spends over 2021. This will largely be driven by television, print and digital platforms.

“Typically second half of the year (H2) is much larger than H1 owing to the festive season that brings in a lot of media money. This year we expect it to be over 20 percent. Fashion, FMCG, automobile and e-commerce categories to drive these spends. There is also certainty among consumers about jobs and the economy which is going to drive purchases,” says a senior media buyer on the condition of anonymity.

Harsha Razdan, partner and head, consumer markets and internet business, KPMG India notes that the festive season will definitely be similar to last year and better than 2020 as well as 2019 in terms of consumer spending. 

"I’m yet to analyse the data because 2021 was all about revenge spending having come out of 2020. I’m not sure whether like-to-like is going to be more. It will be interesting to see data from categories such as apparel and electronics,” he notes.

Upbeat consumer sentiment

Almost everything is open now and people have started going out, meeting friends and family, attending functions and celebrating festivals. This would obviously lead to an upswing in the demand for multiple categories including fashion.

TCNS Clothing Co. Ltd, which sells women's apparels and accessories under two brands W and Aurelia, says that it has mounted two big festive campaigns. For W, the campaign ‘Be the Same or Be W’ and Aurelia’s ‘Be Compliment Ready’ featuring Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt respectively, showcases the brand’s 2022 festive collection. 

Noting that the retail business is back just like the pre-Covid days, Puneet Sewra, chief marketing officer, TCNS Clothing Co. Ltd says that the company is witnessing a spike in sales at both offline and online channels.

“We are expecting this festive season to be a big one. We are already seeing a surge in the east market where the festivities of Durga Puja have begun, and with other festivities around the corner, a similar trend is expected across other regions too,” he notes.

Sewra says that the company has planned a big 360 degree campaign around both the brands with strategic interventions across all consumer touch points.

“Keeping the audience in mind, the campaigns are digital-first with social media, influencers, OTT leading the plan and cinema, print, OOH and retail creating surround to amplify the reach,” he adds.

Offers, new launches planned

Beauty and wellness e-commerce platform, Nykaa is gearing up to roll out a host of shopping experiences and campaigns starting with Navratri, Diwali, and its annual flagship event 'Pink Friday'. On Nykaa Fashion, the company is set to launch new brands and updated curations with the ‘A Million Nakhras’ campaign. 

“We're set to offer shoppers the biggest and most relevant assortment in beauty, fashion, and home, with new and exciting launches. In beauty, categories such as skincare, makeup, hair care, bath and body, and fragrances are expected to be in the spotlight. And in fashion, occasion-wear, party couture, accessories, home decor, and gifting options are expected to be driving the buzz,” says a Nykaa spokesperson.

“Nykaa's Hot Pink Sale, from earlier this year, is a good indicator of the shifting consumer sentiment, where we observed a very positive response to the event with categories like makeup witnessing close to a seven-fold jump,” the spokesperson adds.

Pullbacks by certain categories

While the consumer sentiment seems high, experts also talk about negative global cues and pull backs which cannot be ignored.

Jai Lala, CEO, Zenith, a media agency owned by Publicis Worldwide says that there are pull backs which are happening on two fronts. 

According to him there are certain inflationary measures which are happening with commodity pricing etc going up and that is impacting the FMCG players who are seeing a ripple effect of that. This is holding them from spending the kind of money we expected they’d spend around the season.

"Secondly, a lot of VC funding has been restricted. Unlike the beginning of the year or the last year where we saw a lot of new companies putting in a lot of money on advertising and celebrities, we are seeing a little pullback. So, coming back to the festive season, there will definitely be growth in spending if we compare it to the previous months but my personal prediction is that we won't see a boom like last year. However, there is no denying that brands especially in some categories like automobiles who have launches lined up during the season will be spending on impact,” he concludes.

With inputs from Tasmayee Laha Roy

Will the festive season continue to ride on the revenge spending wave of 2021?

Vishal Gupta

Previous: Vice President - Beauty and Personal Care, Unilever Russia

Present: EVP - Consumer Beauty Brands, FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd (NYKAA)

FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd (NYKAA) appointed Vishal Gupta as executive vice president for its consumer beauty brands. With nearly three decades of experience in the FMCG space, Gupta joins Nykaa after a long tenure at Unilever globally where he led large-scale, award-winning campaigns and teams. In his last role at Unilever Russia, Gupta helmed the beauty and personal care business comprising a large portfolio of international and local brands including Lux, Surf Excel, Wheel and Sunlight. Gupta will now steward Nykaa’s transformative growth across its portfolio of owned consumer brands. Gupta’s appointment comes just a day after Nykaa announced the resignation of Reena Chhapra, CEO of its private label division. Recently, the company also confirmed the acquisition of lifestyle platform LBB.

