Why are brands successful?  They are different.  And they are relevant.  To a host of customers.   In the same breath one can say that India too is different.  Its people are different.  Languages are different.   The culture is different.  Not surprisingly its consumers too are different.  And India has great relevance not only to those seeking the meaning of life but also to foreign institutional investors! No, tempting though it is, I won't talk about brand India .  I will talk about the theories of management and their relevance to India and about what brand managers need to do that is different from what they are presently doing.

Don't go West young man !

For decades now, the West has been the source of all management wisdom, although Japan too has caught the attention of eyes that place a premium on quality.  Indians as a rule (and if one may add as a race) have been extremely receptive to western education, western management concepts and (unfortunately) even to western life styles and customs even if they may be decadent.  Don't get me wrong.  I am no admirer of Monsieur Nicholas Chauvin, nor do I decry anything principally because of its foreign origins.  But I do decry our blind acceptance of management theories and concepts merely because of their place of origin.  And I think it is time for managers in India to be discerning in what they accept.  And follow.

The economies are different

The product life cycle is an interesting concept that we are all exposed to.  It speaks about different products being in different stages of the life cycle and the need to have different strategies too.  And this is really the point I am making.  The Indian (and if one may add the Chinese) economy is at a vastly different stage to western economies, many of which are past the stage of growth and some are actually declining.  So how relevant would theories of management evolved in these economies, under these circumstances, be to an economy like ours which is booming?  "Stick to your knitting" the west would advise, which is not necessarily bad counsel.  And yet, lets not forget that ours is a booming economy with a growing base of mass affluents leading high wattage lives.  This explains the success of brands like Tanishq.  Today Tanishq leads the way in branded jewelery and is a Rs.550 crore brand . If Titan had stayed with watches, it may not have been the dominant fashion accessory player that it has become and would have clearly been a shadow of its present self and (forgive the pun) less of a titan !  Titan had not been constrained by the theory of core competence - but adapted it and modified it in line with the opportunities present in India .

So where do we go from here?

The best way forward is

1. to have an open mind

2. to chew the cud before assimilating and adapting

3. understand some of our own successes whether it is the sachet or branded jewellery

4. share our experiences.  Indian brands need local case studies.  We will learn only if we share our successes and our failures.  We are too eager to disseminate press releases, but very scared of sharing even basic information.

5. and finally .... have fun!

Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO brand-comm, which offers public relations advertising and brand consulting.   Feedback can be mailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Issue BG75 June07

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