Finolex Cables launches new TVCs with Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani

The company’s president of sales and marketing talks about the new campaign and the attempts to capture new markets.

Finolex Cables recently announced that it would be appointing Bhool Bhulaiyyaa 2 co-stars Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani as its brand ambassadors. The Pune-based company has also released an ad, as a part of its 360-degree campaign, featuring the two actors.

Over a Zoom call, Amit Mathur, president of sales and marketing, Finolex Cables, tells afaqs! that the company appointed the two actors in a bid to be more appealing to younger audiences. The ad was created by Enormous, and the brief given to the agency was to highlight the B2C product categories that Finolex is diversifying into.

“We hold a leadership position with wires and cables, but don’t have much market share in other areas. We also manufacture fans, switches, lighting water heaters and immersion rods. The brief was to create consumer awareness about the other categories that we have a presence in,” says Mathur.

Finolex Cables’ quarterly earnings report is a testament to how well the company has been doing. In Q3 FY22, Finolex Cables earned a revenue of Rs.972.9 crore, registering a 17% growth year-on-year.

Electrical cables & wires witnessed a growth of 19%, while communication cables was impacted by falling fibre prices. Optic fibre cable volumes grew by over 80% during the quarter.

Mathur mentions that there will be two more TVCs for wires and lighting, as a part of the campaign. The company is also planning to ramp up its social media presence by being active on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. (He adds that Facebook, as a medium, is now obsolete.)

Part of the visibility efforts also include advertising presence on entertainment channels such as Sony TV and Star. Finolex will also be running ads on regional language channels, and the TVC will be available in six languages.

The company is also going to get increased visibility with the help of signage. It is planning to change almost 40,000-50,000 shop boards with pictures of Aaryan and Advani, along with the tagline ‘exceeds expectations’.

Though the assumption is that Finolex is mostly a B2B brand, Mathur disagrees. “Over 80% of our business comes from our B2C products. We also work with telecom and government companies for our communication products (fibre optic cables for Internet connectivity), but that part is only a small contribution to our business.”

“The demand from the retail market was mostly for our wires and cables, but we wanted more market share in other categories too, and that’s why we launched lighting, switches, fans, etc.”

He also emphasises on the company’s desire to reach Tier-II and III cities. “We have also launched low-ticket products over the last two years, which include switches, door bells and immersion rods. There’s been a big market for immersion rods over the past 2-3 years, and that’s why we diversified into water heaters and this category.”

Mathur tells us that the company is also making home devices that are IoT-enabled. That product range includes smart fans or lights which can be controlled with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home.

“In Tier-I cities and cities like Hyderabad and Pune - there is demand for these products, especially from IT professionals.”

Mathur informs that in the past, people would use whatever fans were installed, without worrying about the look. But that is changing now.

“Now, irrespective of whether an existing installed product is working or not, people want to upgrade it every few years. They may upgrade to a model that saves more power or one that is IoT-enabled. This has given rise to a sector we like to call ‘fast moving electrical goods’ or FMEG.”

New products within the FMEG sector grew by around 44% in value in the last quarter, according to the company’s earnings report.

During the COVID pandemic, the company’s business did see a slump, as people were not renovating their homes or moving out. But that is changing now. People are now taking a more active interest in various aspects of their homes, when it comes to remodelling efforts, says Mathur.