We are focused on technology-led innovation: Anshuman Chakravarty, Orient Electric

 Orient Electric is backing IoT enabled products to give a seamless experience of technology to its consumers. The company has already launched IoT-enabled fan and air coolers to find acceptance with the tech-savvy, new age Indian consumers. According to Anshuman Chakravarty, Chief Marketing Officer, Orient Electric, “We have been watching this space keenly. We will be coming up with more IoT-enabled products across our businesses. We are focused on using technology-led innovation to create the differentiation that the new age consumers expect”.

The company is doing unique branding opportunities at the retail counters, “As Innovation and price product goes up, it is important for the brand to explain the nuances of the product to the consumers”, he mentioned.

The consumer electrical brand in India has a diverse product portfolio of fans, lighting, home appliances, and switchgear. When asked, what kind of marketing approach the brand likes to follow, he answered, “From product to product, the marketing strategy differs but broadly the overall brand’s strategy remains one”

Being a traditional and leading consumer electrical brand is giving a push to the digital marketing plans. He accepts the fact that Digital media is leading towards a big shift, apart from conventional marketing.

As millennials consume content on digital platforms, the brand believes that it’s important to be available where the consumer is. He explains. “Digital is a very important medium to reach out to the new generation. We’re not just looking at sales from such platforms, but more of engagement and building relationships with our customers. At this point in time, it’s important for us to have an engagement. The brand is partnering with bloggers and popular influencers to generate digital content”.

He explains, “Every medium has its own power, which a brand can’t ignore. We’ve been active on ATL and BTL platforms as well. Television medium has not reduced its prominence because the mass medium reaches out to multiple audiences”.

On the segregation of marketing budgets between ATL & BTL activities, he said, “Budgets are planned according to the product segment and our distribution structure etc. In the recent past, we have significantly increased our budget in social and digital platforms while continuing with steady growth in spends in ATL as well as in BTL”.

The company registered a growth of 14.7% to reach Rs. 1864.40 crore topline in the financial year 2018-19. “We are hoping to do even better in this financial year on the back of innovative product offerings like the Aero series of fans, IoT-enabled coolers and just launched EyeLuv series LED lights with flicker control technology. In the Lighting & Switchgear business, we have registered a notable growth of 31.25% in 2018-19, with topline at Rs. 534.79cr”.

When asked what percentage of the overall sales comes from online, he didn’t share any numbers but said, “Consumer durable segment on e-commerce is still not that attractive. As the market will grow, we will see a greater percentage coming from online in the coming years”.

He pointed out, “The amount of research happening online is enormous. As we say, ‘People research online and buy offline’. We are witnessing consumers’ research offline and buy online”.