Reena Chhabra

Previous: CEO - Private Label, Nykaa

Present: Not known

Reena Chhabra, who had served as the chief executive officer of e-commerce beauty company Nykaa's beauty private label has decided to move on. Her resignation will come into effect on August 16. During her six year stint at Nykaa, she helped take the private label to more households, introduced new product lines and expanded distribution. Chhabra has over two decades of experience and has worked across companies like Kodak, Kaya Skin Care, Unilever and Colorbar USA.

Ashish Tiwari

Previous: Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, Future Generali

Present: CMO, Home Credit

Ashish Tiwari, who served as the chief marketing and digital officer at Future Generali has put in his papers and is set to join consumer finance provider Home Credit as its CMO. With over two decades of experience under his belt, Tiwari is a seasoned marketer who has held positions at companies like HCL Infosystems, Vodafone, and JACPL etc.

Vineet Nair

Previous: Vice President - Mindshare

Present: Head of Media - Amazon India

Amazon India appointed Vineet Nair as the head of media. Previously, Nair was the vice president of GroupM’s Mindshare where he headed the client leadership and planning vertical for Mindshare Fulcrum. Nair has also been a part of organisations like Lodestar Universal and Amazon. At the e-commerce platform, he led the media planning and buying, and handled long term media strategy. Further, he looked after the day-to-day deployment for Amazon.in and new engagement platforms like Prime (video and retail), digital payment solutions, fashion and grocery.

Rajesh Ghatge

Previous: Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe

Present: CEO, Wondrlab Technologies

Wondrlab Technologies appointed Rajesh Ghatge as the chief executive officer. Wondrlab India, a martech startup, launched Wondrlab Technologies to help clients transform their businesses and brands in the dynamically evolving industry 4.0 digital landscape. Ghatge has held senior positions at Amul, Lamb Weston, Bates CHI &amp; Sercon, iCare Life, Indigo Consulting etc. In April, Wondrlab acquired a data-driven influencer marketing platform Opportune. Through this acquisition, the company has added influencer marketing solutions to its network.

Ganapathy Balagopalan

Previous: Head Of Strategic Planning, Ogilvy West and East

Present: Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy India

Ogilvy India has promoted Ganapathy Balagopalan to the position of deputy chief strategy officer where he will partner some of the agency’s key clients. Further, he will be the national effectiveness leader and help teams across markets. Ganapathy will also partner account management and creative leaders to drive digital excellence.

Abhinav Kaushik

Previous: Executive Vice President &amp; Head of Office, Dentsu

Present: President, FCB India

FCB Ulka appointed Abhinav Kaushik to the position of president. Armed with more than two decades of experience, Kaushik started his career as an area sales manager at GE Capital. Then he moved to Contract Advertising and worked as an account manager. At M&amp;C Saatchi, he was the account director, and from there he moved to J.Walter Thompson and was the vice president and client services director. At Dentsu, headed the Delhi and Mumbai offices of Taproot Dentsu and Dentsu One. His work experience spans across multiple categories from FMCG, telecom and consumer electronics to auto, education, finance and fashion.

Pratik Mukkherjee

Previous: Head Of Marketing, Infra.Market

Present: Vice President - Brand Factory, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd

House of Brands for beauty and personal care Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd appointed Pratik Mukkherjee as the vice president of the brand factory. In his new role, he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands businesses for the company. With 15 years of experience, Mukkherjee is a Cannes Lions-award winning commercial leader and his experience spans across consumer goods, technology and consumer internet sectors. At Procter &amp; Gamble, he started his career as the assistant country manager for Gillette India. He was promoted as the DTC head for the Indian and the South Asian region. From there, he moved to Urban Company where he was the marketing head of the beauty, men's grooming, and professional cleaning segment.

Jyoti Mahendru

Previous: Executive Vice President Human Resources, McCann Worldgroup

Present: Chief People Officer, Wunderman Thompson

Wunderman Thompson appointed Jyoti Mahendru as the chief people officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for talent development and talent acquisition strategies across the organisation and its group companies. Mahendru had started her career with Tata Press two decades ago. Then she moved to Star TV Network where she worked as the senior manager in the HR department. She then joined Barista Coffee Company and held the position of the vice president of HR.

