Philips Domestic Appliances India CMO on why's air fryer ‘24’s coolest device

In the past six months, this writer bought an air fryer, saw his school friend buy one, realised three colleagues from the 12-person afaqs! edit team own one, and then the team gifted one of its own an air fryer on her birthday. It’s safe to say the afaqs! edit team loves their air fryers.

Turns out it’s not just us, but there’s a wave of chatter about buying one. Amazon India said there was a 1.65x growth in air fryer sales led by Agaro and Philips.

I own the latter and decided to ask Pooja Baid, chief marketing officer, Versuni India (formerly known as Philips Domestic Appliances India), about this wave considering the fact that Philips introduced the air fryer to India back in 2012. 

She proudly says, "I was hired to build air fryer in the company at a very junior level and that was the starting point." Baid discusses the device journey, who's buying it, and what she cooks most in it.

Edited Excerpts

Philips launched the air fryer in India in 2012, so why is it now the hottest device?

During the Coronavirus pandemic, we spent a lot of time at home cooking and exploring our culinary skills. Many people realised they needed more modern cooking methods, which led to the popularity of air fryers.

In a very Malcolm Gladwell-esque way, the category has reached an inflexion point. When you tell Indians they can fry without oil, it sounds unbelievable. We spent our first few years shaping the category and proving it.

We put up live kiosks at our outlets nationwide with the motto ‘tasting is believing’ and took a decade to reach 20% category penetration.  

How did you tackle the challenges of misinformation around the air fryer?

We did extensive consumer research and found no misinformation about harmful chemicals.

However, air fryer capabilities are poorly documented. We know it fries without oil, but what else can you make? “Does it only make frozen food?”

Except for lentils, rice, vegetables, and roti, an air fryer can cook almost any dish, including omelettes, cakes, pizzas, fried bhindi, and fish fries.

Kitchen appliances become more relevant in one's early twenties, when establishing an independent household.

Who is your main consumer today as you raise awareness and people buy one?

Our main buyers are aware non-triers, who know what an air fryer is thanks to our decade-long awareness campaign. It's ridiculously high.

A big barrier—I know what an air fryer is—has kept many of those people from trying. I know it's healthy but don't know its output.

We must show them all the devices' capabilities. Sabzi, roti, dal, and chawal have decreased in our plate, while all the other foods have increased, and the air fryer can make most of them.  

The category's biggest shopping season is usually the festival season before Diwali. We then invest heavily in TV, print, Meta, Google, e-commerce, and influencer marketing to go 360 degrees.-Pooja Baid

Who and where are these people? 

Early adopters were metro-based, but our customers are now everywhere. The internet has broken the metro-non-metro geographical barrier.

Consumers, technically from a classification perspective, will probably say Jaipur, Indore, and Chandigarh are non-metros. Are my consumers not sitting there? The answer is no.

The perceived relevance of kitchen appliances typically increases among individuals aged 22–23, corresponding with the establishment of independent living arrangements. I think this applies to this category. Since it has great health benefits, it's adopted at a much older age. This one's customers range from 22-23 to 50-55 years old.

Another interesting aspect of air fryers is that most kitchen appliances are women's domain. This category, however, is 50-50. Naturally, women buy it. As do men. Why? Because this device lets you cook when and what you want without help. 

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Your customers are everywhere, but do they want to see a kitchen electronic device in action at a Philips store or buy it online? 

Digital media is opening up cities such as Indore and Chandigarh, not online marketplaces; people are exposed to new formats and propositions and become consumers of them. Philips is omnichannel for air fryers. We have a strong presence in mom-and-pop stores, modern outlets, and e-commerce sites. After choosing the brand, you can buy in any format you prefer.

You know frozen snacks are the first item one thinks of when an air fryer is mentioned? Do you work with these brands like a McCain or an ITC Masterchef? 

When I started in the category, we had a deep partnership with McCain, who put a picture of an air fryer on the back of their packs as a recommended method. We've come a long way since then. The frozen food industry has boomed since then.

We are working closely with all the top frozen food makers to create air fryer-friendly ranges that go beyond fries and nuggets and expand into more foods. Lots of stuff will come out soon.

We work with many of them. Rewind to microwaves' real progress, before reaching an inflexion point, people didn't start making microwaves and then microwave popcorn, then microwave other stuff, right? It's similar with air fryers. However, the air fryer has performed better.

I see only Varuan Saxena and Orry and Ranveer Brar ads for Philips, which you say is omnichannel.

Our ads play across many spectrums. The year's timing determines it.

The category's biggest shopping season is usually the festival season before Diwali. We then invest heavily in TV, print, Meta, Google, e-commerce, and influencer marketing to go 360 degrees. Spending the same amount year-round is impossible. Possibly unnecessary. Thus, we balance it.

For the rest of the year, we follow what we call a flighting strategy. So we do appear on the good old classical TV also during the year beyond the festival. But the focus is more on digital media because the fact of the matter is we are consuming so much more of digital media as an audience ourselves.

Are you comfortable knowing most people gift air fryers rather than use them or is it all about sales?

No, it's not about the sales. We believe every household should have it. How your household gets it as a gift or as something you think you should buy for yourself is irrelevant to us. The important thing is that we want you to buy the right airfare.

You may receive an inexpensive gift. As a new device, that's your first interaction with it, and if it's bad, you'll write off the category without evaluating it. Philips patented air-frying.

And I assume here is where the influencers play a very big role.

One of the things that I love about working with them, is that it's in general very difficult to work with them. Not because they are difficult people, but because authenticity is a big pillar on which influencer marketing really works. Thus, to be authentic, they must be convinced of their message. We work with comparison videos that test products before they create them.

Finally, what is your favourite air-fried dish?

Chips are my weakness. I bring my co-workers chips every few days. I make beetroot, sweet potato, banana, okra, karela, and of course, potato chips.