Trends'14 | Brains behind brands brew in anticipation of 2014

While the closing months of a year hold importance as it's shopping times for friends and family, the opening of a year is important from a brands perspective. It’s that time when brands direct work and actions to chalk out plans for their products and services. From various product / service strategies to consumer attraction and retainment programs; all these stand as top priorities for most brands. In today’s edition of Adgully’s opening special of 2014, we talk to the men / women behind the brands that make an essential part of our lives. Ranging across various categories, these ‘brains behind brands’ share with us the forecast for 2014 in the category they belong to. Edited excerpts below:

Viral Oza, Director Marketing, Nokia India

We believe 2014 will be a year of innovations and consumers will further start realizing the ease technology can provide. There are various trends we foresee - The future will be of connected devices and how everything integrates across different screens. We have already taken the first step in this regard with our Windows partnership, where consumers receive a seamless, integrated experience across multiple platforms. Today you can use your tablets, PC and mobile to 

receive the same experience. Secondly, imaging would completely change the game – because it has started making consumers question the true capabilities of the handheld device. We will continue to innovate and differentiate on experiences. We have already established a benchmark in smart-phone imaging with the launch of Nokia Lumia 1020, boasting a second generation 41 megapixel sensor. Thirdly, Video on mobile will be a big trend in 2014. More and more consumers will start watching videos and movies on the go. Our Nokia Lumia 625 offers an unmatched affordable big screen entertainment experience. Additionally, there is an overall change being led by the fact that mobile is the first screen and internet usage on mobile has exceeded fixed line. Consumers will be more demanding of the entire ecosystem, like demanding on quality of service, demanding on quality of experiences of hardware and software and demanding of brands to innovate and use technology to further simplify their lives.

Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond

Male grooming is emerging as a mega-trend in India. Man of today is investing significantly in looking good and keeping fit. All relevant categories ranging from male personal care to lifestyle products will witness a stupendous growth in 2014. ‘Accesorisation’ is another emerging trend. Lifestyle and fashion related accessories like customised handbags to personalised watches will be in vogue!

Rishi Piparaiya, Director – Marketing & Bancassurance, Aviva Life Insurance

The most important development that the industry today is looking forward to is the passage of insurance bill. I believe that hiking the FDI limit in the insurance sector will give industry the much needed impetus. In 2014, I also see technology playing a big role in driving both growth and customer centricity and mobile platform will be something to watch out for. Online platform will emerge in big way and we will continue to see more innovation happening in both the product and the distribution space. I believe that 2014 will be the year of innovations.

Dilip Kapur, President, Hidesign

Firstly I want to say that briefcases are going sleeker. Single gusset briefcases rule the roost as more and more offices go completely electronic. Laptop sizes are shrinking and more people are now working on the move with their Blackberry’s. Demand for double / triple gusset briefcases remains high with travelling businessmen, but they are learning to break up luggage into overnight wheelies and work briefcases with separate laptop sleeves. Nobody wants to look like they are lugging their entire wardrobe to the conference room. Messengers are fast replacing briefcases in casual work environments and city bags and man bags are becoming a must have for your day out or when travelling. Sleek Japanese styled bags, washed leather bags, and small sling bags will be big this year. While black is still the best selling colour, black, brown and tan are giving way to shades such as charcoal, mocha, tabac and also colours like olive, ink blue and grey. For women, the battle between the soft and structured tote continues with more styles taking on geometric detailing in both categories. The cross-body silhouette has been around for as long as we can remember but for the upcoming season we see the bags shrinking down to micro sizes making it the perfect no-fuss bag.

Nitish Tipnis, Director Marketing, Hover Automotive India (Nissan's National Sales Company (NSC)) in India

The long term growth opportunity for auto sector is positive and remains unchanged. The agriculture sector has done very well in 2013 which will definitely help improve the economy in 2014, particularly post April. We also expect reduction of indirect taxes in certain segments in the auto industry to provide an impetus to the demand. We have been forced to hike prices from Jan 2014 due to rising input costs and the forex exchange rates in line with other auto major. We do foresee a slew of product launches in 2014 too and significant competition in the passenger vehicle and SUV segment. Post elections, we do hope the economic environment will improve and hope that interest rates, rupee and oil prices stabilize. For growth, the auto industry is to continue focus on rural economy the tier 2 & 3 cities.

Deepti Kshirsagar, Managing Director - WOW Design

I believe dynamism in design fundamentals will always keep you ahead of the trends in the industry. One such case being Bingo’s foray into the Gujarat market; largest market for snacks, as some brands already thriving on the equity while others vying for their market share. A tough cookie for the international completion, Bingo vouched for ethnicity while launching its ‘gujju’ variant. Our ethnographical design study helped us identify the elements strike a chord with the target consumers. So be it the ‘bandhani’ motifs on the crimps, vibrant hues in their attire, the flavours have been set right for the successful new brand extension. Another emerging trend that is going to sail through coming year(s) is focused / de-cluttered approach in both the brand and design approach. More and more brands getting into the niche offerings be it (packaged brown rice, spa treatment kits for hair or a rice bran oil), a savvy consumer today that extra from its brands. This has brought a big shift into how they are packaged and sold too. Matt finished laminates, superior ergonomic designs, innovations in printing and last but not the least, ‘evolved’, infographic pack designs dominated the shelves in 2013. We associated with Sunfeast Yippie originally a noodles brand customized to foray into India’s first coloured pasta targeted at super kids of today who demand more variety in their snacking menu.

Ramesh Chembath, Associate V.P. & Head - Marketing, Modern Retail & Ecom, Godrej Appliances at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.

The consumer durables industry is a very vulnerable one. For example, when it comes to consumer durables, we see that people focus more on conversations about the product than to the activities we brands do around it; the category, I believe has not seen the kind of growth it has to. However, I can say that in the coming year(s), brands in our category will focus on creating messaging that would translate into consumer understanding and building liking to the product / service. Conversion of customers in this category, I believe, will happen when the focus will be upped specifically with regard to on-ground activities, which provides them a chance to know and be aware of the product and service. On the media front, I see that the trend is gradually shifting to digital. With about 30 – 33%, the overall ad-spends will be inclined towards digital. With the spotlight on newer mediums, I believe that brands will surely concentrate on ‘augmented reality’ (AR) for consumer benefits, thus selling value than volume.