Kalyan Jewellers, the retail chain that boasts of celebrity ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is tweaking the way it speaks to millennial consumers. The brand has partnered with regional celebrities such as Marathi movie actor Pooja Sawant, Gujrati actor Kinjal Rajpriya, Punjabi actor Wamiqa Gabbi and Bengali film actor Ritabhari Charkraborty to connect deeply with people seen as style icons by the millennial audience.
“We want to reach out to millennial consumers (below 35 years) who might not be watching television or reading newspapers hence we are not able to reach them through mainstream advertising. I feel regional influencers who are active on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are the best way to target millennial consumers. Digital also allows us to hypertarget in local languages," said Ramesh Kalyanaraman, executive director, Kalyan Jewellers.
The brand is leveraging the popularity of these young celebrities to create multiple campaigns in local languages across multimedia formats, including videos, GIFs, still shots and social media posts. Kalyan said it has earmarked 15% of its overall marketing budgets only to connect with the millennial consumer, especially ahead of the upcoming festive season.
“Kalyan is a hyperlocal brand where we customize our designs and styles according to the demands of the markets. We have plans to increase our footprint in these markets. We want to use a local face from these states to create customised campaigns around local festivals," added Kalyanaraman.
Kalyan completed 25 years of operation in India last year, having opened its first store at Thrissur in Kerala in 1993. It currently operates 137 showrooms globally across the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman out of which 103 are in the country. Growing at a compound annual rate of over 10% since FY15, the jewellery chain’s revenue stood at ₹10,580 crore in FY18. Under the Kalyan brand, the retailer runs multiple pure gold as well as diamond jewellery sub-brands catering to occasion-specific buys such as weddings.
“We are currently present in 16 states of the country. We want to increase the number of stores across metro markets while investing heavily in four key states, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and West Bengal, which are expected to drive growth for us in the future," said Kalyanaraman.
