Festive confectionery ad spends surge 10–25% as brands bet big on rural revival, digital push and emotional storytelling
DS Group, Mondelez, and Parle Products eye double-digit festive growth, with marketers citing strong consumer sentiment, rural demand, and premium gifting as key drivers.
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The country’s leading confectionery players are going all out this festive season, ramping up advertising spends and doubling down on digital activations, on-ground campaigns, and emotional storytelling to capture heightened consumer demand.
From DS Group’s culturally resonant launches to Mondelez’s personalized gifting innovations and Parle Products’ focus on rural and urban revival, the industry is collectively betting on growth in the range of 14–25% this year.
Arvind Kumar, Senior General Manager, Marketing, Confectionery at DS Group, said the company is aligning its festive push with evolving consumer sentiment.
“Our focus this festive season is aimed at maximising our impact, building stronger consumer relationships, and driving growth, especially for our exciting new product lines. Our budgets are similar to last year and strategically aligned with the positive consumer sentiment and the evolving market landscape,” he noted.
Highlighting DS Group’s innovation-led approach, Kumar pointed to the recent launch of Pulse Golmol (in the ‘My Mushak, My Wish’ campaign during Ganesh Mahotsav). "There is a strong digital push with influencer collaborations, festive-themed content, and interactive online contests. This approach allows us to connect with consumers in a way that is both meaningful and innovative,” he added.
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The group is leaning heavily on phygital engagement this year: driving high-impact consumer engagement through on-ground activations and localized in-store promotions, designed to strengthen brand recall and connect directly with audiences. These efforts are amplified by a data-driven digital strategy that leverages AI for personalized communication, influencer collaborations, and human-centric storytelling, Kumar explained.
Projecting buoyant demand ahead, he added, “The latter half of 2025 is poised to be a pivotal time for the FMCG industry, with expectations for significant growth.
We are expecting a growth of 20–25% in the second and third quarters of FY 2025-26.” Kumar emphasized that DS Group is especially focused on tier 2 and tier 3 markets where rising disposable incomes are creating new opportunities.
For Mondelez India, gifting remains the heartbeat of festive marketing. Nitin Saini, Vice President – Marketing underlined how Mondelez is elevating festive gifting with both personalization and premiumization. “We are expanding the festive gifting experience through innovations such as Cadbury Studio and also offering consumers personalized and premium gifting choices. Alongside our much-loved range including Celebrations, Silk, and Bournville, we remain committed to meeting the evolving preferences of our consumers,” he said.
The confectionery giant is also leveraging quick commerce.
Parle Products, too, is optimistic about this year’s demand. Mayank Shah, Vice President said improving rural and urban sentiment is boosting confidence.
“We are looking at increasing our ad spends and primarily that's because we are seeing improved demand coming in. Rural demand was going strong, but there was some slowdown in urban demand earlier. Since last one quarter, we have seen revival in urban demand and with both urban as well as rural demand going up and improving, we see a very good festive sales happening this time,” Shah explained.
Government concessions are also playing a role.
“What is also adding to the entire revival in urban demand is the tax concessions given by government. There's also a lot of positivity in the market, given the concessions which government has announced in terms of reduction in GST, rationalisation of GST slabs and stuff like that. So we are very hopeful about festive demand,” he added.
Backing this optimism with investment, Shah said, “We would be at least increasing our ad spend by 10 to 15% this festive season. A good part of that would be digital.” Campaigns are already in play across India. “Currently as we speak, we have our campaigns going on in Kerala for Onam, another around Teachers’ Day, and more initiatives in urban markets,” he said.
Festive Demand Unfazed by Trump Tariffs
On the Trump tariffs and consumer choices, Shah said the impact on domestic demand will be minimal but noted a shift towards Indian brands.
“Firstly, we are not seeing a major impact of the same on domestic demand. But I definitely see consumers choosing Indian brands over American counterparts. There is a good amount of willingness to try Indian items, and people are moving towards swadeshi brands, doing away with imported or foreign labels. That also is helping Indian brands improve their sales,” he added.
Shah also underlined that traditional mediums like radio continue to matter in certain markets.
Looking ahead, Shah expects Parle’s festive growth to outpace last year. “We were seeing high single-digit growth in the last year. We are looking at about mid double-digit, around 14–15% growth coming in this year,” he said.
Together, these narratives show a confectionery sector buoyed by consumer optimism, rural momentum, and innovative campaigns.
