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Tag: Diwali Campaigns

  • Ahead of Diwali, Aviation Body Asks Airlines to Lower Airfares

    The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has intervened to stop steep pricing spikes ahead of the Diwali season as the airline industry prepares for one of its busiest travel times of the year. Amid a spike in passenger demand, the regulator has instructed domestic airlines to maintain fair pricing and expand flying capacity.

    The DGCA said in a statement released on Saturday that it had “proactively taken up the issue with airlines” to make sure travellers aren’t hit with exorbitant ticket costs over the holiday season. It further stated that the action comes after a study of airfare patterns on important routes.

    Airlines Responded to Aviation Body

    Major carriers have announced the deployment of hundreds more flights through October and November in response to the regulator’s advisory. IndiGo, which currently has the most market share in India (64.2%), announced that it would add about 730 flights in 42 sectors.

    Together, Air India and Air India Express will expand their travel schedule by about 486 flights to 20 destinations. SpiceJet plans to roll out 546 more services in 38 sectors. In order to safeguard passengers’ interests throughout the holiday season, the DGCA will continue to exercise strict monitoring over airline pricing and flight capacities, according to a DGCA representative.

    Passengers’ criticism of the DGCA has grown in recent years because to the sharp changes in fares during popular times like Diwali, Christmas, and summer vacations. According to officials, the government has the authority to step in if rates increase significantly, even though airlines are allowed to set their own prices under India’s open skies policy.

    DGCA’s Recent Flights Data

    Domestic airlines carried 1,107.26 lakh passengers between January and August 2025, a 4.99% increase over the same period the previous year, according to DGCA data.

    However, due primarily to monsoon-related interruptions, traffic in August saw a slight decline of 1.4% from July. With a market share of almost 64%, IndiGo remains the market leader in India.

    The Air India Group, which consists of Vistara, Air India Express, and Air India, comes in second with 27.3%. SpiceJet’s market share has decreased to barely 2%, while Akasa Air, the nation’s newest entry, has maintained consistent growth with a 5.4% stake. The combined market share of smaller regional airlines like Fly Big, Fly91, and Star Air is less than 1%.

    Quick Shots

    •DGCA steps in ahead of Diwali to prevent steep airfare hikes
    during the busy festive travel season.

    •Regulator directs airlines to keep ticket prices fair and
    expand flight capacity amid rising passenger demand.

    •Strict monitoring of fares and schedules will continue to
    protect passengers’ interests.

    •Domestic air traffic: 1,107.26 lakh passengers carried from
    Jan–Aug 2025, up 4.99% YoY.

    •August traffic dipped 1.4% due to monsoon disruptions.

  • How to Use Consumer Insights for Designing Effective Targeted Diwali Campaigns: Examples and Actionable Strategies

    This article is contributed by Pranjal Agarwal, India Market Head, Mudrex.

    Diwali is one of the few festivals that is commonly celebrated across India. During this time of the year, people tend to buy new clothes, ornaments, cars/bikes, gadgets, gifts and many more including making new investments, signifying a prosperous year ahead. To capitalise on these age-old traditions, brands from across industries and segments come up with various campaigns targeting their audience to improve their brand image and value, thereby increasing sales. Let’s understand how various brands can use consumer insights to design the perfect campaigns for their target audience. 

    Website and App Analytics 

    Website or App Analytics is key. These analytics help brands in analysing user behaviour, revealing how users interact with their app/website. Key metrics such as demography, and engagement time and behaviour tell you so much about the user like what interests them, what they connect to, their cultural ideology and many more. A/B testing allows you to experiment with different versions of your website or app to determine which performs better in terms of user engagement and conversion. Using these metrics, brands can help create tailored campaigns and enhance their user experience making sure any campaigns for Diwali and any other occasion have the highest engagement rate. 

    Based on the sector your brand is in, you can use specific Diwali trends to drive traffic, sales or volumes. For example, making new investments is one of the biggest traditions in India. If you are a stock broker or any other exchange, waving off the transaction fees during the famous “Muhurat Trading” would be a well-fitted campaign for all your audience. Shopping is another major part of Diwali. To capitalise on this, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart announce sales in the name of “Amazon Great Indian Festival” and “Flipkart Big Billion Days” benefitting both users and brands equally. It is important to find that specific Diwali trend that your brand can capitalise on to improve sales, volumes or traffic. 

    Capturing the Emotional Aspect of Diwali

    Apart from increasing sales or driving volume, brands also create campaigns to build their brand value in the minds of their audience. Given that Diwali has a strong emotional aspect to it —- bringing families together. No amount of discounts, offers or cashbacks can come close to this feeling. Hence, brands building on Cultural insight with localised themes have an edge over others. 

    The Best Use of Customer Insights

    Listening to your customers is one of the best ways to connect and get more such customers. With feedback on what’s good about your product/service, what’s not good, and what more they want, the brand can understand the pulse of the consumers. Not just their feedback but their queries also give a sense of what they are looking for. These insights from your customers help you style your communications and talk to them in their language (be it millennials, GenZ or Boomers) to connect with them better. 

    Concluding Thoughts

    While there are 1000s of brands targeting millions of audiences in many creative ways, the key things that make a Diwali campaign successful is if our brand brought happiness to our consumers in some way or another. Making sure our customers get the best product/service they deserve should be the priority. It would be interesting to see what kind of campaigns we get for this Diwali. Given the increasing use of AI and other tech by brands, this Diwali will surely be a delightful one for both brands and customers. Wish you all a happy and safe Diwali. 

    Top Social Media Strategies for Diwali Promotions in D2C
    Explore Diwali sales with top social media strategies tailored for D2C brands. Engage consumers, increase reach, and drive revenue with festive promotions.
    StartupTalkyVarun Bhardwaj