How culture, AI and brand building can turn festive momentum into sustained growth

At Social Samosa’s Festive Marketing Camp 2026, the panel, ‘The Festive Marketing Economy: Connecting Attention, Commerce and Long-Term Brand Growth’, brought together Tamisha Sajnani , Director, Integrated Brand Marketing, KFC India; Madan Kamath , VP & Head of Marketing, HomeLane; Anushree Dewen , Head of Marketing & Innovation, Godrej Foods Ltd; Pushkar Gupte , Head of Industry, CPG, Google India; and Amit Tilekar , Chief Marketing Officer, Wonderchef Home Appliances Pvt. Ltd. The session was chaired by Sahil Shah , CEO, Dentsu Creative Isobar. It examined how brands can convert festive attention into business outcomes while also building demand beyond the festive period. The discussion covered cultural relevance, AI-led discovery, category creation, consideration cycles, attribution, brand building and the balance between festive sales and long-term growth. Opening the discussion, Shah noted that festive is one of the most intense periods in the Indian marketing calendar, with consumer attention, purchasing intent and media investments increasing during the season. He questioned whether the sales spike during the period always represented incremental growth, particularly as consumer journeys now move across creators, social platforms, search, marketplaces and quick commerce. For brands like KFC, converting cultural relevance into business outcomes comes by deliberately moving away from traditional brand behaviour and towards a more human approach. “Because how else will brands differentiate themselves? Everyone has access to AI now. The question of who you are as a brand is therefore going to become increasingly important,” Sajnani said, referring to the growing use of AI in marketing. “The more AI you use, the more human you need to get.” Sajnani noted that brands should look at consumer behaviour around the occasion and identify moments where it can participate authentically. She added that simply adopting festive cultural cues without relevance to the brand could hurt its positioning. AI, discovery and the changing purchase journey The conversation then moved to the role of AI in consumer discovery. Gupte said AI should not be viewed as replacing traditional consumer journeys, but as a tool that simplifies the process of gathering and evaluating information. He noted, “AI is a tool that aids the decision-making process by surfacing relevant answers based on the questions consumers have in mind. This is the trend we are seeing across AI-led tools.” Gupte said consumers continue to use several platforms and sources before making a purchase decision, with AI helping bring information together in a more conversational manner. He also distinguished between creating demand and helping consumers act on existing intent. He said AI can help shape intent towards a purchase, but generating demand remains a key role for marketers. “When there is clear consumer intent, smart brands can guide consumers through the purchase cycle and drive conversion. However, the bigger stake is bringing consumers into the funnel in the first place, generating interest and creating demand before they reach the purchase stage.” Dewen said AI is also changing discovery by making information easier for consumers to access and understand. She added that the fundamentals of product quality remain critical, particularly in food, where festive trials need to translate into repeat purchases. She said, "brands need to focus on sustaining demand after the festive period rather than only maximising the seasonal spike." From festive spikes to long-term growth For Wonderchef, Tilekar said festive demand differs across categories. While categories such as mixer grinders may be driven by replacement demand, newer categories such as coffee machines require brands to build awareness and shape consumer behaviour over a longer period. He said festive marketing therefore needs to address both immediate demand and longer-term category development. Tilekar noted that 45% of the brand’s revenue comes during the 60-65 day festive period, but said this does not mean marketing investments should simply be concentrated in those weeks. Instead, brands need to evaluate what happens after the festive window. “One of the ways of measuring festival impact is how probably this new set of categories are behaving after the festival window is over,” said Tilekar. He also said communication and consumer experience should not be compromised during the season. For HomeLane, Kamath said festive periods provide an opportunity to strengthen the brand’s cultural relevance around a specific consumer need - getting home interiors completed on time. The category is different from those where consumers make quick festive purchases, as home interiors involve longer consideration and planning cycles. Brand versus performance The panel also discussed whether marketers should prioritise immediate festive sales or protect long-term brand value. Sajnani said KFC has at times prioritised short-term sales targets, but the resulting data showed the limitations of that approach. She added that repeated reliance on discounts can eventually affect both brand and performance outcomes. She noted, “It's not an option, brand versus performance. Performance is not going to come if you don't have brand.” Tilekar said communication is one area he would not compromise on during the festive period, even as performance spends increase. He also highlighted service as an important part of the festive consumer experience, particularly when demand and operational pressure increase. On measurement, Gupte said marketers are becoming more sophisticated about attribution, but consumer journeys remain difficult to measure because they involve multiple platforms and touchpoints. He said, “The consumer today is fairly unpredictable. You're not going to see a linear journey from awareness to consideration to purchase decision.” He said relying only on last-click attribution may not provide a complete picture of what influenced a consumer. “So just leaving it to potentially the last-click attribution may not be the right thing to do because you don't know what has influenced the consumer more.” Speaking on the role of discounts in driving festive demand, Kamath added, “In most cases, a discount-led strategy only adds to the share of noise rather than creating incremental demand. A brand-led approach, however, can create demand. In our case, we see a spike during festive periods because the occasion is important and our brand promise helps drive better conversions, rather than discounts alone." The panel concluded that festive marketing needs to go beyond maximising a short-term sales spike. When asked what brands should retain after the festive period, Dewen said, “I think new consumers and a lot of trust.” Kamath pointed to referrals and word of mouth, while the rapid-fire round saw Sajnani choose commerce over culture, Kamath choose differentiation over discounts, Dewen choose loyalty over trial, Gupte say “Attention leads to intent,” and Tilekar choose premiumisation over penetration. Shah concluded that festive remains a significant commercial opportunity, but the focus should be on making the seasonal spike contribute to growth beyond the festive window.