‘Print Gives us Immediacy in Communication’

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One of India’s largest retail chains, the Future Group grabbed headlines earlier this year with news of earmarking a marketing budget of Rs 250 crore. It has indeed been a busy 2014 so far for the retailer, what with a new TVC every week for Big Bazaar, Bengal Warriors – its very own team in the Pro Kabaddi League, and its latest venture, Big Bazaar Direct, that aims to look the e-commerce boom in the eye. Sandip Tarkas, President (Customer Strategy) at Future Group discusses these initiatives with Henna Achhpal and talks about the importance of Print in conveying an immediate message

Q] This year has been highly active for Future Group with the new TVC a week campaign for Big Bazaar, Bengal Warriors, and Big Bazaar Direct. How have these initiatives fared for Future Group so far?

Yes, it’s been a busy year in terms of the number of initiatives that we’ve done and most of these have borne the desired fruit. Our insight behind the 52 TVCs campaign was that people were not aware of the entire range available at Big Bazaar. Many consumers were only coming to Big Bazaar for food and grocery related items and didn’t find the need to go beyond that. Through one new TVC a week, we decided to focus on each category and were able to inform consumers of the wide variety of categories available at Big Bazaar. In many of the categories, we noticed an increase in sales while the campaign was running. When Charu Sharma came to us with the idea of the Pro Kabaddi League, we knew instantly that it was something we wanted to do even though the tournament was taking place for the first time. It seemed like a risky venture but gut feeling told us that it would work. Big Bazaar Direct also has had an interesting start. It is our way of fighting back the e-commerce and digital boom. We’ve got some 200 plus franchises now and some interesting tie-ups.

Q] What is the marketing strategy for Big Bazaar Direct?

With Big Bazaar Direct we want to tap cities where we are already present but don’t have very good coverage. Usually in cities such as Mumbai, people don’t prefer to travel more than average distances of 5-6 kms. To achieve good coverage with a store in every 5 km radius, we would need 300 stores. So the concept of Big Bazaar Direct is not just focused on reaching more consumers but also overcoming inertia. Our marketing activities for Big Bazaar Direct are primarily focused on direct marketing. We have conducted seminars in various towns which is a good way to talk to potential franchisees directly and help them understand the concept. We also made use of Print and Radio for Big Bazaar Direct.

Q] Talking of the Future Group’s retail chains such as Central, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Home Town and eZone – which markets are you looking at to deliver the next leap of growth? Do you think Tier I markets are exhausted?

Yes of course. But I think even today a large chunk of our consumers continue to come from metros. We are already present in 80 plus cities and I will keep on expanding my presence in going beyond that but I expect the top eight metros to continue contributing to a large chunk of business for some time. We look at each market in an individual manner. It’s not as if I’ve decided that these are the five markets I’m going to conquer next year. Therefore, we will continue to look for the right kind of properties in Tier I towns, we will expand to more and more cities given the right kind of options being available and our big push will come in the area of omni-channel strategy - the sweet spot that integrates online and offline retail into one seamless entity.

Q] How important is North India as a market for the Future Group and how do you reach consumers in this region?

North India is very important for us. It is now in fact the largest zone that we have. It’s a high consumerist market with a higher average per capita income. Apart from Delhi, even the remaining states of North India have tremendous potential. Uttar Pradesh alone is massive. We have a presence across India but North is dominant and numerically the largest contributing around 35% revenue. As part of national marketing activities, we touch upon all the key mass media vehicles. When it comes to region specific marketing, we do a lot of local activities including in-store activations.

Q] How does your marketing strategy differ in the Hindi heartland of India – states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh - when compared to what you do in metros and other regions?

The advertising intensity in these regions is much lower and we mostly focus on local activations. We advertise in small markets only on specific days for example when we have a big sale. Print plays a very large role to reach consumers in these regions. In our case, there is a need for immediacy of communication. If I have an offer that is going to be valid only for today, conveying that immediately is very important. As a result, a lot of our advertisements in newspapers continue to play a very important role. Like our day specific offer, the newspaper also has validity only for one day which is why it works well for us.

Q] Over the years, Future Group has stuck to Print as its primary media vehicle. How does Print benefit India’s largest retailer? How important is it in your media mix?

Print has played a significant role in our media mix primarily because of the immediacy feature it provides. The message about a limited period offer needs to be conveyed with immediacy which makes Print an ideal medium for us. So while every medium has its own role in the media plan, Print helps in conveying the short term message. Television helps in building brand image and awareness.

Q] How have branding opportunities from Future Media been received by brands? Future Media has been well accepted by FMCG brands in particular. If the message is put right, communication in the store can give better results than weeks of Television advertising. Now that we have access to data, we are also able to analyze the customer’s buying behaviour and predict not just his next purchase but his next three to four purchases.

Q] Looking ahead, what will be the fundamental principle of the Future Group’s customer strategy?

We are looking at expanding consumption areas in different categories and brands. Our mantra is simple: we want to increase our consumer’s consumption and our market share which is changing fast, and focus on anything which makes our brand more relevant to the customer.

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