Rohin Desai

Previous: Head - Trading and Partnerships, Mindshare Fulcrum

Present: National Media Buying Head, Bharat Media Group

Rohin Desai joined Bharat Media Group as the national media buying head. Desai had started his career with Godrej as the field officer. Then he joined the Media Edge as a media buyer and moved to Wavemaker as a business manager. At Lintas Media Group, he was the media director and later served as senior manager of media and planning at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. At Mindshare and at Madison Communications, he was partner, and vice president of media buying. In the latter position at Madison, he headed media investments nationally for ITC.

Cherryn Dogra

Previous: Head of Marketing, India Leadership Team, Emaar India

Present: Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Land

Bharti Land appointed Cherryn Dogra as the chief marketing officer. Armed with 17 years of experience, Dogra has held positions across organisations like United Breweries Ltd, Pernod Ricard India, Lodha Group, Xanadu etc. Prior to joining Emaar India, she was the head of marketing at DLF Limited.

Saurabh Bajaj

Previous: Head of Marketing - Dairy, Britannia Industries

Present: Not known

Saurabh Bajaj, who had served as the head of marketing of the dairy segment at Britannia Industries has decided to move on. During his stint, he was responsible for the marketing strategy, activations and media for the Rs 450-crore dairy portfolio. The portfolio included Britannia cheese, ghee, dahi, dairy whitener and Winkin Cow milk shakes. Prior to this role, at Britannia Industries, Bajaj was the marketing head and looked after the international business. He was responsible for marketing Britannia's international business of Rs 700 crore. For a decade, he was associated with Mondelez International, and his last position there was as the branch sales manager. Before joining Britannia Industries, Bajaj headed innovation for the premium and luxury segment at USL - Diageo.

Abhishek Bhatia

Previous: Head ECC Marketing Max Mudra, DDB Mudra Group

Present: Vice President - Marketing, Hindustan Wellness

Hindustan Wellness has appointed Abhishek Bhatia as the vice president of marketing. He started his career as a sales officer at Coffee Day Group. He’s had stints at Ogilvy, Bates CHI&amp;Partners, Percept Ltd, Telenor, GroupM and Impact Communications.

Fatima Qidwai

Previous: Marketing Professional, Future Group India

Present: Head of Digital Marketing, SMART Stores, Reliance Retail

SMART Stores, which is a part of Reliance Retail has appointed Fatima Qidwai as the head of digital marketing. Qidwai Started her career with Future Group India as senior executive store operations, and at Future Value Retail as the assistant manager marketing. She then moved to Reliance Retail as the chief marketing manager and at Shoppers Stop she worked as the deputy general manager of the marketing department.

Snigdha Anand

Previous: Senior Brand Manager, Surf Excel

Present: Vice President - Marketing, Mamaearth

Mamaearth appointed Snigdha Anand as the vice president of marketing. At Unilever, she led purpose-led communication development for water-saving products in home care. Anand has also worked at Unilever Sri Lanka. She’s been an area sales manager and national projects lead of sales strategy and analytics, and later was brand manager of Surf Excel.

Sagar Sharma

Previous: Senior Manager, Strategic Portfolio Management, APAC, GSK Consumer Healthcare India

Present: Director of Business Strategy, The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company appointed Sagar Sharma as the director of business strategy. Sharma has had stints at Aricent and Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting. He worked at GSK Consumer Healthcare India for a decade.

Pratik Adhikari, Parijaat Sehgal and Swati Agnihotri

Previous: Brand Director, Lowe Lintas; Associate Account Director, Innocean Worldwide India; Management Supervisor, Ogilvy

Present: Associate Vice President, Account Management; Associate Vice President and head - account management; Client Servicing Director

Advertising agency Enormous Brands strengthened its leadership team by roping in Pratik Adhikari, Parijaat Sehgal and Swati Agnihotri. Adhikari and Swhgal were both appointed as the associate vice president of the account management. Agnihotri was appointed as the client servicing director. Adhikari, who has an experience of more than a decade started his career with Ogilvy and worked with Leo Burnett and Hakuhodo Percept Pvt. Ltd. Sehgal has been a part of agencies like Adept ARTvertising, McCann Worldgroup and Ogilvy &amp; Mather. Agnihotri worked at Marico, DDB Mudra Group, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Jay Morzaria

Previous: Creative Associate, Spring Marketing Capital

Present: Creative director, Oktobuzz

A few months after joining Spring Marketing Capital, Jay Morzaria quit the company to join OktoBuzz as creative director. Morzaria has worked at Schbang, The Glitch, Wavemaker and ^atom network in the past. At Schbang he was the creative head handling Pidilite's Fevicol brand.

