Health-conscious behavior has enhanced and broadened into a holistic wellness mindset. New content formats, like short-form video, a decentralized landscape where individual creators have garnered consumer attention and engagement, and new engagement mechanisms like gamification have become powerful tools for brands aiming to engage consumers in exciting, fun, interactive, relevant ways, says Chandan Mukherji, Director and Executive Vice President of Strategy, Marketing and Communication.
Consumer awareness about environmental sustainability is increasing in India, particularly among the younger generation. Brands are moving beyond one-size-fits-all personalization, investing in AI-driven insights to offer tailored and relevant experiences to each consumer, according to Mukherji.
In 2025, Mukherji believes people will look for more meaningful substance, authentic experiences, enjoyment, variety and healthier options. Sustainability and environmental responsibility will focus on zero-waste practices, regeneration, and eco-friendly packaging.
In a conversation with Storyboard18, Mukherji talks about the highlights of 2024 for Nestle, experience economy and more.
Edited excerpts:
What were the key highlights for you and your teams in 2024?
Our teams continued to strengthen the long term equity of our brands, addressing the human, cultural, and category nuances of the diverse India by creating content that resonates with these audiences, for MAGGI, NESCAFE, KITKAT, MUNCH, MILKMAID, and other brands.
The organization was recognized through several awards for brand leadership, creative effectiveness, media innovation, data analytics, communication excellence, and short-form creative content formats. With the growth in influencer marketing, we have seen some strong results exceed FMCG benchmarks in advertising and consideration.
We leveraged data signals using AI to enable real-time marketing and target consumers at the right time using relevant creatives. Ask Nestlé reached out to over 40 million parents since its inception to provide information on nutrition, recipes, meal planning, etc. Some products were launched that contribute to protein requirements of consumers, such as MAGGI Nutrilicious Besan Noodles, MAGGI Professional Plant-Based products, and Nestlé a+ Unsweetened Greek Yogurt.
Our focus was across the spectrum – from leveraging first-party data for full-funnel advertising through e-commerce to placement positions on short-form platforms, to click to messaging platforms for search where a intent based user could directly connect with our bot to get recipes, information, etc. This builds a strong canvas for learning and scaling up.
What defining trends stood out for you in 2024?
In 2024, consumer behavior has been shaped by evolving social, economic, and technological influences, leading to shifts in preferences, attitudes, actions and expectations. The experience economy has reached new heights, as consumers increasingly seek unique experiences that offer novelty, personalization, variety, shareability, and exclusivity.
With economic uncertainties, mainstream consumers are demonstrating greater financial prudence, being more cautious in their spending habits and looking for greater value.
Businesses are witnessing sustained premiumization in some categories while tightening spends in others. Brands are increasingly adopting premiumization and value-up opportunities, attaching high perceived value to their products to attract discerning consumers.
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The pandemic-induced rise of remote and hybrid work has solidified into a long-term expectation, with more fluid work-life boundaries, on-the-go lifestyle, and growth in out-of-home consumption.
Health-conscious behavior has enhanced and broadened into a holistic wellness mindset. New content formats, like short-form video, a decentralized landscape where individual creators have garnered consumer attention and engagement, and new engagement mechanisms like gamification have become powerful tools for brands aiming to engage consumers in exciting, fun, interactive, relevant ways.
Consumer awareness about environmental sustainability is increasing in India, particularly among the younger generation. Brands are moving beyond one-size-fits-all personalization, investing in AI-driven insights to offer tailored and relevant experiences to each consumer.
There’s a massive demand for brand authenticity and transparency. This trend reflects a shift toward meaningful relationships over transactions.
Generative AI has transformed creativity and productivity, allowing businesses to generate content, designs, and even complex analytics at scale. More granular brand initiatives that resonates with regional languages, culture, and values have also gained traction.
How did the rise of AI and generative AI impact your industry this year? Can you sum it up in 3-5 points?
AI-based tools are increasingly having a high impact on marketing processes, ideation, content creation, media deployment based on active signals and engagement.
AI-Powered Creative Ideation: Creative ideation and conceptualization are becoming richer and faster.
Quicker Insights: Rapid development of concepts, prototypes, and stimuli allows for shorter lifecycles in consumer research, aided by faster testing methodologies.
Synthetic Personas: The creation of synthetic personas will play a role in enhancing consumer research and personalization.
Asset Development: Virtual production, custom modeling, and scalable asset development are becoming more mainstream.
Hyper-Personalization: Generative AI enables hyper-personalized recommendations, targeted ads, and AI-inputted marketing campaigns, enhancing consumer experiences.
What disruptive trends will take the spotlight in 2025?
Building on breakthroughs in 2024, AI is expected to transition from initial or experimental use cases to more mainstream business adoption. As generative AI matures, it will become a tool for democratizing creativity, analytics involving complex data sets, and enabling efficient production.
The demand for AI solutions that cater to India’s multilingual population will step up further, with technologies like language translation, AI chatbots, and voice assistance tailored to regional languages. These technologies are bridging the language gap in digital access, allowing a larger segment of India’s population to benefit from digital services.
People will look for more meaningful substance, authentic experiences, enjoyment, variety and healthier options. Sustainability and environmental responsibility will focus on zero-waste practices, regeneration, and eco-friendly packaging.
More technology convergence is also expected to enhance consumer experiences and relationships.
What is your New Year’s resolution on a professional and personal front?
New Year’s resolutions today reflect a changing world where people are focusing less on superficial aspects and more on meaningful, values-based, long-term goals and intentions. On the professional front, my resolution is to drive sharper talent development of the team in terms of width and depth of perspectives. On the personal front, my resolution is to integrate some time for mindful wellness into my schedules.
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