Philips India Shifts to 100% Digital-First Marketing Approach

Philips India will be entirely transitioning to a digital-first model by 2025, and will not be committing any advertising spend on TV for its personal health segment. The transition will still include harnessing OOH activations and some ground activations that are aimed at creating stronger consumer engagement, Shukla explained to about the launch of the Philips Avent electric breast pump. 

“For us, TV spend is zero,” Shukla said. “We did one campaign in 2024 and recognized TV is not working." Instead, the brand will prioritize attention-driven content, platform-specific targeting and work with an authentic creator."

Platform selections will be category-based - for example, YouTube for mother and childcare with in-depth, educational content, Instagram for beauty, and a combination of channels for male grooming. The brand focuses on authenticity and relatability working only with creators who produce authentic, relevant content. There will also be use of endorsers, so if relevant, there will be a celebrity element such as cricketer Virat Kohli as an endorser for the men's grooming range.

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OOH advertising is being valued again, especially with Gen Z customers. Pop-up activations and large format hoardings will also be used in OOH to support digital. On-ground activations - for example, walking around college units for brand One Blade and getting visibility into maternity hospitals - will continue with this brand, and be part of its digital plans.

Philips is also dedicating resources to advanced analytics, such as synthetic control models, dark market testing and platform data, to measure the effectiveness of campaigns. “We’re working through getting an instinct for data; it is a lot of analytical work we’ve initiated,” said Shukla.

The decision represents continued investment in precision targeting, consumer attention, value-for-money in media planning, at a time when the marketing landscape is rapidly changing and evolving.