India is a fascinating market. Its fast-growing population, multi-ethnicity, and variety of consumer segments make it an exciting prospect for brands. But as the country progresses, brands need to adapt their strategies to suit its changing landscape. In this article, we discuss how Indian brands can use traditional concepts of brand strategy to ensure their success in the country.
Branding has become a key factor in today’s business landscape. As the global economy shifts towards digitalization, brands are now being judged on how they are able to engage with their customers. It is essential for Indian businesses to have a brand that resonates with their target audience.
It is equally essential for their marketing managers to take a deep dive into the Indian market and understand how it differs from other markets. Furthermore, India has an extremely complex culture as well as a huge population. Understanding this detail can make all the difference when planning strategies tailored around this particular country’s consumer needs and demands.
The Indian brand Patanjali headed by spiritual guru, Baba Ramdev has been able to generate a turnover of 400 Million in FY 21. It is indeed an interesting case study to learn from and clearly illustrates that young Indian brands can get extremely successful (to the likes of Procter & Gamble, Nestle etc) if they understand how to relate to the Indian audience.
As the Indian economy grows at a rapid rate, brand strategy must evolve to keep pace with market dynamics.
But What are the benefits of brand strategy?
Brand strategy is a plan for a brands systemic development. It tells you who your purpose is. It gives an idea about the objectives of your brand with regards to mindsets, expectations and future demands. It positions your brand in the hearts and minds of people. It identifies your brand personality and it finds the right target audience/ideal customers for your brand. And by doing all of this, your brand stands out to your customers. Brands don’t always evolve very quickly. Once established, they tend to operate at a certain level of excellence and this is why brands are king in consumer goods category. But if your brand strategy needs an overhaul, you need to make appropriate changes every now and then (a re-look).
So what options do businesses have? What can be their next steps?
Let’s explore some strategies that brands should adopt when looking for ways to connect with the Indian consumer:
Although the Indian consumer landscape is quite vast, there has been a significant push towards international brands accelerated by the spread of social media and accessible online e-commerce. This gives rise to multiple value points being created, weather it is price-value, emotional-value, status-value etc. and due to the remarkable positioning of most international brands, they are able to align themselves with their target audience. As social media has given a plethora of choices to the Indian consumer, more the need for value-based offerings.
A great example of value oriented brand is Mc Donald, who delivers halal fillings to more than 200 million customers every year. For them their motto ‘Quality comes first’ has made it one of the preferred options for its Indian consumers. But at the same time, Burger-King has positioned itself in the minds of its customers that it can deliver not only burgers but also US-style recipes to their customers. In the Indian context, value based offerings need your focus and attention because it sets you apart from rest of your competitors for a very distinct reason. However it is very hard to implement in all areas across India which explains why a number of brands have clearly opted out on offering such services in our markets despite having great potential consumers for this kind of products.
The other extreme is status driven brands like Apple and John-Lewis have understood the importance of high price point and deliver what they call premium products at a high cost. This allows the consumer a sense of status among their peers and in some cases offers lifestyle based brand. Even the logo itself has immense status value as brands like Apple give out their logo-stickers along with their products.
Indian consumers aren’t pleased very easily but once satisfied will develop strong brand trust & loyalty. Take for example Nestle’s Maggie. After a national investigation that had the brand take out its products from every shelf across India for more than a year, they quickly gained leadership status in its category. The reason was that every Indian associated the brand as their quick-meal snack form homes to collage campuses. Brands need to work on building brand loyalty through association of an original name while bringing in products based solely on economic benefits without losing its cultural relevance. Unless this can be done, you will be left behind by the competition.
One of the ways to build trust is consistency. Being consistently present in the purview of the consumer is vital as it reinstates the brands positioning in their minds. A good example of this is Amul. Amul has consistently shown-up in T.V. ads, newspapers and hoardings which has cultivated a strong sense of trust not just with the consumers but with all the stakeholders in its supply chain.
No matter how global a company’s business becomes, Indians do not forget their traditions and culture . Hence it is essential for this country to connect with its international audience through such symbols or techniques that they would associate with the goods coming from India even if these were never meant for them in the first place.
For example, brands like Tata Nano , Mercedesy Spicejet and Idea Cellular which over time have shown well-developed cultures in their naming, brand mascots & even colours have done well for this reason because they evoke Indian tradition despite being fully globalised brands. One of the ways this can be done is through proper messaging. Cultural Association can be seen in a brands messaging during the festival seasons. Ads that spark joy during the festive season inculcate a strong presence of culture & tradition which draws the recipient closer to the brand.
While innovation is often considered as an “all or nothing” proposition, the truth is far more nuanced. Along with keeping it grounded in tradition, Indian brands need to consistently innovate their products & tie these innovations to something localized, they are expected to use locally. This has worked wonders for brands such as Tata motors and Titan Coils , which created very innovative theme marketing based solely on local heritage thus allowing them connect better with many niche markets even if they were a fully global company.
On a similar note, brands that have managed to create local market value without compromising on the core idea of their product itself has been fairly few & far between. Many international giants such as Redington and Esprit found themselves in this position early only to succumb later because they tried too hard for Indian eyeballs which favoured large scale name clones or cheap knock offs over actual creations from companies with good craftsmanship.
As social media has connected us all in a way, there is a constant need for a brand to relate to the end consumer. This has been the stepping stone for many international brands that have successfully Indianised their board of directors & thus managed to connect on a personal level with consumers.
The Internet has changed the business environment drastically, yet it hasn’t managed to lessen our demand for authenticity. On this front, while some market-driven consumer services like Flipkart are appearing more genuine because they actually source straight from manufacturers in India, others such as Google Maps’ voice command feature (introduced in 2010) , introduced Indianised-voice replies to questions, map locations etc.
To summarise, the Indian market is huge and diverse with a growing consumer base. There are many different brands in the market today competing for the same customer. Adding to that the country has over 1.3 billion people, and with the emerging economy, multiple user groups with multiple cultures, beliefs and an evolving audience that are influenced by international trends but are rooted in traditional values, is a challenging task in itself. It will require a lot of research, testing and execution to create a good identity for your product or service.
That being said, it is more easy than ever to reach out to a consumer and understand their pain points. It is also easier to obtain valid market data to corelate and solve their problems. Therefore , brand positioning and marketing strategy is now more important than ever before, as we need to start thinking & designing for Indians first. Understanding their needs and wants helps us understand how to position ourselves in the market place so that we can meet customer satisfaction with a truly Indian flavour!