Ad spends in digital is going to go up for Tata Consumer Products: Puneet Das

The world of marketing has been constantly evolving with the emergence of new technologies, and FMCG is one market which has made the most of this technological advancement. Using new concepts like metaverse and hyperlocal, the FMCG industry seems to be having a different approach towards marketing and advertising now.

On this very topic, e4M spoke to Puneet Das, President, Packaged Beverages, Tata Consumer Products, at the first edition of their innovation conference, INFUSE’23. Das talked about the rise in ad spends for digital, the shift towards everything tech in the FMCG universe and the importance of regional flavours.

Here are the excerpts:  

What kind of changes are you seeing in the FMCG industry with respect to marketing and technology?

In terms of marketing, I think there are some people who are consistently trying to test new technology and put it out there. We have been one of them. There are other players also. But overall, I think the point is that as marketers, we need to be where the consumers are. The consumer today is really evolving. I don't think most of us remember where we are seeing an ad, whether it's on WhatsApp or YouTube or TV. Today you are watching an OTT while being on a digital screen and working on a laptop. So I think as marketers, we're all learning and leveraging these tools to see how do we continue to remain relevant. At Tata Tea, for example, we have also done things like metaverse. We did a Holi party in metaverse. Also, we did our Lohri campaign where we did leverage artificial intelligence to customize songs and people could send it out as greetings. We did a Republic Day Jhaki, where we brought a 3D immersive parade. So, we're also experimenting and building these kinds of use cases. But, overall, from a marketing mix point of view, our digital quotient is getting higher and higher and we are slightly above industry average.

So do you see an uptick in ad expenditure, specifically related to tech, for Tata Consumer Products in the next few years?

I think more than tech, spends in digital is going to keep going up for sure. Because digital these days, apart from engagement, is becoming a rich media. Depending on what your brand objective is, if you look at categories that we are in, like tea & coffee, digital component is only increasing. That's because like I said, we have to follow the consumer. So definitely, digital contribution will continue to go up. And, as technology becomes more relevant and more accessible, we will keep workign on it. We do keep pushing and trying some new stuff. Now we've got good learning from metaverse. So tomorrow if you have to do an engagement where it requires consumer to come in an immersive environment, we know what works.

Are there any new categories under TCP that you are coming up with?

We'll keep hitting it when it comes in. We keep coming up with innovations across our products. We just launched the Street Chai of India. For the launch, in Bombay, we will wrap the entire metro train with not just our branding, but also the city's food and beverage sort of photos. It is to bring alive the thought that food is a very localized choice and Metro is very integral to the cities. Street Chai stands for that; the sights and sounds and beverage of your cities. We’ve launched Mumbai cutting chai, Hyderabadi Irani chai, Calcutta Street chai, Purani Dilli ki mithai chai. So, these are flavours inspired from the cities. That's what the Metro branding and all stands So those are things that we're doing.

What are your thoughts on regional marketing and hyperlocal branding?

We actually we started this trend three years back. What we recognize is that our strength in the tea category, for example, has been there. While we are a national player; we have always known what works from a regional point of view. Our expertise has been that. So, our Tea blends are curated towards regional preferences. So in 2019-20, we started this whole journey of hyperlocal where our marketing mix was curated. So, we were the pioneers, in that sense, from a mass FMCG point of view. The reason is obvious. I mean we are all Indian, so we know that food and beverage is a localized choice. Hence, we started this journey. Now we're taking it forward by also launching the region-specific flavours and mediums. So, media remains very important for us. That's how media has evolved. When we were growing up, media started as mass communication. Today is hyperlocal, tomorrow it may become one-on-one as we evolve, and that's the evolution of media and marketing choices that we have to work with.