Ample foreign brands are available in India. With the entry of many foreign brands, do you think local brands are struggling or are local brands afraid of foreign brands? Please share your opinions..
According to me the Indian brands don’t fears foreign brands but ya its true that they are not benchmarked against global stander of quality. And all above it the main point is proper marketing and price of the Indian products. we have lots of products witch are the big names in Indian market but still they are not in reach of middle class and lower middle class people's and also not easily available. Consumer getting the same quality in foreign brand's on low cost and they are easily available.. and if talk about upper middle class people they are totally impressed with media witch is creating hype of foreign products coz they are doing their proper marketing rather then Indian products. But slowly slowly consumer is turning to the local products it will take time but Indian product will get consumers not only in India but in abroad also By
Ajay Barve, Sub Editor/Reporter, Webdunia12 07 2009 05:16:18 +0000
Every brand has its own consumer base. It is only when a salaried person becomes and entrepreneur or an entrepreneur becomes a businessman or a businessman becomes an Industrialist when the shift in brand usage takes place.. Its purely peer pressure or a need to change the image!!
I do not think that we have any fear psche or any inferiority in terms of the foreign brands, its purely their visibility across the globe that makes them a heavyweight!! We are also reaching out to the world and we would also be a formidable brand stable that the world will be very soon wary of! :)
Local brands fear foreign brands generally, coz the foreign brands enter the local market capturing their share, but it is interesting when foreign brands start fearing local brands.
one case studies where local brand was feared by foreign brands was Thumbs-up, which was gradually bought over by Coke, as coke feared the competition from Thumbs-up.
“India remains the most important destination for international brands outside their home markets due to its solid economic fundamentals and growth opportunities.” Several marque brands in different segments, including fashion, apparel, footwear, watches, sportswear, sport equipment, luggage and home furnishings have entered India in the past two years either through joint venture route or licensing agreement with a local partner.
Fendi, Nike, Llardo, Rino Greggio, Damro, ETAM, Zegna and Lee Cooper were among the first to get FDI permission under the single-brand retail window. Premium fashion brands such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, sportswear retailer Puma, Lerros and S Oliver, luggage brand Piquadro, Marks & Spencer, La Perla, Jimmy choo and Toy Watch have also set foot in India. A few others like Diesel and Starbucks are waiting in the wings.
Meanwhile, there are several brands that have been waiting for the government to allow 100% FDI in retail. And one more info about telecom is that one of thebiggest telecom companies (Airtel) has a significant number of share with Singtel ( Singapore Telecom), most brands are coming in with JV with foreign brands in India, to serve better.
To be realistic the short answer is Yes the local brands are afraid of foreign brands. One simple reason is the budget allocated for Brand building by Foreign companies vs the Local companies. Take a case - Beverage industry Thumbs-Up & Mineral Water Bisleri. They have been routed out by shear money power. Things are changing and no doubt there are Indian Brands in some Industry like Wipro, Infosys, Tata and few others in IT Industry which are well respected across the Globe, and that is becuase of their years of hard work in building the brand.
See I am supporting this, but I won't say local brands are afraid of foreign brands. Its not the question whether the local brands are afraid, rather it is something about the acceptability by the consumers. The local brands are definitely loosing their grab on the market day by day. The reason being the wide acceptability of the foreign brands due to their wide marketing strategy, the promotions involving well accepted individuals and the durability of the products also plays a major part as they are manufactured using modern machineries. The day these things are taken care of , there won't be any major difference in the so called local brands and the foreign brands..
Yes they need to be afraid of them & this will help them in future .
Local brands do not have proper benchmarks in terms of quality & service .Indian retail is unorganized by large & needs to learn from the west how it can be evolved.A great percentage of products here survive by two methods one by chance & other by fooling the customer.After all the rights of buyer are limited unlike west & of minimal practical enforcement.
I think local brands fears foreign brands. Domestic brands are ill equipped to compete with foreign entrants, they are not benchmarked against global standards of quality and years of protectionism. I think that's the main reason people are shifting from local to foreign brands these days.
