Q] As Furlenco enters its next phase of growth, what are your key marketing priorities, and how does the recent `125 crore of funds raised support that direction?
We are at an inflection point right now. Rental furniture is moving from being an alternative to becoming a core part of the home-furnishing market, and Furlenco is at the forefront of that shift. For us, it’s not a choice between mass adoption and premium positioning, it’s both. Mass growth matters as the category expands, but premium positioning is what differentiates us in a largely two-player market today. At the same time, we are cash-flow positive and profitable at the bottom line, which means our marketing spend is already covered by revenue. None of the `125 crore needs to go into marketing. That capital will be used to acquire more assets, which is the fundamental core of our business. More furniture means more growth, and that’s exactly what the funds are meant for.
Q] What was the thought behind the ‘Feel at Home’ campaign, and was there a specific reason behind the timing of its launch?
People have largely used Furlenco and rental furniture as a temporary solution, typically for 12 to 24 months, with the average closer to two years. With ‘Feel at Home’, we want people to see Furlenco as a constant during a phase of life that keeps changing, between the ages of 22 and 35, when people move from being single to living with a partner and getting married. The campaign tells the story of moving from one phase to the next, with Furlenco as the constant. Abhay Deol and Isha Talwar reflect this idea well, ‘classy, yet hatke and relatable’, and they did a brilliant job bringing it to life.
Q] What have been the measurable outcomes of the ‘Feel at Home’ campaign, and how has it performed for Furlenco?
We are largely a digital company, meaning about 95% of our spends are online. For a digital business, there are two ways to drive traffic: organically, or through performance marketing, where you place ads on Google and similar platforms. This campaign has increased our organic traffic by about 20%, which we see as a strong outcome. Organic traffic means people are actively searching for the brand on Google and naturally landing on our website or downloading the app. A 20% increase in traffic translates into higher sales and stronger momentum overall. So, by that measure, the campaign has been a success.
Q] As you plan campaigns across an omnichannel mix: digital, TV, CTV, influencer partnerships and outdoor, how do you decide what to prioritise?
It depends on the context. When we enter a new city, we usually start with influencers and do something unique, like in Kolkata, where we used yellow taxis, put Furlenco furniture on top, and had influencers drive them around the city. Otherwise, digital is the core medium for us: YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, along with cricket associations like RCB, which we plan to continue. CTV is a good platform for reach, but we run a supply-led business. We don’t see a demand problem, the business needs assets, and assets need money. So while we are building brand presence, we don’t feel the need to capture every medium at this point in time.
Q] Could you talk about the RCB partnership and the Kolkata taxi activation? What consumer insights led to these decisions?
RCB was a big bet for us. 2025 has been a year of taking big bets, and with Furlenco at its highest revenue run rate, we wanted to go bolder. Being part of Bangalore’s own cricket club made sense, especially as the brand was born in Bangalore. We were very thrilled with the association and will think about continuing it in the coming years, we’ll also take some credit, as RCB won for the first time in 18 years. The insight is that whenever we enter a new city, we want to do something different. In Ahmedabad, we tied up with the kite festival and held an exhibition at NID Ahmedabad. In Kolkata, that translated into a unique taxi activation. We aim to stand out when entering a new market.
Q] How is your marketing spend divided between digital and traditional channels?
It’s about 90% digital and 10% traditional. We haven’t done TV advertising at all. Our audience has largely shifted to OTT platforms like Amazon Prime and Jio Hotstar, so we advertise there rather than on TV.
Q] Are there plans to expand further into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and from a marketing standpoint, will the focus be on new markets or on strengthening existing locations?
We are already present in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities such as Indore, Lucknow, Jaipur and Coimbatore, and these markets are doing phenomenally well, with 100% year-on-year growth. This tells us that rental furniture is not just a Tier 1 migratory phenomenon, but driven by a modern mindset where people prefer to rent furniture while living in rental homes. At the same time, we are present in 29 cities. While we may add a couple more over the next year, the focus now is on going deeper and building stronger roots in the cities we already operate in. Going deeper is the strategy.
Q] What is the idea behind the Gen Z–focused film, and how do you tailor your communication for younger audiences?
With Gen Z, we have adopted the language they understand, even though I don’t understand it at all. We launched a Gen Z campaign where Abhay Deol is confused by the acronyms that the Gen Z uses, and we speak as if we don’t understand their language, which makes it endearing. Furlenco is a late millennial product, but very soon we will have to shift the language and start talking to Gen Alpha as well.
Q] Which marketing KPIs do you track most closely, and which metric tells you that a campaign has actually moved the needle?
We do track CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV (Lifetime Value), but the most important metric for us is CPRR (Cost Per Rupee of Revenue), which measures how much we spend to earn one rupee of revenue. If you have to spend one rupee to earn one rupee, that’s not a healthy equation. Ideally, you want that number in decimals, around 0.2 or 0.3, and certainly not more than 10% of the revenue you generate. That’s the metric that tells us whether a campaign is truly working.
Q] Looking ahead, do you see any shift in Furlenco’s marketing direction, and are there any channels or spends you plan to bet big on?
We are largely going to follow the same marketing direction because that is what is working. We don’t see any major shift per se. It is an evolved approach that we have been building over the last 10 years, and as it has brought us to this point, we want to double down on what we have done so far. The strategy and channel mix will remain largely the same, with digital continuing to be the core.
What may change is the split between brand and performance marketing. We need to spend more on brand, because performance marketing is like renting a customer, whereas brand building creates long-term, loyal customers. The mix for our brand moved from 80% performance and 20% brand building to 70-30 over the last year, and now stands at a 60–40 divide. While the near-term goal is 50–50, over the long term, strong brands tend to even move closer to 30% performance and 70% brand- building activities.
