Intense Competition In India To Attract Widespread Investment: Ankit Desai, Hershey Company
“Marketing is evolving and traditional and new-age media are complementing each other rather than replacing one another. Both continue to be vital in reaching and engaging consumers effectively,” remarks Ankit Desai, whose marketing leadership in the last year ensured that the Hershey Company in India stayed on a growth trajectory.
The Indian chocolate market was valued at $2.1 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $4.3 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.1 per cent from 2023 to 2030, as per a Verified Market Research report. Desai is optimistic about India’s marketing landscape per se. He highlights the nation’s growing middle class and fierce market competition as factors supporting ongoing investments in marketing. “Competition is super strong in India, and everybody will invest here,” he says.
Growing Marketing Trends
Desai also delves into the importance of resilience and agility in marketing, emphasising the roles of social media, content marketing, and integrated experiential planning. “Staying consumer-centric and authentic in brand messaging is very important in today’s times,” he advises.
For him, prioritising authenticity, consistency, consumer-centricity and adaptability are all important areas for marketers to focus on in order to grow in the times ahead that will be marked by a global slowdown and other uncertainties.
