A lifestyle strategy

The year 2012 was a tough year for marketers. An inconsistent business environment and several marketplace challenges forced course corrections and demanded innovation in marketing strategy. Philips India responded by adopting one of the most aggressive growth strategies – that of category creation.

“We were not bothered by economic turbulence but were looking at creating a brand for the future. In 2012, we have aggressively gone behind creating categories to broaden market and deepen penetration,” says Vivek Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Philips India.

Be it the Philips Airfryer, a kitchen appliance that eliminates use of oil and fries using just air, the Philips AquaTouch (dry and wet shaver) or Philips BodyGroom (a body groomer for men), Android docking stations to amplify sound, a new range of hair stylers, in-home coffee machine or the DJ Party Machine, Philips India went all out identifying new need markets.

The Harvard Business Review identifies category creation as an often break-through growth strategy adopted by a large number of Fortune 20 companies and the challenge of introducing new categories lies in popularising it. And indeed bucking the industry trend, Philips India went all out spending on marketing to popularise new categories. Refusing to quantify, the company confirmed that the marketing budget was hiked from last year with its many new television commercials ruling the small screen, ‘ zindagi ki raunak ’ being its recent campaign.

The company also roped in Kareena Kapoor for its hair styling range and John Abraham as brand ambassador for male grooming devices. This is the first time that Philips appointed a brand ambassador for its hair styling range and that too within a year of bringing Bollywood actor John Abraham on board as brand ambassador for the male grooming range.

New Distribution channels

The company also invested in go-to-customer model with new distribution channels, such as its Light Lounges, which are essentially experience zones that give customers a ‘see, touch and feel’ experience of home decorative lighting concepts. Philips currently has 80 light lounges across 42 cities in India.

‘We are trying to bring about an attitudinal change in our consumers, making light a part of home furnishing. The Philips home decorative lighting range starts from Rs 575 and goes up to Rs 50,000 spanning over 800 varieties,” says Sharma. Right from ‘ diya ’-inspired LED candles to flickering LED flame with intuitive user interaction, Philips has introduced a whole new range of home decorative lighting targeting the festive season.

“We have also moved away from the traditional practice of selling personal care products through gadget/electronics channels. The company has started to invest in cosmetic channels in India for selling personal care products,” said Sharma.

Online efforts

Philips, particularly in its consumer lifestyle category, has been aggressively tapping the online community.

Philips reached out and engaged with technology bloggers and reviewers through a small media briefing in Delhi and provided them with a hands-on opportunity to hear, feel and see the new products.

The highlight of their social media effort was perhaps the Foodathon 2012. In its first edition, the festival saw a turnout of 40-50 food bloggers/ writers/ enthusiasts all talking food. Philips was the title sponsor. The gathering saw had an expert chef give tips and tricks on plating combined with a food photography session and contests involving the Philips AirFryer where air-fried food was served. Social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, blogs were used to amplify the event. #PhilipsFoodathon trended for two days straight on Twitter.

“Our social media campaign is keeping in mind, the smart, evolved home-maker. We have a policy of social listening to keep a tap on what consumers are writing and talking about brand Philips on social media. It is a very egalitarian platform where you cannot force opinions. Through digital we are largely targeting the youth. From virtual styling to recipe contests on Facebook, our major marketing thrust is on social media,” adds Sharma.