Around one-third of Indian chief marketing officers (CMOs) participated in a survey said they are hopeful of V-shaped recovery of their industries on the back of performance of the agriculture sector and increasing demand of the FMCG products, according to a report.

About 23 per cent of them expect the economy to likely rebound in two years, said the report by Octane Research conducted with over 250 leading CMOs and leaders from the Indian industry.

According to it, only 15 per cent of India’s CMOS expect their industry to have a delay in rebound with a W-shaped recovery.

The report was a part of its research study to gain first-hand insights and perspective on outflanking the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Octane in a statement.

“As many as 35 per cent of India’s CMOs are hopeful their industry will have a V-shaped recovery and further boost the economy,” the Octane research report said, adding, this relatively positive sentiment for their industry is based on the farm sector’s performance, coupled with a reliance on industries catering to essential commodities and FMCG that experience a comparatively inelastic demand.

The report also highlights that Indian CMOs responded to the challenge of the lockdown by steering their mindset and strategy to a “Digital First” approach.

“They proactively leveraged technology to reach out to consumers online, engaged them with digital marketing — to encourage purchases via self-owned and third-party e-commerce platforms. They also invested in post-purchase redressal systems in order to better serve consumers and resolve their issues,” it added.

The better sentiments of Indian CMOs on the recovery of their industry may also be driven by increased internet penetration, which is opening up new avenues for marketers to cost-effectively increase consumer reach via e-commerce in urban and rural markets amidst limitations imposed by pandemic, it said.

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