kolkata indias retail chains are set to increase their marketing and promotional expenditure for the festive season shopping starting next month in an attempt to revive footfalls and consumer spending after their just concluded endofseason sales floppedapart from discounts lifestyle and apparel retailers plan to showcase the widest range of new products on their shelves over the next four months their busiest time in terms of revenuethe festive season starts with onam in september and goes on through durga puja dussehra and diwali in october before concluding around the new yearlifestyle max arrow us polo association calvin klein tommy hilfiger sephora and vijay sales are increasing their marketing budget by at least 1520 for the festive season others including spencers retail natures basket and puma are doubling it over last year film star sonam kapoor has been roped in to endorse the spencers chain and natures basket advt negative consumer sentimentthere will be heightened marketing and advertising this year and the spend will be 1520 more than what we usually do during the festive season said j suresh md of arvind lifestyle brands these are difficult times and consumer sentiment has been tilted towards the negative for some time now so we need to keep the brand afresh in the minds of consumers arvind lifestyle brands runs over 1300 stores including brands arrow tommy hilfiger and aeropostale lifestyle retail has earmarked a higher marketing budget for the next four months managing director vasanth kumar saidthe recently concluded endofseason sale was flat the next four months we have to drive consumption which has been largely down this year he saidfood and grocery retailer spencers retail is investing heavily in marketing and advertising to increase visibility in a crowded market and engaging with consumers to get their attention said managing director devendra chawlathis also allows us to leverage traditional and digital mediums like instagram to connect with consumers in an omnipresent way said chawlagerman sports wear retailer puma india md abhishek ganguly said it is launching the highest number of products this season about 20 more than usual to drive footfalls advt shoppers have stayed away from purchases over three quarters due to liquidity issues weak job market distress among rural households a volatile stock market and overall poor sentiment in the economy there was a spike in sales during independence day due to bigger discounts but the footfalls fell drastically thereaftermoodys investors service recently lowered indias gdp growth forecast for the current year to 62 from 68 however consumer sentiment is expected to revive from september due to the festive season lower interest rates for home loans which should put more disposable cash in the hands of consumers and a normal monsoon that will revive rural consumptionitc executive director b sumant said while consumption is still slow this quarter it may revive as the monsoon improves and the governments recent structural initiatives boost sentiment although smartphones and refrigerators have largely bucked the slowdown trend this year electronic retailers are not taking