Festive marketing is no longer just about big budgets and flashy campaigns. As consumers are inundated with messages across platforms, brands are under pressure to find smarter, more resonant ways to connect. For SMEs and D2C players, the challenge is sharper—how to make a limited budget deliver maximum impact. Industry leaders weigh in on the strategies and shifts that will define festive campaigns this year.
Nikita Malhotra, Head of Digital, Woodland
This year, it’s more about getting personal. Marketers and platforms need to forget the one-size-fits-all approach.
Non-AI, a real connect, brands need to tell stories that feel like they’re from your own neighborhood. The goal is to have a clear plan that guides people from their first glance to the final purchase, with solid numbers to prove it worked.
If you’re working with a smaller budget, be agile. Focus on ideas that resonate with the local culture & get them out there quickly, especially on places we’re all looking anyway, you know, our phone screens!
Ultimately, the ads that will cut through all the noise are the ones that give us the warm and fuzzies.
Get that right, and you’ll have plenty to sell-ebrate!
Shweta Srivastava, Head Digital Marketing, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
Marketers of today have the toughest job. Rising from the clutter in festive seasons is an arduous task, when target audience has minimal attention span, every other brand can deliver their voice on Omni channels and measurability and squeezing budgets is the new norm.
The key is, Creativity and Relevance that is Always-on and At-scale. Both of these cannot be leveraged without intervention of technologies. Be it generating quick creatives and content intuitively using GenAI which captures cultural nuances and moment insights or using predictive methods of profiling and targeting with the help of AI. This also enables one to have strategic and full funnel approach to marketing where consumer interest is pivotal.
Vishesh Sahni, Founder & CEO, WHITE
Festive campaigns come with the in-built pressure to stand out amidst a swarm of sameness. From a BTL lens, the opportunity lies in leaning into cultural insights – localized rituals, regional nuance, and generational shifts that create instant resonance. For international brands, thoughtful cultural interpretation that feels like genuine appreciation instead of tokenism strikes the right chord; for mass-appeal brands, narratives rooted in relatability and everyday festive realities spark delight. In both cases, deep cultural understanding remains the key to success.
Priyanka Kapur, Managing Partner, Zenith India
In a highly cluttered environment during festive, a powerful message tailored to the platform is the key to break the clutter. Limited budgets make it imperative that the message is so impactful that it automatically transforms into liquid content that flows on its own and creates resonance and virality. Owned and earned mileage to support paid to make the monies look much larger than actuals.
