Co-branded campaigns, products nudge consumers to start buying cycle

Rajat Wahi, partner, Deloitte India believes that these alliances are happening at a larger scale because the markets have become challenging owing to the pandemic.

"Discretionary spends are down so brands have to find creative ways to woo consumers. Through collaborations, they are finding new avenues for growth and since individual marketing spends have gone such partnerships also help to achieve scale. I expect more such partnerships to happen with players such as Netflix where consumers are spending significant amount of time," he added.

Pepsico India, for instance, has recently partnered with Airtel to offer upto 2 GB of data with the purchase of LAY’S, Kurkure, Uncle Chipps and Doritos packs. The co-branding pact is backed by two key consumer insights -- increased consumption of data and people spending more time at home, leading to increased in-home consumption of food and beverages.

“Value is going to get more important in the times when the economy is stressed. The intent is to combine these to create a proposition that consumer can buy into. We have seen good traction from across the board for the Airtel collaboration," said Dilen Gandhi, senior director and category head – foods, PepsiCo India, speaking at a Mint webinar.

Denim brand Levis has partnered with Royal Enfield to launch a collection that includes jeans and jackets made from “Cordura denim" with a high abrasion resistance that is built to last. They are purposefully designed with features like armour slots for shoulder, elbow, and knee, a 3D pocket with a hidden zipper, high visibility reflective tape meant for bikers.

“Brand collaborations works out best when the brands have some commonality in their personalities, goals, values, or motives," said Sanjeev Mohanty, managing director - South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Levi Strauss & Co.

Apart from products, pandemic has also pushed brands to look at creating advertising campaigns not just to hard sell individual products but motivate consumers to spend and build confidence.

LAY’S Gratitude pack social media campaign collaborated with 40 brands from across the industry for their essential role in providing products & services to customers during lockdown.

Titan's “Let’s Get India Ticking" campaign brought players across industries together to uplift consumer sentiments and kickstart the economy. In the first phase, Titan has collaborated with over 75 brands and companies such as Bata, Voltas, Westside and Okhai, the latter being a handcrafted online apparel brand, among others, to promote the campaign. Titan claimed that it has reached 10 million consumers through this.

“The campaign is category agnostic and is designed to connect with consumers, not as consumers but as people, to nudge them to restart their consumption habits. The power of the idea and the timing of the clarion has worked to making it an industry collective," said Suparna Mitra, chief executive, watches and wearables division, at Titan Company Limited.