The Indian Retail market—ranked the fourth most attractive amongst 30 emerging markets—has caught the global market attention by storm in the last few years. Still heavily tilted towards traditional retail, times seem to be changing with the introduction of 100% FDI for single-brand retail and 51% (currently under debate) FDI in multi-brand retail. In fact, the organized retail market in India is expected to grow at 25% and reach a size of US$200 billion by 2020.

India’s retail boom is driven by a plethora of reasons–from increasing disposable incomes and changing lifestyles, to growing demand in rural areas and smaller towns, and the rise of the global consumer. Indeed, global retail giants are trying to tap into this vibrant market but their core business model seems to be failing their aspirations.

The reason behind this change—the unique purchase drivers of the Indian consumer. Think–Value for money (through deals and bargain-hunting), convenience (e.g., deep rooted system of home delivery of purchases) and relationship based customer service (legacy of “kirana” or corner stores).

So, to survive and grow in such a market what are retailers doing? Tweaking their business models and making their stores locally relevant. Take a look at how global and local companies are adapting and innovating for the Indian consumer in the organized market. Read More »

Lately it seems that every other marketer we speak with wants to know about marketing in emerging markets. Perhaps this isn’t too surprising as growth in developed markets has effectively come to a halt and by some accounts emerging economies are expected to account for 59% of global GDP by 2030. (Likely one more instance of a long-run trend being brought to a tipping point by the disruptions of the past three years.)

As we speak with marketers moving into emerging markets, many cite considerations such as how to organize staff to support these markets or how to manage the trade-offs of having staff in disparate locations. In simple economics terms: how should they manage the “supply- side” factors”?

While examining the supply-side is important, an equally productive, but often under-usedtactic, involves analyzing “demand-side” factors—namely, what will drive customers in an emerging market to buy your product(s). Regular readers of our blogs will know that our latest research reveals that the drivers of customers’ purchase decisions are changing significantly in both B2B and B2C sectors (for those unfamiliar with this work, our B2B analysis can be found here, and our B2C analysis here).

But, what do these findings mean for emerging markets? Read More »

“Uh, ‘Tiger-Goat’ isn’t what your modern day brand consultants would come up with for a tea brand.  What’s the story?”  So began my recent conversation with Yogesh Shinde, the General Manager in charge of Marketing for Gujarat Tea.   Yogesh explained the origin of the name roughly as follows:

Over 100 years ago, the founder of Wagh Bakri wanted to create a tea that would unite all Indians.  ‘Wagh’ means ‘Tiger’, standing for Indian upper classes.  ‘Bakri’ means ‘Goat’, and represents the lower classes.  The idea is to bring the Tiger and Goat together over tea, an important and shared ritual. Read More »

On the highways here in Delhi, the past and future share a lane. Creeping one way are shiny PR campaigns meant to thwart the raucous honking that accompanies any congregation of more than a couple of cars. Headed the other direction? The very audible, commonly agreed upon rules of the road, signified by armadas of old trucks, their tailgates painted with instructions begging for a sonic blast (“Honk please!”).

For most consumers, traffic’s an interminable, unavoidable, incidental cost of urban life. For the cities themselves, though, traffic is a perfect manifestation of the present. Outside Delhi, every morning jam is a horn-honking, engine-idling purgatory of acceptance and frustration. But it’s also a daily, ritual affirmation of aspiration. It’s an inherent part of a world that millions of consumers here in India’s biggest cities have chosen to participate in.

Late last year Iconoculture launched a new consumer advisory service — in and about India. It’s the culmination of years of groundwork we’ve labored very hard to lay, but it’s also a mere glimmer of what promises to be a fast-moving future.  With that work behind us, our next step will be to collect your feedback on what you need to know about this dynamic market and infinite variety of the consumer base in India.  MLC members, contact your account manager if you’re interested in joining the conversation.

In the meantime, here are some of our latest observations from a fascinating market: Read More »

Ever wonder why the Adult Entertainment Expo is held at the same time, and in the same place, as CES?

I had the chance to be at the Consumer Electronics Show this year for the first time in many years.  It was overwhelming:  too many things to look at, and unfortunately too many of the same things (something like 1000 tablets (exaggerated), connected TV’s, 3D everything, a streaming media cacophony). Read More »

MLC just completed two member meetings entitled Making the Case for Radical Innovation: Shifting to Fewer, Bigger, More Protected Innovations. Our members enthusiastically embraced the ideas presented and engaged in lively discussions on the topic.

For those who were not able to attend, here are some of the key takeaways from the meeting: Read More »

Over 200 attendees, 15 sessions and over 100 mentions of the word ‘differentiate’ later, we’ve reached the end of the joint MLC/SEC conference The Distinctive Purchase Experience.

It was a huge success, with great feedback from our members.  Attendees, you can continue the conversation and get soft copies of all materials by following this link.  Anyone see the conference in tweets by searching #cebsm.

We figured the best way to get across all the cool ideas coming from the conference was list form.  So here goes – the conference in lists. Read More »

Here at MLC we’re very excited about the start of our very first conference for business-to-business companies, called The Distinctive Purchase Experience.  We developed it in cahoots with our sister program the Sales Executive Council and have a fantastic agenda, most of it centered around the proven importance of providing insight through the purchase experience.  It starts Monday afternoon in Las Vegas and we have over 200 members signed up to join us. Read More »

MLC recently returned from a terrific member-hosted meeting at 3M’s Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, where we had the opportunity to learn from a company renowned for creating imaginative new products. We explored the “World of 3M Innovation” where the company showcases its 45 core applied sciences in interactive displays that let lucky visitors play with products under development. As you explore this fascinating world – much like taking a trip into the future – it’s hard not to ask: how does 3M generate such innovative new products year after year? What is it about this company that lets them shape the future and achieve impressive organic growth in the process? Read More »

At first blush (okay, pun intended), it’s hard to imagine anything that would be fit for print in a post on a marketing blog.  But in reality, NASA and the nudists in question are but two examples of an increasing trend we are seeing as marketers.  If I said the answer is “open source innovation” would that allow for too many bad jokes?  The truth is NASA has been a proponent of open source innovation since 2003 and in 2002 market researchers at Moen Faucets recruited 20 nudists to be videotaped while bathing to enhance their product development efforts.

Whether co-opting outsiders into helping you innovate as NASA does or getting creative with your ethnographic research as Moen did, we are seeing more and more members reaching out to their customers – and even their non-customers – for innovation help.  Already NASA’s Centennial Challenge Program has resulted in technological breakthroughs orchestrated by a “regular guy” from Maine working alone in his dining room as well as a group led by an undergraduate student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Read More »