Pranesh Urs

Previous: Director - Marketing, Samsung Electronics

Present: Not known

Pranesh Urs, who served as the director of the marketing department at Samsung Electronics has decided to move on. Announcing his departure from the organisation, he said, “These 6 years have been an incredible journey. Happy to have contributed to the growth of the brand, and to see where it is today despite a very competitive category. Now, onto exploring new possibilities.”Urs started his career at Ashok Leyland. He had stints on the agency side with Bates CHI&amp;Partners and DDB Mudra Group. He moved to HP Inc where he was the country marketing manager of laptops and tablets. His expertise spans across marketing management, digital strategy, direct marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing, integrated marketing and advertising.

Govind Agarwal, Sulagna Chanda, Neha Gupta

Previous: Associate Vice President – Client Services, Publicis Groupe; Associate Director, Plum Insights &amp; Strategy; Client Servicing Director, Hakuhodo Lync Pvt. Ltd.

Creative arm of Havas Media Group, Havas Worldwide has appointed Govind Agarwal, Sulagna Chanda and Neha Gupta as the vice president of account management, vice president of strategic planning and associate vice president of client servicing, respectively.

Ashish Golwalkar

Previous: Content Head, SET (Sony Entertainment Television) and SonyLiv

Present: Not known

As per reports, Ashish Golwalkar, who was the content head of Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLiv, has decided to move on from the company. Golwalkar has more than two decades of experience which spans across sales and marketing, content syndication, brand management and content creation. He has held positions in companies like Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and Star TV Network etc. Three weeks ago, SET had appointed Rachin Khanijo as the marketing head.

Reuben Karkaria

Previous: Creative Head, The Good Creator Co

Present: Group Creative Director, MullenLowe Lintas Group

MullenLowe Lintas recently appointed Reuben Karkaria as the group creative head. Karkaria’s expertise lies across digital and mainline advertising, copywriting, and creative strategy. He has been a part of agencies and media houses like Leo Burnett India and Miss Malini.

Manoj Jacob

Previous: BBDO Bangalore

Present: Executive Creative Director, Crayons

Digital marketing agency Crayons roped in Manoj Jacob as the executive creative director. Jacob has worked in agencies like Ogilvy, DDB Mudra, Soho Square, Havas and Contract Advertising. At BBDO, Jacob helped set up the creative team from scratch and oversaw the creative work for Mercedes-Benz TeamX.

Vishal Chopra

Previous: Senior Director and Head of Growth Marketing, Freshworks

Present: Chief Growth Officer, Hiver

Software company Hiver has appointed Vishal Chopra as the chief growth officer. Chopra has been a part of organisations like IBM where he was the global marketing lead and he led the marketing strategy and planning for GBS’s MobileFirst portfolio globally. At Freshworks, he looked after the strategy and programs to acquire new customers, expand into the current base and retain the accounts. Towards the end of July, Freshworks announced an integration with Google’s Business for Freshchat, Freshdesk Omnichannel and Freshsales Suite products.

Udayan Chakravarty

Previous: Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson

Present: ECD, FCB India

Advertising agency FCB Ulka has roped in Udayan Chakravarty as the executive creative director. Chakravarty, who has an experience of more than 15 years, had started his career as a trainee with FCB Ulka. He has gone on to work with agencies like Ogilvy, Dentsu International, JWT Worldwide, Wieden+Kennedy etc. A week ago, FCB India had appointed former Dentsu executive Abhinav Kaushik as the president.

Sudheendra Chokkasamudra

Previous: National Lead - Agency accounts, MyGate

Present: VP - Sales and Strategy, Sense Digital

Advertising and digital marketing solutions provider Sense Digital appointed Sudheendra Chokkasamudra as the vice president of sales and strategy. In his new role, he will be responsible for demand generation and campaign strategy. Having an experience of more than a decade, Chokkasamudra has been a part of organisations like Ohana Media, Ozone Media, Digex Media, LocoBuzz, Firework, ETV Bharat etc. The agency also promoted Ekta Khungar as the vice president, sales - key accounts. Her role would see her boost online revenues for the company's key accounts, develop new business and generate revenue.

Raunaq Singh Kohli

Previous: Marketing Director - India, Tinder

Present: Head of Marketing, Hinge

Dating app Hinge appointed Raunaq Singh Kohli as the head of marketing. This move comes after his six-year stint with Match Group that owns Tinder. In his new role, he will head the launch, setup and growth of Hinge in India. At Match Group, he was marketing director of the India region and aided Tinder’s launch and growth. Recently, Match Group said it would drop Tinder’s plans of adopting newer technologies like virtual currencies and metaverse-based dating. Further, Match Group also acquired members-only dating app The League.

