"Digital Is Seen As A Threat To Stationery, But We Leverage It As A Tool": Saumitra Prasad, DOMS Industries

DOMS Industries Ltd came into existence about five decades ago, in 1976, manufacturing art and stationery products. But it was only in 2005 that they launched their flagship DOMS brand. With the added advantage of end-to-end manufacturing, they cracked the Indian market with superior products offered at a competitive price.

In the year 2012, through a strategic tie-up with Italian stationery brand FILA, they took their presence to over 50 countries and by the end of 2023, DOMS became a listed company both on the NSE and BSE. “We had a successful IPO and DOMS continues to grow into a very powerful and popular brand of art and stationery amongst the consumers,” Saumitra Prasad, Chief Marketing Officer at DOMS Industries Ltd, tells us.

The End-To-End Manufacturing Advantage

Even as a marketer, Prasad believes that ultimately, it is superior product that wins. The focus on quality makes communication efforts a lot easier. “The world is a global village and in every category, you’re not just competing with other Indian brands.” Indian consumers are exposed to the best of the world and brands need to offer them the very best to thrive. 

Digital Threat? 

“While a lot of companies see digital as a threat in stationery, we actually leverage it as a tool to connect with consumers.” Children spend a lot of their time on YouTube and DOMS is reaching out to that audience through their channel where they put out content on creating art and using DOMS products to their full potential. Prasad reveals that close to 70% of their marketing spend goes towards digital—a great channel for education, awareness and engagement. 

In professional categories though, digitisation has caused a transition in the kinds of products demanded. “The quantum usage of pens and notebooks has reduced over the years, leading to a rise in other specialised categories like markers and highlighters.” The usage of whiteboard markers, for example, has increased thanks t0 the proliferation of whiteboards in offices, schools and coaching institutes. “There has been no decrease in consumption, but rather a substitution of certain products for others.”

Art For Holistic Development

Prasad notes that in recent years, schools are focussing beyond just academics to co-curricular activities like art and craft. Art has taken precedence as a discipline that helps in the overall development of children. Undoubtedly, it has also been a boon to DOMS’ art portfolio. “We do a lot of offline engagement where we connect with children at touchpoints like KidZania.” At the DOMS Painting Studio, children are taught different art skills and can compete with each other online through the DOMS Art League.

The consumer’s focus on eco-friendliness and sustainability has also led DOMS to devise programs encouraging and complementing those concepts, an important element in their communication strategy. 

Time Is Money 

Insights from across categories show that convenience and speed are essential to garner consumers. “The resource, time, is getting scarce every passing year.” This remains true in stationery too. Innovations like changing the format of colours from liquid to stick and using technology to increase people’s speed of writing have come to the forefront. 

“With their massive curriculums, children have less time to spend on colouring activities.” DOMS’ range of brush pens helps solve that problem by giving them a convenient form with speed to complete the task faster. Prasad also adds that children cannot be satisfied with the same products for a long time and so companies need to be fast and consistent with innovation cycles. 

Even with younger children, at pre-schools and play schools, parents are highly involved, investing time in looking into their kids’ developing needs. Products like grip crayons and jumbo crayons that help get into colouring at a young age are in demand. 

General Trade Rules

In other industries, e-com and Q-com may rule the roost but Prasad tells us that in the case of stationery, the general trade (GT) channel still holds the lion’s share. “GT is also important when expanding distribution into smaller towns and rural areas.” To meet that demand, creating even more value-driven products is essential. “For example, most geometry boxes are priced at over INR 100. But we have a geometry box called Geofine which is priced at INR 75.” The aggressively priced product helps connect with consumers from smaller towns and even rural markets.

Ample Opportunity 

“The stationery domain offers a huge opportunity for continued innovation. Despite having almost two dozen pencil brands, we continue to innovate and develop a lot of new pencils and erasers.” Making products for children means not just looking at functionality but also exciting designs. 

Beyond stationery, DOMS has made strategic acquisitions with Uniclan Healthcare and SKIDOO. This has let them operate in more categories that offer products to their primary audience of children. They’re now heavily investing in categories like diapers, educational toys and school bags.