Markets have become so inclusive and close that local and international brands have mixed and so there is no threat to local brands from foreign brands. If foreign means duplicate ( as we use the word foreign for sub-standard or adulteration) then, yes local brands do have fear from such foreign brands otherwise NO.
a local brand need not fear a foreign brand.... there i something called brand loyalty guys... so what if the other brand is outsourced we got our own benefits over the latter... well yaa if there is something v have to fear about then its the branding strategy.. the latter brand strategizes theselves in a fantastic manner over the former be it from the way he advertises and attracts a target crowd to the kinda offers they put forward.... here by advertising i dont mean the american or italian girls they use in the adds but the beauty with which they showcase the brand is something the local brands have to learn from....
Shiuli's take on Thumb Up is a very good example of a Brands Equity/ here I am not bothered wther its an Indian or aforeign brand/ Bata/ Sunsilk/ Head & Shoulder are not any Indian(Local) brandbut they hv a strong transnational footprint.
Coming to Lifestyle products like Gucci/Fendi and Jimi Choo they r niche products and is not relevant fr this topic. Any new business oppurtunity has to be adjudged on either volume/ value perspective. India and China are seen by Foreign investors as volume players b'coz of the size. Even all the car manufactures hv shifted their attention frm their globally sucesful brands to compact(entry) level, b'coz of the cost contribution ratio and its implication. To survive u need numbers/ after the global melt down, all sbu's operating out of Asia hv to survive on their own.
Last/ a word on Bharti Airtel:
Figures-sep'09 HOLDING Pattern:
Promoter-67.67%
FII-18.39%(Out of which-10.6%is held by Indian Continent Investment Ltd)
DII-8.14%
Others-5.78%
Singtel doesnt hv any representation on BOD.
So I thnk Ms Shiuli's presumption that Airtel is financially backed by a foreign company falls flat.
TALKING ABOUT FOREIGN BRAND IS TALKING ABOUT EXPENSIVE BRAND...I DONT FEEL THAT 'FOREIGN BRANDS ARE IN REACH OF BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID AND INDIANS BRANDS ARE NOT'...ACTUALLY VISE VERSA IS TRUE....U CAN TAKE MANY BRANDS WHICH ARE INDIAN BUT THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN FOREIGN NAMES SO AS TO SELL THEM IN PREMIUM...DOES 'VEN HEUSEN' SOUNDS INDIAN...NO...ABSOLUTELY NOT...BUT IT IS ADITYA BIRLA'S APARELL BRAND WHICH SELLS AT PREMIUM...SO NORMALLY INDIAN PSYCHE IS...FOREIGN BRANDS ARE EXPENSIVE AND THATS Y, GOOD IN QUALITY...BUT ABSENCE OF PROPER CONNECTIVITY WITH INDIAN VALUES MAKE THEM RUN SOON TO THE PLACE FRM WHERE THEY HAVE COME......
India is a country wherein one of the most important factor in selling any goods or services is emotion. Emotions connecting each individual with his community, people, society and the whole country. now if we talk about any foreign brand in any product category...people r ready to spend money on it, iie they make a trial of a product but due to absence of emotional connectivity it hampers their long term relations...also foreign brands have 'fad' effect along with them...that is the only reason they sell...but i dont mean to say that it is impossible for foreign brand to establish their feet in india...the 2 big examples can be.. BATA and CADBURY have been very successful in becoming sons of India...this only due to positioning them on core indian values...
for foreign brand it might be easier to usher in to urban markets where consumers are aware about them.but still masses lies in tier 1,tier 2 ,tier 3 and rural sector who are oblivious to the their existence.i can't imagine in a city like ujjain many people are even aware of the brands like louis vuitton,hermes or ,tony and guy .creating recognition for them would be ardous task in such locations .meanwhile brands like amul,lakme or godrej are household names for them and they can easily trusted .perhaps, the threat cannot be denied fully cause communication has spread like a wild fire and once accurate startegy is applied/worked out at this front can proved to be beneficial.and in creating availability is key in creating a loyal customer base .
thats why i said that Indians believe in "Adorable product at Affordable price", the Western marketers have realised this now and trying to imbibe this spirit across all product categories and across channels of communication.
