Bata India's recent campaign targets younger audience; spends 35% on digital mediums

Bata India is taking steps to resonate with the younger generations, Gen-Z and Millennials, through their latest campaign titled Every Walk is a Ramp Walk. In a departure from the norm, the company has chosen to feature influencers rather than celebrities as the faces of this campaign.  

The campaign features social media influencers, namely Vishaka Fulsungle (rider), Aakash Malhotra(traveller), Janhavi Dasetty(content creator), and Raghavendra Mahat (actor).

India boasts one of the world's largest millennial populations, constituting 34% (44 crore) of the nation's populace. Combined with Gen-Z, these two demographic groups are projected to collectively represent a staggering 50% of India's population by 2030. 

This data underscores the necessity for brands to strategically engage with this burgeoning audience, as they are poised to become the majority of consumers.  Bata India aims to align with this trend by targeting this audience.

Badri Beriwal, chief strategy and business development officer tells afaqs!, “We’re evolving our communication strategy at every juncture. Bata is not going away with celebrities, they will play their own role but the fact is as consumers are becoming high on consuming content on social media, as a result, influencers are playing a large role and influencers have now become new celebrities as well. We leveraged them to become more relatable to consumers, especially Gen-Z  are more attuned to an influencer rather than any celebrity.” 

The campaign highlights the City Casual Collection and the Celebrations Collection of the footwear brand. In the video, the influencers are seen in a different avatar. Badri says, “Vishaka is a rider, and Aakash is a traveller, they are influencers in their respective field. But, when they style up with Bata, how they become a style model is a great transformation for their fans and followers. We wanted to showcase that in this campaign.” 

The target demographic of this campaign ranges from 20 to 30 year olds, and the geographical focus includes metros as well as Tier-I and Tier-II cities. 

Talking about the media mix of the campaign, Badri states “I think there was a time when digital accounted for merely 5-6% of the media mix. But now with the elevated digital presence, it’s nearly 35% of our total mix. Our investments in digital media have multiplied significantly.”

Influencer marketing has emerged as a pivotal element for every brand, capitalising on the surge of social media. It provides a direct avenue to engage with the intended audience, leveraging the persuasive impact of word-of-mouth marketing through influencer followings.  But how is Bata India looking to distinguish itself in this arena.? 

Badri answers, “A lot of brands use influencers as media vehicles/channels, and latch on to their fan following on their channel itself. While we will get that benefit, we have taken influencers as celebrities and made them a part of our campaign and put them on air.”

The brand's approach differs from using influencers solely as media channels; instead, Bata India leverages them as style models. 

This strategy is aimed at attracting younger consumers who can perceive the brand in a fresh perspective, positioning it as a comprehensive solution for their stylish footwear requirements.

According to the company’s AGM transcription of 2022-23, Bata India’s 75% of business is coming from the retail sector whereas 25% of business is from institutional/distributional and online modes. 

Category-wise, men’s footwear contributes 52%, ladies' footwear is at around 31%, children about 10% and non-footwear is at 6.5%. 

The company expects to see its digital sales outpace overall growth and plans a robust approach via D2C channels, e-commerce platforms and omnichannel routes. 

As part of its efforts to appeal to Gen-Z and millennials, the brand launched the Sneaker Studio- a haven dedicated to sneaker enthusiasts featuring a single wall adorned with a plethora of sneakers. This concept  has expanded to over 500 Bata and Franchise stores.

This year, the intersection of the festive season with the ICC Cricket World Cup has piqued the interest of the footwear brand, prompting them to consider potential involvement in the Men's Cricket World Cup in some capacity.