Diwali 2024: Best Brand Strategies
Published 31 October 2024
Just over a third (34%) of urbanites in India plan to spend more on Diwali this year (YouGov, 2024), with spending estimated to reach 1.85 trillion rupees ($22bn) (Nikkei Asia, 2024). From Zomato’s space-travel-themed ad and Cadbury’s train-waitlist-bypassing campaign, to Sabhyata’s spotlight on working mothers and Lidl’s in-store celebrations, we unpack the top Diwali brand activations.
Zomato’s ‘Out of this World’ Diwali Celebrations
As the Indian Space Research Organisation prepares for its inaugural manned launch in 2026, Indian food delivery service Zomato is spoofing communications commonly seen in movies set in space in its comedic ad.
The video, which has garnered 2.5 million views on YouTube in its first five days, depicts a family communicating with an astronaut while they prepare for Diwali, attempting to create a festival of lights visible from space. Left disheartened after their lamp and fairy light efforts were unsuccessful, the patriarch is comforted by his adult grandchildren with a box of sweets delivered by Zomato. As he opens the box, it blazes with light – confirmed to be visible to the astronaut.
The patriarch then demands that Diwali sweets should be delivered by Zomato to families across the country, illuminating India from space. The ad concludes with Zomato’s festive tagline: “Zomato, your sweets make the nation shine.”
Cadbury’s ‘Confirmed Seat’ Campaign Reunites Families
Recognising that lengthy waiting lists are a frequent pain point in Indian train travel, British chocolatier Cadbury has partnered with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and global ad agency Ogilvy to ensure Cadbury customers are able to return home for Diwali.
A scannable QR code on Cadbury’s Celebrations packaging links to the ‘Confirmed Seat’ microsite, where users can enter their details, the planned journey, and their reason for returning home, to be entered into a draw for a waitlist-free train journey.
Sabhyata Spotlights the Struggles of Working Mothers
More than two-thirds (69%) of Indian working mothers state they have faced workplace discrimination due to their household and familial responsibilities (Nurse Edge, 2023). Leveraging festive marketing for social good, Indian womenswear brand Sabhyata’s Diwali campaign spotlights the struggles of new mothers returning to the workplace after maternity leave.
In the video ad, a new mother struggles to find a spot in her workplace to express breast milk for her son, locking herself in a storeroom under the guise of taking private client calls to do so. Her boss seemingly criticises this decision, saying there are private documents stored in there. He asks her to collect her things – but when she returns to the storeroom to do so, she finds it’s been transformed into a dedicated mothers room.
For more on campaigns and initiatives supporting new mothers, see Year One: Matresence, Medi-Concierges & Post-Partum Self-Care in The Pulse of Parenthood: Retail Trends & Opportunities.
Lidl Reprises British Diwali Celebrations
Serving the 1.8 million Indians living in the UK, selected British stores of German supermarket Lidl are reprising its Diwali celebrations for the fourth consecutive year.
From October 20 to November 3, branches in Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester and London will host Diwali lantern and rangoli (traditional Indian floor art) workshops, as well as offer free henna designs for the hands from local henna artists.
Alongside these physical activations, Lidl’s website features dedicated Diwali recipes, including festive sweets like burfi truffles and almond and cinnamon ladoo, as well as traditional South Asian dishes such as samosas and churumuri.