Berger Paints To Continue Brand Investments Amid Rising Industry Costs

Berger Paints India plans to maintain its advertising and marketing investments despite growing inflationary pressure and rising input costs affecting the paint industry, according to managing director and chief executive officer Abhijit Roy.

Speaking to Storyboard18, Roy said the company has consistently avoided reducing marketing expenditure even during difficult market conditions.

“We do not sacrifice advertisement budget. In bad times, we still continue to spend as much as is required to be spent,” Roy said.

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Cricket Remains Key Focus:

According to Roy, Berger Paints has followed a long-standing strategy of aligning advertising expenditure with its market share over the last 20 years.

He explained that if the total television advertising spend across paint companies is around ₹1,000 crore and Berger Paints commands a 20% market share, the company would allocate nearly ₹200 crore toward advertising activities.

Roy added that media spending may rise further during periods of stronger sales growth.

Sports partnerships, particularly cricket-related branding, continue to remain an important part of Berger Paints’ advertising strategy.

The company has also maintained a strong presence on news channels, especially during politically significant events such as the recent West Bengal and Kerala assembly elections.

“We decided to put extra money there on the local news channels,” Roy said, adding that news programming accounts for roughly 25% of the company’s yearly media expenditure.

At the same time, Berger Paints has reduced spending on general entertainment channels and redirected a larger share of its media budget towards sports and cricket properties.

The company is expected to dedicate approximately 10-12% of its FY27 advertising expenditure to sports branding.

Roy also said Berger Paints is preparing to launch a fresh advertising campaign created by advertising veteran Abhijit Awasthi’s agency Sideways Consulting.

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Input Costs Continue Rising:

According to Roy, the upcoming campaign will differ from the company’s conventional communication approach.

On the industry environment, Roy said inflationary pressures and the ongoing West Asia conflict have increased overall input costs by around 10-12%, while some categories have seen price hikes reaching 25%.

He noted that solvent-heavy oil-based products such as enamels have been more heavily affected, whereas water-based products have faced comparatively lower impact.

Roy said nearly 70-75% of Berger Paints’ sales currently come from water-based products.

The company is also strengthening its research and development efforts to reduce dependence on imported raw materials and move toward solvent-free and water-based technologies.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Berger Paints reported a 27.75% rise in consolidated net profit to ₹334.77 crore, while revenue from operations increased to ₹2,868.03 crore.