Consumer Durable Makers Using Social Media for Festive Campaigns

New Delhi: LG, which is looking at a 35 per cent jump in sales during the festival season, is spending 50 per cent more than last year on marketing and branding.

On being asked whether his company would give prominence to digital platforms in its marketing campaigns, Haier India president Eric Braganza said, "Absolutely, since the world has moved online, we plan to reach our consumers where they actually are."

Whirlpool of India, which is targeting women in the age bracket of 25-44 is also leveraging the digital platform though its main focus would be on TV and Print.

"Our new TV campaign will be uploaded in YouTube and Facebook and our promotional details will also be communicated through social media. However, our main communication medium, because of reach, will be TV and Print," Whirlpool of India vice president-corporate affairs and strategy Asia South Shantanu Dasgupta said.

Whirlpool of India is spending Rs 12 crore during the festive period.

Haier is targeting customers in the age bracket of 20-40 years and is running a combination of offline and online offers.

"The offline offer promises exciting assortment of assured gifts and extended warranty, while the online part of the offer is 'Play Higher, Win Haier' campaign where the consumer will get an opportunity to win jackpot prizes by participating in the online offer on Haier India Facebook page," Mr Braganza said.

It has launched an online campaign utilising Facebook in which consumers get a scratch card on purchase of a Haier product with a unique code. In order to win a prize, customers then have to enter the code on its Facebook page and get a chance to turn the slot and save/lock the highest number according to them.

With festive season around the corner, consumer durable makers such as LG, Panasonic, Whirlpool and Haier are going beyond traditional routes of marketing campaigns by using social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to tap young customers.

Apart from running special campaigns of ATL (above the line) and BTL (below the line) activities such as print, outdoor, shop-front and events, makers are also targeting the 20-40 years age bracket through various social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.

Panasonic, which is incurring over Rs 85 crore on the branding during the festive seasons, aims to spend a significant portion of that on the new media.

"Panasonic is making optimum use of all the available mediums to promote the festive offers and social media is an essential part of it. A significant part of our marketing budget for festive offer is spent on digital promotion," Panasonic India managing director Manish Sharma told PTI.

South Korean maker LG is seeing social media and digital platforms as an important mode for its campaign during the festive period.

"Digital medium will be an important platform for festive campaigns. We always try our best to engage consumers through innovative digital campaigns," LG India head-corporate marketing Sanjay Chitkara said.