Foreign brands looking to enter the Indian market, not only concentrate on the media campaigns but also ensure that their products are ‘glocalized’. The term glocalization is very common in today’s date. A combination of both localization and globalization, this term describes a product or service that is distributed globally and also makes certain that it is well-fitted for the local market. Adopting language and local culture to best appeal to the market at large.
In the past, many global brands formulated strategies based on understanding the customers, assessing brand awareness in India, and also distinguishing how customers in new markets behave differently. This exercise continues today on a much larger scale using extensive in-depth studies for the launch. Some even take measures on revamping existing products and others change their sale patterns.
Looking back in time, global brands that entered India have a history of over 200 years.
It first started with several European and American brands in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s showcasing brands in India. This era was known as the Colonial Beginnings & Early Global Brands in India. Some of these brands were: Lever Brothers (Hindustan Unilever) GlaxoSmithKline (now GSK), Nestle, Imperial Tobacco Company (now just ITC), Colgate Palmolive, Cadbury (now a part of Mondelez), Bata among others. And till date, these brands are still recognized as the most successful consumer product companies in India.
Although the brands mentioned above are international, the marketing campaigns used by them were and still are very local. Pinning and targeting the end user, either with visual illustrations of the brand or emphasizing on the durability and pricing of the product to suit the Indian consumer.
Let’s take a look at a few:
Lever Brothers (now known as Hindustan Unilever)
William Hesketh Lever began manufacturing soaps in England in 1884. In 1888, Lever began selling separately wrapped soap ‘tablets’ known as Sunlight Soap.
Sunlight Soap used a very prominent campaign in India highlighting Lord Vinshu on his Garud, giving it a brand slogan of ‘The Pinnacle Of Purity Vishu Garud Wahan’. Today, Sunlight Detergent Liquid, Sunlight Detergent Powder and Sunlight Bar are predominantly used in parts of West Bengal and Kerala.
Colgate Palmolive
Colgate is owned and manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive, an American worldwide consumer products company. It has been one of the most trusted and recognized brands for decades. Not just with the older generation, but also with the young, when it comes to oral care. The brand has faced large amounts of competition over time but has fought back effectively to regain market share.
Bata
Owing to its reputation for supplying good quality shoes, Bata provides well-designed products and focuses on durability and price. This marketing strategy of Bata has been a game changer in India for decades, where the rural population looks for reasonable alternatives.
Today, India is seeing a vast transformation with the entries of a large number of global brands. These brands are not just working on marketing campaigns that announce their arrival but are also moulding their products to suit Indian tastes.
The fall-through trend now is leaning toward brands collaborating with Indian counterparts to help ‘Indianize’ their brand. With such high competition, brands keep revisiting their marketing strategies to be well in tune with the Indian market and ‘Indianizing’ of their products.
