new delhi consumer durable makers expect to clock up to 40 per cent sales growth this festive season by offering freebies and discounts to woo consumers hoping to put behind the woes they faced in the runup to gst rollout manufacturers including sony lg panasonic and haier are pinning hopes on pentup demand post gst after destocking by trade partners in june to keep their sales counter ticking the companies are also loosening their purse strings for marketing campaigns with sony alone earmarking rs 250 crore and panasonic looking to spend 14 times more this season on branding and marketing exercise haier is spending 70 per cent more this year compared to last year in the festive season this year we plan 25 per cent sales growth from august to november 2017 over the corresponding period last year sony india md kenichiro hibi told pti there is a huge demand in the market and the same is expected to rise ahead of the festive season he said adding we plan to invest rs 250 crore towards our marketing activities industry body consumer electronics and appliances manufacturers association ceama said most of the factors point to favourable sales in the festive season pentup demand due to gst and favourable monsoons leading to good harvest shall boost the rural demand for consumer durables ceama president manish sharma said moreover an increase in central employees allowance and the rate cut by rbi in august will further build consumer confidence to drive the sales of consumer durables he added in june the industry saw pregst clearance sale as stockists and trade partners sought to liquidate inventories to avoid losses during transition to the new tax regime bullish on good sales across categories in the festive season lg electronics india cmo amit gujral said we are expecting an upsurge in demand in various categories and have adequately geared up for the same haier which is expecting up to 50 per cent rise in sales this year sees online retail channels contributing to growth besides the traditional retail format overall ecommerce contributes to 10 per cent of our sales and were expecting the festive season to make this contribution more robust said haier india president eric braganza panasonic which is looking at 3040 per cent growth plans to invest 14 times more this season on branding and marketing to draw buyers this will be in the form of tvc commercials print ad inshop brandings digital marketing efforts and hoardings besides other local level belowtheline activities the spend this time is about 14 times that of last year said sharma who is also president and ceo of panasonic india likewise haier india is adopting an integrated marketing approach this year we have increased our marketing spends by almost 70 per cent across all mediums electronic print out of home digital and social and instore branding braganza said the festive season in india has already started in south with onam and will go up to christmas in