In the beginning when the whole process of globalisation began, there were fears that global brand will over shadow or buy out Indian brands and that we don’t have level playing field. But with TAta buying tetly, corus our confidence level is definitely soaring.
We know that it is about competition and not about monopoly.
Local brands will survive b‘cause we Indian b’live in buying ‘sastha, tikkao maal’(inexpensive and long lasting- to roughly translate it). We still like to go to the local market and bargain for a right price. There is a large audience for local brands too
No!! Its no way a foreign brand can become a hurdle for an indian brand to comeup. I personally feel its a foreign brand which can encourage a local brand to develop and participate in the competition and make it stiff. This not only improves the local quality but also gets new and better technology to the local economy to improve. I would say it indirectly improves our position in the global market and gives new ways to look around!!.... Thank you, Manish N.
Indian brands have their own customer following and the shift towards global brands will be minimal - at the initial stage the percentage will be higher due to consumers shifting to try the product which will be more of impulse action to understand the value for money it offers. But in the long run consumers in india look for quality coupled with pricing which is hard for the global brands to establish in a short period of time
Pantaloons Retail India ltd. (Big Bazaar) ICICI ABGroup
Marico Infosys & Wipro Mahindra & Ashok Leyland
Reliance Bajaj BOB Godrej LIC (to name a few)
The thing is that these companies know our nerves very well. And for any Foreign Brand we won’t be convinced in few days or sessions. We are used to these companies. Indian consumers won’t go with any other Brands easily (Butter means AMUL or Insurance means LIC). So till date there is nothing that these DESI brands should feel any hot competition from PARDESI Brands. Until the brands are not marketed wid pure Indian Attitude.
The Desi Brands should not get unnecesserily worried about the Forign Brands. The Desi Brands should not only create awareness but keep top of the quality to not only compete but surpass the quality standerds of the Forign Brand. There are Brands who they have created a niche like Killers, Zodiac. R.C.Deb
Whether it is a foreign company or local company, the brand building exercice is definitely local!!! So, the question of foreign or local brand does not arise. For example, for a company like coca cola, the advertisement for Coke is pakka Desi! The entire brand building exercise is tuned to Indian conditions!!!
Coming to whether Foregin company is more successful compared to Indian company in brand building within India, the answer many a times is negative!!!
I don't agree with the comments on benchmarking/quality/fooling, etc. These things are universally applicable!!!
i thnk ms purvi ghosh needs to come out of fear sychosis called foren brand or she is too besotted.Specially if it comes frm a person wth advertising background.
please brush up these brands:
infosys/tata/airtel/kingfisher , i suppose these are not firangi but desi brands. so far so good fr the topic.
since i am currently posted in a firangi land, i find the desi chicken tikka/curry is a hot cake even in a remote downtown of Hayes in middlesex,uk.
Can anyone tell me wht is the difference btwn a local/foreign brand. I think in today's scenario of globalisation it is irrelevent for a brand to differentiate by its demographic origin. Gone are the days whn engineering ws associated wth germany, electronics wth Japan. Today a brand has a strong connotation wth the product it offers whch is ultimately linked to the Corporate identity.
So we presume tht Samsung is a company whch provides quality electronic gadgets and allied services, who the hell is bothered if it is from North Korea or South Korea or Taiwan.
Ultimately wht matters is the end product and consumption satis faction.
Y should local brands be afraid? We have seen many foreign brands failing and forced to quit from Indian markets just because they could not match up the complexity of local brands. But they have emerged again with abundant power which even local brands could handle. Brands like Titan, Kingfisher, Taj, Jet Airways, Oberoi etc.. has a major exposure and can really withstand any competition. So I don't see a point of local brands kneeling to foreign brands.
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