Rohit Gupta

Previous: Chief Revenue Officer - Ad Sales and International Business

Present: Advisor, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI)

Rohit Gupta, who served as the advisor to the management and the board at Sony Pictures Networks India has decided to move on. During his 20 years at SPNI, he was responsible for the organisation’s growth under the different profiles he held. In a recent announcement, SPNI said it has extended its broadcast partnership with England Wales and Cricket Board (ECB) until 2028.

Balachandran V

Previous: National Trading Director, Dentsu Media

Present: Executive Vice President, Havas Media Group

Havas Media Group appointed Balachandran V as the executive vice president. Having an experience of 25 years, Balachandran has worked across agencies like Mindshare and has worked as an investment director with MPG. Recently, the company launched a sports, entertainment and culture based agency called Cake in India. Further, it won the integrated media mandate of millet-based food children’s brand Slurrp Farm, and expanded its footprint in Eastern India by tying up with Kolkata based digital marketing agency ‘Quite Easily Done’.

Ferzad Variyava

Previous: Group Creative Director, FCB Interface

Present: CCO, Langoor

Digital marketing agency Langoor has appointed Ferzad Variyava as the chief creative officer. In his new role, Variyava will drive brand strategy and creative thinking upstream. He will also help to coordinate brand creativity with technology, data and web 3.0 as part of the digital marketing transformation process. Armed with an experience of more than two decades, Variyava has worked in agencies like Publicis India, McCann Erickson India, Leo Burnett, Fortune Communications Pvt. Ltd, JWT, DDB Mudra Group, Famous Innovations etc. In June, Langoor exited Havas Group within three years of acquisition by the media company. Also, in the same month, the agency brought Vinay Rao on board as the head of client success where his mandate would be to head digital strategy and digital transformation on key accounts. And, gaming and esports agency Power League Gaming---based in Dubai—named Langoor as its digital, creative and strategic agency partner.

Titus Upputuru

Previous: National Creative director, Taproot Dentsu

Present: Founder, Titus Upputuru Company

Writer, director, lyricist and former national creative director of Taproot Dentsu, Titus Upputuru launched his own advertising and films firm – The Titus Upputuru Company. The company will create content for brands and audiences across platforms where along with offering brand strategy and static creative solutions across mediums and platforms, the company will offer their expertise in video also. Upputuru, who has more than 25 years of experience, has been a part of agencies like Ogilvy &amp; Mather, Publicis, TBWA and Dentsu.

Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy

CXO Moves: Nykaa ropes in Unilever exec as its private label CEO quits

Nykaa has teamed up with global beauty giant The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) to launch an incubation program Beauty&amp;You India "to discover, spotlight, and propel the next generation of Indian beauty brands".

The Indian beauty and fashion ecommerce platform Nykaa was founded by Falguni Nayar, a graduate of IIM Ahmedabad and a former investment banker, who turned entrepreneur in 2012, just a few months before turning 50 years old. Nykaa had a blockbuster listing on the bourses on November 10 last year.

The Beauty&amp;You program's stated aim is "to help founders, innovators, and creators grow their businesses holistically by identifying brand goals, achieving scale ambitions, and curating product portfolios that speak to a new generation of consumers in the Indian market".

Indian companies that are in pre-launch and in-market premium beauty segments can participate. Winning participants will get access to ELC and Nykaa relationships and expertise across the beauty ecosystem in order to nurture emerging ideas that address unmet needs in the categories of skin care, makeup, hair care, and fragrance.

The program also provides financial support through a total prize pool up to Rs 4 crore for the most innovative, inspiring, and breakthrough ideas, in addition to mentorship and awareness, and distribution support.

In a company statement, Anchit Nayar, CEO of Beauty for NYKAA e-Commerce, said, the program is "a chance for us to give back to the ecosystem by fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs in the beauty and lifestyle verticals. Beauty&amp;You is an opportunity for us to identify and nurture talented founders to build truly unique consumer brands for the Indian consumer, and potentially for the world.”

Shana Randhava, Vice President, New Incubation Ventures, The Estée Lauder Companies, said the hope is that the program "will be a catalyst for Indian entrepreneurs to fuel their passion, brand, and mission”.

According to an Economic Times report, Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif, who is also the founder of Kay Beauty; celebrity designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Samarth Bedi, the executive director of premium beauty brand Forest Essentials, are among the industry experts who have committed to the program.

Nykaa and Estée Lauder Companies launch incubator for emerging beauty brands in India