BRAND MANAGEMENT IN INDIA: THREE GOLDEN RULES
The Indian worldview, not to mention its brandscape, differs profoundly from other markets. In my fourteen years here, I have not encountered a single brand that did not require significant modifications to positioning and marketing before it succeeds in India. This, of course, does not preclude the feasibility of a global brand idea—Nike should breathe a “Just Do It” spirit everywhere. But, to maximize relevance and trigger loyalty that results in a sustainable price premium, global brands must appreciate Indian cultural and operational realities. At the risk of dramatic oversimplification, there are three golden rules to which marketers must be sensitive before landing in this market.
MAXIMIZE PUBLIC CONSUMPTION TO JUSTIFY PRICE PREMIUMS
In India, a society shaped by tradition and ambition, consumers regard brands as tools for success. Status, the primary currency of upward mobility, is rooted in societal recognition, generating acknowledgment for one’s ability to scale the socioeconomic hierarchy. This is why brands that, directly or indirectly, are publicly consumed are able to command huge price premiums relative to goods used in private or within the house. As I highlighted earlier, all leading mobile phone brands are international. The leading household appliance brands are, without exception, cheaply priced domestic names.
Internal vs. External Benefits
The public display imperative leads to fundamental positioning differences versus what works in Western markets. As a general rule, benefits should be externalized, not internalized. Even for luxury goods, unadulterated individualism—reinforcing “what I want, how I feel” irrespective of societal consequences—does not work. Bath gels should not promote sensorial indulgence in the shower; they should help the user to start busy days with a kick.
Beauty products must help a woman move forward and enhance her ability to open doors professionally or be admired as a great wife or mother. Automobiles should make a statement about a man on the way up. BMW has successfully fused its global “ultimate driving machine” proposition with an Indian declaration of ambition.
Display and Business Models
It’s worth repeating that public display is also a critical consideration in shaping business models. One more time: Starbucks successfully established itself as a public place in which professional tribes gather to proclaim affiliation with the new-generation elite. Likewise, both Pizza Hut and Baskin Robbins have built mega franchises rooted in out-of-home consumption. (No Indian is willing to pay ₹400 to eat a tub of ice cream while watching an OTT show.)
SIMPLIFY COMMUNICATIONS/BENEFITS TO ENHANCE COMPREHENSION
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Indians, irrespective of income or geography, are overwhelmed—yet excited—by the explosion of brands, both local and international. Twenty years ago, a landline was the only way to make a telephone call; today, there are more than three hundred brands of mobile devices, ranging from ₹1,500 basic models to state-of-the-art smartphones.
Making matters worse, India’s media landscape is extremely cluttered. According to a study by WPP’s MindShare, a large media-buying and -planning agency, the average Mumbai resident is exposed to three times as many ads in one day as UK consumers. In Delhi, television screens, mostly owned by Times OOH, are ubiquitous—in metros, elevators, restaurants, building exteriors, locker rooms, and bathroom stalls.
Direct is Best
Complicated messages therefore are not easily digested, even among the most brand-literate subsets of the population. Consistent messages must be conveyed directly, requiring as little cognitive processing as possible. Advertising must be ruthlessly single-minded about the visualization of key benefits, leveraging demos as creative ideas—that is, slice-of-life formats that dramatize product performances in extreme circumstances and so on. Celebrities must be carefully selected so that their star attributes reinforce a core brand proposition. (In nine cases out of ten, celebrities should be Indian. Unlike Japan, Indian consumers are profoundly nationalistic and relatively unfamiliar with Caucasian personalities, with the exception of superstars like Lionel Messi, Robert Downey Jr., or Cristiano Ronaldo.)
To conform to the simplicity mandate, heavy mass media—television and print that is passively consumed and seen by many people—is ideal. India’s untamed landscape requires that brands be created from scratch; television is flexible enough to forge broad-stroke equity and brand character. Digital media, actively digested, is increasingly critical to deepening engagement and loyalty but, even for high-involvement/heavy search categories such as automobiles or luxury, television remains indispensable.
