Kerala is just a few weeks away from the start of something big. And it’s not the South-West Monsoon. In fact, it has nothing to do with the state’s beautiful outdoors. This phenomenon we’re speaking of will be seen across thousands of its glistening shopping malls — and just like the rain, it will go on to become a crucial indicator of the health of the country’s economy. Because Kerala, unlike other states, also ushers in the festival shopping season; and for brands hoping to get a taste of consumer trends and preferences, positive results from the tiny state are a must.
The five-month long festive shopping season begins with Onam in Kerala and then makes its way up to the North, West and the East — in time for Diwali and Dussehra before winding up with the Christmas and New Year blitz. The arrival of marketing professionals from across the country to Kerala, ahead of Onam, is something similar to the way the gypsies arrive at Macando — the fictional town in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. But unlike the inhabitants of Macando, these marketing gypsies descending on Kerala by first week of August are not encountering a people cut-off from civilization.
For many of them, a positive response from Kerala’s consumer means a thumbs-up for strategies and plans that have been put in place for the rest of the country. Which is why purveyors of refrigerators, laptops, mobile phones and other machines are making a beeline for the state to launch a five-month long campaign that would later take them to all parts of India. Even the Japanese are marking Onam on their all-important sales calendars
“The Kerala market and Onam are a benchmark for us to evaluate sales trends in India during the festive season,” says Sony’s India managing director Kenichiro Hibi.
Also, manufacturers use Kerala as a test-bed to launch new products as it’s widely believed the state’s consumers are avid watchers of global trends. “People here are well-aware of the latest brands and trends due to the proximity they share with trendy markets such as Dubai,” says Anil Mathur, the CEO of Godrej Interio — the giant’s furniture-making arm.
Automobile manufacturers are not far behind either with some even taking an active part in local festivities. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice president of Honda 2Wheelers opted to launch three festive offers during the current Onam season. “Kerala has been identified as a launching pad by several upcountry companies — and the trend has stayed on for a few years now,” says U.S. Kutty, an advertising professional who has been operating out of Kochi for the past three decades. The firms’ strategies are becoming more nuanced too. “So we now have Honda 2Wheelers sponsoring a boat race along Alapuzha’s backwaters. The same firm will be opting for something very different in Maharashtra or Gujarat, Kuty adds. And even amidst the razzmatazz of the marketing blitz, everyone agrees that a good Monsoon is a precondition for the success of any strategy here in India. Kenichiro Hibi was candid enough when he said that Sony had its fingers crossed about the MET department’s prediction of an above-average monsoon because after all, farms in rural India still rely heavily on copious amounts of rain. But so far, a look at the state’s beautiful outdoors proves Kerala has not disappointed in that department either.
