For a young brand entering an established category, getting consumers to notice the product is only the first step. The bigger challenge is getting it into the consideration set and giving them enough reason to choose it at the point of purchase.
For EcoLink, Signify’s consumer electrical brand, product experience is becoming an important part of that journey. Speaking to IMPACT Magazine, Nikhil Gupta, Head of Strategy and Marketing, Signify Greater India, shares, “We want consumers to experience the product before they buy it.”
As EcoLink looks to build its presence in India’s established fan market, the strategy is being played out across retail, digital and on-ground activations, with the brand looking to bridge awareness with firsthand experience.
Watch the full interview here:
The approach was visible during Ganesh Chaturthi, when EcoLink installed around 500 Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) fans across the Lalbaugcha Raja pandal and queue areas in Mumbai. With more than two crore visitors at the pandal this year, the activation gave consumers an opportunity to experience the fans in a real-world setting, with the products running through the day and night.
For EcoLink, which entered the fan category around 2021, the objective goes beyond visibility. “For a young brand like ours, the main intent is to make consumers aware of the brand. But here, they are also able to experience the product,” says Gupta. He adds, “The activation works alongside the brand’s retail presence, where real conversion happens”.
The brand currently has a presence across 373 Philips SmartLight Hubs, where consumers can experience its range before making a purchase. “We believe the retail environment is where real conversion happens. Awareness and communication bring consumers to the store, but experiencing the product firsthand, supported by the retailer’s explanation of its features and benefits, can help move them towards consideration and purchase,” says Gupta.
This product experience is also reflected in EcoLink’s wider communication. Its campaign featuring Rashmika Mandanna focuses on newer fan designs, while other communication highlights BLDC technology, energy savings of up to 50 per cent, comfort and low noise. “The fan category is transitioning towards BLDC technology, and that is an opportunity for us,” Gupta says. “We want to communicate the technology and the benefits but also showcase designs that consumers may not have seen before.”
On the media mix, Gupta says the brand’s investment is shaped by its current stage of growth. “A larger part of our spending today goes towards digital because it allows us to target consumers better and also gives us the ability to do sales attribution,” he says. “Television has been declining steadily, but events and outdoor continue to be important for moment marketing, whether it is the IPL or an activation like Lalbaugcha Raja.”
“For a brand like EcoLink, which we are trying to establish, most of our spending is towards brand building,” Gupta says. Performance marketing, however, is used to communicate product differentiation and track sales generated online.
The brand tracks awareness at the top of the funnel, while lower-funnel metrics include engagement, website traffic, clicks to its D2C platform and marketing-led purchases through e-commerce. Gupta says awareness scores for EcoLink fans have nearly doubled since last year, while keyword searches have increased 3X and social media followers have doubled.
As EcoLink expands into more categories, the larger task remains moving from awareness to consideration and, eventually, purchase. “As a young brand, it is an advantage and a disadvantage,” says Gupta. “We can innovate without any baggage.”
