Kochi: For myG, the next phase of growth is about much more than opening stores in new markets. The Kerala-based digital gadgets, electronics and home-appliances retailer is looking to carry the trust and familiarity it has built in its home market into a much larger South India opportunity.
That requires more than retail expansion. It requires building a brand that consumers in newer markets recognise, remember and eventually consider when they think about electronics and home appliances.
“We have built a strong leadership position in Kerala, and our focus is now on strengthening our presence across South India and taking the myG experience to newer markets,” says myG Chairman A K Shaji.
The company’s ambition, however, is not simply to grow its store network. Shaji says the larger objective is to build a stronger consumer relationship and make myG a top-of-mind brand in its category.
“Our priority is not just to increase the number of stores. We want to build a stronger relationship with consumers and make myG the first brand that comes to their mind when they think about digital gadgets, electronics and home appliances,” he says.
From Kerala leadership to a larger ambition
The expansion comes at a time when the consumer itself is changing. Electronics buyers today are more informed, digitally connected and exposed to a much wider choice of brands and messages.
For myG, this means that product and price alone cannot define the brand proposition.
“Today’s customer is well-informed, digitally connected and expects much more than just a product and a price. They are looking for trust, choice, service, convenience and a better overall experience,” Shaji explains.
This changing consumer environment has also influenced the company’s approach to media.
“Earlier, media planning was largely about reach and frequency. Today, that is only one part of the equation,” he says.
The shift is from simply being visible to creating familiarity and relevance. For a brand expanding into unfamiliar markets, that distinction can be critical.
This is where myG’s growing association with Bigg Boss enters the larger brand story.
Bigg Boss as a brand-building platform
MyG’s relationship with Bigg Boss has evolved over the past two years. The brand initially came on board as an associate before significantly expanding the partnership and becoming the Title Sponsor of Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 7.
The decision was driven by more than the scale of the property.
“Bigg Boss is not just a television programme. It is a property that creates conversations every day,” says Shaji.
That continuing conversation was important for myG because the brand was looking for something beyond conventional advertising exposure. Viewers follow the show across television and digital platforms, discuss developments with friends and family and engage with clips and updates online.
For a retailer attempting to strengthen brand familiarity, that sustained engagement provides an opportunity to remain present in the consumer’s mind over a longer period.
The regional character of Bigg Boss also fits myG’s expansion strategy.
“As we are expanding our presence beyond Kerala into other South Indian markets, a strong entertainment property with language and regional relevance gives us an opportunity to connect with consumers in a much more meaningful way,” Shaji says.
The association therefore became part of a broader market-building effort: using a familiar regional entertainment environment to introduce and reinforce the myG brand.
From sponsorship to integration
The evolution in myG’s relationship with Bigg Boss is perhaps most evident in its approach to integration.
For Shaji, a brand should not simply appear around content. It should find a credible way to become part of the experience.
“We don’t want the brand to simply appear between content. We want to explore opportunities where the brand can become part of the content experience itself,” he says.
That thinking shaped the myG Commoner Contest, one of the most significant activations associated with the partnership.
A specially created myG Zone at a showroom became part of the contest and selection process, creating a direct connection between the brand’s retail environment and the Bigg Boss journey.
The activation became even more significant when Aneesh, selected as the myG Commoner contestant, went on to finish as the Runner-Up of Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 7.
For Shaji, that was the moment when the partnership moved beyond conventional sponsorship.
“The most memorable part was when Mr. Aneesh, who was selected as our Commoner contestant, went on to become the Runner-Up,” he says.
The experience, in effect, gave myG a consumer story that unfolded within the entertainment property itself.
“It was not just a sponsorship anymore. A journey that started from a myG showroom became a journey inside the Bigg Boss house—and finally reached the Runner-Up position,” Shaji says.
The example illustrates the strategic value of integration: the brand was not merely visible during the programme; it became connected to a participant’s journey and gave consumers a reason to interact with the brand.
Measuring beyond visibility
While the emotional and experiential value of such associations is important, myG is also looking at the business impact.
Shaji says the company evaluates reach and visibility alongside brand recall, consumer engagement, campaign response, market-level awareness and, wherever possible, consumer footfall and business impact.
“Our larger question remains the same: did this investment help more consumers know, remember, consider and engage with myG?” he says.
That approach reflects the larger challenge facing myG as it expands.
Awareness is necessary in a new market, but it is only the first step. The brand ultimately needs to convert awareness into consideration and consideration into a consumer relationship.
For a retail business, that relationship can eventually translate into store visits, purchases and repeat engagement.
The South India opportunity
The next challenge is that South India cannot be approached as one homogeneous market.
Language, culture and consumer behaviour vary across states, making regional relevance an important part of myG’s expansion strategy.
Shaji believes the different language editions of Bigg Boss can potentially support this effort by providing the brand with culturally relevant platforms in individual markets.
“Our approach is to use strong regional properties as part of a larger market-entry and brand-building strategy,” he says.
The objective is not simply to replicate the Kerala model elsewhere, but to adapt the brand’s communication to different consumer environments while maintaining the core promise that has helped build myG.
This creates a broader marketing ecosystem in which retail presence, entertainment, digital engagement and consumer participation can work together.
The road ahead
Looking forward, myG sees technology as an important part of making these partnerships more interactive and measurable.
Shaji believes there is an opportunity to connect television, digital, social media, retail and consumer participation in ways that move audiences from watching and engaging to taking measurable action.
“Technology can make integrations more interactive and measurable,” he says.
For brands, that could mean tracking the journey from entertainment exposure to digital interaction, participation, store visits and commerce.
It also points towards a changing definition of sponsorship itself. Reach will remain important, but marketers increasingly want to understand what happens after the audience sees the brand.
“Reach will always be important, but brands increasingly need to understand the complete impact of an association—from awareness and engagement to consideration and business outcomes,” Shaji says.
For myG, that evolution mirrors the company’s own journey.
The brand has built a strong foundation in Kerala and is now looking to translate that equity into a wider South India proposition. Bigg Boss has become one of the platforms helping it make that transition — from visibility to familiarity, from sponsorship to participation, and from a regional presence to a broader brand ambition.
Ultimately, myG’s next chapter will be defined not simply by how many stores it opens, but by how effectively it can establish itself in the minds of consumers across South India.
The challenge is to enter new markets without losing the trust and consumer connection that built the brand in Kerala.
And that makes the company’s South India ambition more than a story of retail expansion. It is a story of a regional brand attempting to evolve into a larger South Indian consumer brand—one market, one experience and one consumer relationship at a time.
