Bata to step up ad spend to woo younger shoppers

Bata India boosts advertising spend to appeal to younger consumers, leveraging AI for efficient creative production and focusing on digital and regional marketing strategies to enhance brand relevance and premiumisation.

The company's advertising and sales promotion expenditure rose 22% year-on-year in FY26, according to its annual report, with a sharper increase in the second half. The expenditure rose 25% year-on-year in the June quarter of FY27 as Bata sought to sustain consumer engagement and communicate its evolving product portfolio. Digital advertising and marketing accounted for around 45% of its overall marketing spends in FY26.

"If I am reinventing Bata, if there is a new era that is coming, I am pushing my budgets to tell you that this is how we reinvented ourselves," Jasleen Kaur, head of marketing at Bata India, said in an interaction with FE.

The brand is looking to move beyond its traditional perception among consumers, particularly younger shoppers who increasingly seek contemporary designs alongside comfort and convenience. Bata's consumer research indicates that Gen Z is buying established products for these attributes, prompting the company to sharpen its messaging and rethink how it engages with this demographic.

The company has also shifted its creative production to an AI-led model, which it expects to generate annual savings of Rs 1 crore. Rather than treating this as a cost reduction, Bata plans to reinvest the amount in marketing. AI is being used for repetitive tasks such as catalogue advertisements and testing creative variations across consumer groups, reducing work that earlier took five days to as little as five hours, Kaur said.

The change is also allowing Bata's in-house creative team to devote more time to consumer insights and campaign performance, while agencies continue to be involved in brand-building initiatives. The company is using platforms such as Google, Meta, Spotify, YouTube and Hotstar, alongside influencer marketing, to reach younger audiences. Kaur said the choice of platform alone does not determine a campaign's effectiveness, with authentic content becoming increasingly important as younger consumers grow less receptive to overt selling.

Bata is also tailoring its media strategy to regional markets and consumer behaviour across its network of around 2,000 stores. Digital outreach has a greater role in metropolitan markets, while traditional media remains important in smaller towns and during regional festivals. For Durga Puja, the company has increased outdoor advertising, integrating it with digital campaigns to reach consumers participating in street celebrations.

The footwear maker is also testing emerging commerce channels, including quick commerce, but has not adopted an aggressive advertising strategy on these platforms. Its omnichannel network includes 800 stores that fulfil online marketplace orders directly, linking its physical retail presence with online demand.

The marketing push comes as Bata reported a 3.9% year-on-year increase in revenue from operations to Rs 979 crore in Q1 FY27. Net profit rose 23% to Rs 64 crore.