Consumer durable sector is gearing up for the upcoming festive season with the recent drop in commodity prices triggering some positive vibes for the manufacturers and consumers alike. A lot will still depend on the trajectory of the monsoon in coming weeks though the overall sentiments in domestic consumer market seem to be placed well.

Television advertising volumes for the durables sector rises

Television advertising volumes for the durables sector climbed 2.5 times and twice as much during Jan-May'22 and Jan-May'21 respectively compared to Jan-May'20, according to the data released by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research. Durables witnessed 23% growth in Jan-May'22 compared to Jan-May'21. During Jan-May'22, the top 10 categories and advertisers accounted for more than 80% and 45% of total ad volume respectively. Due to the summer months in Jan-May'22, categories involving cooling equipment such as air conditioners, fans, air coolers, and refrigerators dominated the durable sector's list.

More than 270 brands advertised during Jan-May'22 on television among which the top 10 brands had 29% share of ad volumes. During Jan-May'22, more than 150 exclusive brands advertised under durables sector and three brands were of BPL Ltd and two of Electrolux Kelvinator advertiser. What's more, the news genre alone accounted for 60% of the sector's ad volume, with GEC coming in second place. News bulletin emerged as the most preferred program genre to promote durables brands on television. Top two program genres, news bulletin and feature films together added almost 60% of the sector ad volumes. On TV, prime time was the most preferred time-band, followed by afternoon. Meanwhile, advertisers of durables sector preferred 20-40 secs ad size on TV.

When comparing Jan-May'21-22 to Jan-May'20, the ad space in the durables sector increased by 2.3 and 3.7 times in print medium respectively. Consumer durables/home appliances topped among the categories of durables sector in print with more than 30% of the ad space's share. TTK Prestige India was the top advertiser in the sector with 11% share of ad space during Jan-May'21. Top 10 advertisers accounted for more than 50% share of ad space.

Outlook:

India has proposed to introduce a right to repair law, aiming to provide consumers the ability to have their devices repaired by third parties to fight the growing "culture of planned obsolescence" in a move that follows similar deliberations in the U.S. and the U.K. The Indian Department of Consumer Affairs said Thursday that it had set up a committee to develop a right to repair framework. The committee identified mobile phones, tablets, consumer durables, automobiles and farming as important sectors for the framework, the ministry said. The pertinent issues highlighted during the meeting include companies avoiding the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily," the ministry said in a statement. The framework for right to repair is being positioned to be helpful to consumers in the local market and harmonize trade between the original equipment manufacturers and the third-party buyers and sellers. The ministry also said that the move could help reduce e-waste generation in the country and create many jobs.