Gourav Luminaries is an Indian manufacturer and distributor of affordable electrical goods in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. The brand aims at lighting up millions of middle-class homes. The brand has recently signed Mary Kom as their brand ambassador and launched a social media initiative named #DeshKaGourav.
In conversation with Medianews4u, Gaurav Khanna, CEO, Gourav Luminaries Pvt Ltd spoke about #DeshKaGourav campaign, effects of a pandemic on the consumer durables industry, and more.
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“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women,” said Khanna while speaking about #DeshKaGourav campaigns.
The campaign is the brand’s community voice for women empowerment spread across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube that salutes the grit, triumph, and pride of Indian women.
“The network celebrates the women in our country who have been working towards the betterment of the society, are standing out following their passion, their dreams and excelling in their fields. The objective is to reach, inspire and empower as many women as possible,” added Khanna.
The brand signed boxing legend and Rajya Sabha MP Mary Kom as the Brand Ambassador last year.
Speaking about signing Mary Kom as their brand ambassador, Khanna said, “Mary Kom marks the organisation’s transition from a traditional company into a new-age organisation with a distinguished vision and true Indian values. Mary Kom has shattered so many stereotypes, has broken so many records! She is a legend, an inspiration, pride of India. She not only represents the dreams and determinations of hard-working Indian middle-class families but also represents the spirit and power of Indian women. There could have been no one better to represent Gourav and its vision.”
“We are thrilled to have her as our Ambassador at this important milestone in our journey. The brand’s philosophy and vision sync well with her ideas and beliefs. The brand is quality-oriented and economical, caters to honest and hardworking Indian families, and is committed to women empowerment which led to our association,” added Khanna.
Speaking on the strategies followed by the brand to reach the target audience, Khanna said, “We at Gourav Luminaries, constantly strive to bring happiness with our products to as many houses as possible, we are conscious of what message we send out to the world, and how we impact the planet Earth.”
He continued, “We have taken the digital – three-step approach to take our messages to our consumer, Build a strong community of women, Inspire, share knowledge and encourage women to pick up a skill, Support women to run their lives and homes efficiently.”
“We performed fairly well last financial year. 65% of our business came from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities than 58% a year before. Cumulatively we grew 31% YOY,” said Khanna.
The band altered its marketing and advertising approach post-covid.
“Our focus is now on to digitally build a strong community and serve it well. We have cut down our advertising expenses by 30%, and 60% of our budget now goes to digital marketing of our brand on social media platforms. – Our most preferred medium is Digital and word of mouth through our retail sales,” said Khanna.
Speaking about the effects of a pandemic on the consumer durables industry, Khanna said, “The ongoing pandemic has impacted the industry across verticals. We have also faced a slowdown in the market; however, electrical appliances like lightbulb, fans, wires and switchgear have been consumed by people in general irrespective of the pandemic. But since the buying capacity of the people has declined, so has the consumer durable industry witnessed the same.”
Speaking on the manufacturing struggles during the pandemic period and new ways to cope up with it, Khanna said, “It’s been a roller coaster ride post covid. We are facing different types of challenges – extreme inflation in raw material pricing, shortage of primary raw material like IC, the credit crunch in the market, to name a few.
To cope up with the ever-increasing price of raw material – we are trying to find efficient and better ways of manufacturing, move towards automation, cut down on unnecessary expenses so that a minimum hike is passed on to our customers.”
Retail or E-tail – The better pick for consumer durables?
Considering our larger market in Tier 2 & 3 cities, retail works well for us. However, with the world going digital, Gourav also plans to go phygital with our presence soon digitally.
“We are gradually working towards entering the digital world soon wherein people from across the country can access Gourav products from any part of the country,” concluded Khanna.
