With a population in the billions and with wildly diverse income levels, South Asia poses unique challenges to marketers, to say the least. But smart marketers are figuring out how to adapt by applying basic principles of their trade to the unique characteristics of the region.
As one said recently at Harvard Business School, if you're struggling to sell soap, then maybe improving the water infrastructure in local villages is the most important first step.
At the panel discussion on consumer marketing at the Conference on India and Its Neighbors on February 27th, representatives of Bollywood films, Nokia India, Rediffusion ("the Yahoo of India," according to its CEO and co-founder), and Pakistani media brand GEO TV all shared their success stories and failures. HBS professor Das Narayandas moderated.
Bottom of the pyramid meets Bollywood
The soap story is just one simple way of thinking about grasping a potential market. According to Sanjay Behl, head of marketing for Nokia India, when village homes lack private bathrooms the women usually bathe in communal facilities. Since they have little privacy, they keep their clothes on when they bathe. Said Behl, "They are only consuming one-third the amount of soap" that someone with a private bathroom would. Encouraging them to use the other two-thirds will require creativity and a keen knowledge of various cultures as well as the infrastructure these women are used to.
But the so-called bottom of the pyramid is also less elusive than it used to be. Visitors to India these days will notice that even the lowliest street peddler is probably packing a cell phone. Despite low per-capita incomes, languages and cultures that may change radically from region to region, and poor roads, power, and water supply, "the aspirations (for a better life) are already there," said Behl.
| Within the escapist fare you must do a good job. |
| — Bobby Bedi, Bollywood producer |
The Bollywood film industry is one field that attracts spectators of every class and income level, said Bobby Bedi, a producer of such popular films as The Bandit Queen and Fire, both of which crossed over into the West as well.
Successful marketers in South Asia know how to do four activities, Bedi said: engage, entertain, inform, and educate. Many do the first two, but the last two are very tough. "The one industry that can move down that ladder is the entertainment business," he predicted.
Even so, he said, the typical movies churned out by Bollywood still present a dreamy message about love conquering all. "The fact is, most people still live in a reality that is not a great reality. ... But within the escapist fare you must do a good job," said Bedi.
Plenty is already changing
In urban areas, certainly, marketing of consumer products and services is making inroads. Many companies continue to aim for the top tier of potential customers. In India, for instance, this translates into about 30 million potential customers out of a total population of around one billion. People in the cities have stopped living on past savings; now they live on future earnings, said Behl.
"Fifteen years ago it was a major achievement to have a house and a car. Now a lot of housing is financed. About five years ago, 55 percent of Indians' share of wallet went to basic items such as household groceries. That has gone down to 45 percent. Now, Indians are spending more on holidays and so-called indulgence purchases like parties and picnics. That is a fundamental shift." Sectors like finance and retailing are gaining steam, he added.
Mir Ibrahim Rahman, CEO of GEO TV in Pakistan, agreed with the notion that entertainment is one of the marketing opportunities that can cross boundaries. Though Pakistan has no Bollywood of its own, Indians as well as Pakistanis watch Pakistani television. In addition to engaging, entertaining, informing, and educating viewers, marketers need to understand them first, he said. His media brand, which is three years old, mass-markets the media in a way that is similar to consumer marketing, but with an important difference, he said. It was a lesson he had to learn, and getting off the ground was frustrating, he said.
In GEO TV's early days, Rahman thought he needed an advertising agency. The one he hired did not work out. "The problem is that they were thinking in English. People in the advertising agency are responsible for making that first connection," Rahman said. "Of all the Pakistani newspapers, only 5 percent are in English." GEO decided to do its marketing itself. Since Urdu was the official language of Pakistan, Rahman put up signs around the office that read, 'Urdu only.'
"I could not write in Urdu myself," he admitted. "But we had to think like our consumers. To be a mass-oriented brand, you really want to be like [the customers]."
When GEO TV hires marketers these days, Rahman said, he looks for the brand within the brand manager. Someone who thinks in Urdu is more likely to understand the viewers of GEO and make the media brand adapt to their needs.
Despite the fact that television is a "dumb medium," GEO TV's programming is exploring ways to bridge cultural divides. One popular show, "George Ka Pakistan" or "George in Pakistan," uses the American reality-show format to detail the experiences of a British man named George who attempts to adapt to Pakistani life after falling in love with a local Pakistani woman.
"George asks us Pakistanis many questions that we wouldn't have asked ourselves," said Rahman, before revealing that a cliffhanger on the horizon concerns the power of the father-in-law.
The medium may be the message, as media theorist Marshall McLuhan once opined. As it crosses borders and cultures it can be a powerful one, too.
The second annual Conference on India and Its Neighbors was held at Harvard Business School on February 27, 2005. This student-run conference was organized by the Harvard Business School South Asian Business Association. 