Storyboard18 | How well do festive ads really work?

More than half of urban Indians (58%) surveyed by YouGov said that the ability to physically experience products is the main reason they shop from stores.

It is that time of the year when brands push their marketing engines to full-throttle and light up our screens with ads. During the ‘fifth quarter’, an informal name given to the great Indian festive season, marketers have to make a big bang. But what do consumers really think of festive advertising?

Read more: Storyboard18 | How media agencies are preparing to make the Fifth Quarter golden

Close to half of urban Indians (45%) surveyed by global market research and data company YouGov said that festive ads help them choose what to buy. YouGov’s report, which was exclusively shared with Storyboard18, also showed that more than a third (36%) felt bombarded by festive ads but found them interesting; and 19% said that festive ads are a waste of time.

The data was collected online by YouGov Omnibus between October 12-18, 2021. Just over 1,500 people out of YouGov’s panel of more than 15 million people worldwide participated. The data is representative of the adult online population in India.

Also read: 51% of urban Indians say festival season is a good time to invest in property

Among these urban Indians, 49% of Gen X said that festive ads help them choose what to buy as compared to 45% millennials and 41% Gen Z.

In the past two weeks, festive ads have had the highest recall for categories such as clothes and shoes (59%), followed by gadgets (53%), fashion accessories (45%) and appliances (42%). The lowest recall was recorded for packaged food and snacks (31%) and furniture (27%).

Deepa Bhatia, general manager, YouGov India, said, “Brands should concentrate on building resonance for their categories and gently nudging consumers to indulge."

Split along gender lines, females have a higher recall for clothes and shoes (62% compared with 57% for men) and fashion accessories (49% vs 41%) whereas men are more likely to say they recall seeing festive ads for gadgets (56% vs 50%) and appliances (45% vs 39% for women).

According to Bhatia,  37% of consumers are planning on spending less than they did pre-pandemic. "This shows they are still being cautious," she said. Keeping the post-pandemic sentiment in mind, "advertising will need to convince Indians of the need to spend, and allow them to feel a sense of safety and certainty”.

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Looking specifically at the shopping behaviour of urban Indians, YouGov observed that brick-and-mortar penetration levels are higher for every category apart from gadgets, fashion accessories and clothes and shoes.

The largest gap is seen in gadgets, where penetration is 17 points higher online than in brick-and-mortar channels (40% vs 23%), showing a positive sign for online electronic retailers in the country.

When asked about factors that motivate consumers to buy online, ease of shopping and offers and discounts (58% each) emerged as the top reasons cited by urban Indians. Most urban Indians claim the convenience of online shopping (57%), the ability to avoid crowded places (55%) and the variety of products (55%) are also top motivators for them to shop online.

On the other hand, when it comes to stores, the ability to physically experience products was stated as the top reason to shop from stores, with more than half of urban Indians (58%) saying this.

Ease of purchase (42%), ease of return and refund (42%) and the ability to try out things in stores (41%) are other top reasons to shop from brick-and-mortar stores. About two in five (41%) said they trust physical stores more than online and this is their main reason for purchasing things offline.