AC maker Blue Star hikes digital marketing budget

Digital marketing accounts for 10% of firm's total promo budget, up from 2% some 3-5 years back

Air conditioning (AC) and commercial refrigeration major Blue Star is betting big on digital marketing to reach out to consumers and brand promote its new product lines.

At present, digital marketing accounts for roughly 10 per cent of the company's total advertising and brand communication budget, which was hardly 2 per cent about 3-5 years back, Blue Star joint managing director B Thiagarajan told Business Standard here.

Digital marketing over social media and internet are acquiring more importance, since Blue Star buyers typically belong to the highest socio-economic category (SEC A), who are active on web, he added.

"In the next 4-5 years, digital marketing space would comprise about 30 percent of our advertising and branding spent," he said.

In the coming summer season, the company plans to invest Rs 45 crore for advertising and branding against Rs 40 crore last year. This budget is further projected to touch Rs 70 crore in the next 4-5 years, Thiagarajan informed.

Across consumer and electronic goods categories, digital media is growing rapidly concurrently with technological advancements and deeper penetration of smartphones.

Under digital marketing, the company webcasts and uploads product demonstrations over web and social media platforms.

Meanwhile, Thiagarajan was in town to launch India's first inverter split AC which gives cooling in decimals. The latest range from Blue Star provided the right match for every cooling requirement across residential, commercial and institutional segments, he added.

The room AC market in India grew by 20 percent during April-December 2016, while Blue Star outperformed the market with a growth in excess of 30 percent, Thiagarajan said.

"There are strong indications of a severe summer in 2017 and demands in tier 3, 4 and 5 towns continue to be good," he said adding post demonetisation, the market was getting used to new methods of electronic payment systems.