INDIA- the super power

All the hype about India being the next 21st century world power has been played around with many a time by economists and common men alike. The tagline “India an emerging economy” sounds perfect at the start of the news peg. But in my notion world leadership is extremely archaic. By what measure do we recognize the honorand? If it is population India is on course to top china by the year 2034. Is it military strength? We have the world’s fourth largest army. Is it nuclear power? We know we have that and the Americans have even recognized it in a recent agreement. In terms of economy we have the 5th largest economy in the world in purchasing power terms and we continue to grow. But somehow none of these quite add up to what India can really aim to contribute to the world in the 21st century. It is the combination of these things added to something else- the power of example, the attraction of India’s culture, what is known as soft power. In the city, our friendly neighborhood grocery stores have been replaced by the Spencer’s and the Big Bazaars, our “chayer dokan” has been replaced by a Café Coffee Day Express stall. And to most of us that’s a pleasant change, a sign that India is finally living its potential. India represents an economic opportunity on a massive scale, both as a global base and as a domestic market. Indian consumer markets are changing fast, with rapid growth in disposable incomes, the development of modern urban lifestyles, and the emergence of the kind of trend-conscious consumers that India has not seen in the past. For most multi-national corporations and foreign enterprises India means a large populated market to sell goods and almost all reputed international companies have ventured into India and have got the taste of the local people and their psyche. All are joining the bandwagon and it is a big profit making opportunity for these corporations. While consumers across the world are seeing a growing number of “Made in India” labels on the goods they buy, Indian shoppers are witnessing a more subtle change. Increasingly, multinational companies are selling products that are not just made in — but that are made for — India. Entire generations of Indian consumers, who once felt grateful simply for being able to experience the same brands as the rest of the world, are now realizing they can ask for products that cater to their wants and needs. And they stand a good chance of getting what they want.

Things have changed. As Indian consumers became more aware of trends and advancements in technology, they began to demand similar sophistication. More important, they wanted products built to their needs. That meant not just automobiles, household appliances and consumer electronics, but also mobile phones, foods and apparel. “Earlier, there was a reverence for anything foreign because local products were of terrible quality,” says Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA)

An American cosmetic manufacturer conducted a survey by handing out its lipsticks (without the brand name) to housewives. Half the sticks carried a "Made in USA" label while the rest said "Made in India". The first lot received no product complaint while the latter received several. So the aura around foreign brands obviously exists.
When it entered the market four years back, Baskin Robbins advertised its 31-flavour super range. Priced at Rs. 35 a scoop (when local brands cost a fifth), the ice-cream found few takers. Today, at about Rs 25, sales are picking up.
Revlon priced its lipsticks at around Rs 200 initially when Lakme cost a fourth. After slashing prices to about Rs 95, Revlon today shares 70 per cent of the premium range market with Lakme.

Obviously, many Indians are willing to pay more for foreign brands. The crux is the price-value equation that the consumer works out in his head, consciously or unconsciously, every time he surveys his options. And here, the Indian is turning out to be savvier than all the imported statistical marketing models and jargon-dripping theories would have it. "Indian consumers are very mature and smart in estimating value for his money," feels Ashit Mallick, director, AIMS Research.
The yesterday luxuries have become today’s necessities. There is heavy western influence seen on urban middle and upper class. People have become more conscious about their looks and there is a growth of beauty parlors, beauticians and health clubs. The middle class is much interested in buying the dresses and brands by the multinationals. Bulk purchasing seems to be the order of the day with purchasing becoming a week end affair. The current trend seen is that the consumers prefer to buy things from hyper stores and super markets.
Abraham Koshy adds, “As the market developed, the focus started shifting from the product to the brand. Customers started patronizing a brand only if the product suited them. So the need arose for companies to adjust their products to customers’ requirements.”
Across most of the world, Nestlé’s Maggi is known best as a soups-and-sauces brand. In India, it has become the generic word for instant noodles. The product sold in India, though, bears little resemblance to the ramen of East Asia. It was introduced in 1982 with a masala (spicy) flavoring and, over the next 25 years, Nestlé continued to launch variants that would appeal to local and regional tastes. Of course, they weren’t all equally successful, and the masala variant continues to be Maggi’s best seller.
Shoppers Stop came out with what I feel was the perfect summation, “Consumers are evolving entities. Their aspirations and expectations are continuously changing. Today’s shoppers are more intelligent, discerning and tuned to their individual preference. They are increasingly fashion and brand conscious and select labels which define who they are or who they want to be.”

So when you see the local grocery deserted and the “istri walla” missing do not look surprised. Hold the rapid transmogrification of India responsible. Now if you ask me is it good or bad, I will have to give you an uneasy stare and say “I don’t know”. In spite of all the glorious developments we can observe as facts, India still continues to be a third world nation with not a respectable GDP or anything to show for itself in reality. Most villages in India might have electricity, some of the farmers might carry stylish mobile phones playing Bollywood numbers when they ring but what cannot escape our eyes are the ugly images of the poverty stricken, illiterate and unemployed Indian famished in more ways than one. The insurrections that we see in the forested areas of eastern India, although heinous, strike a conscience for the antisocial somewhere because no matter how much we gloat in the resplendent glory of snazzy headlines like “resurgent India” we cannot wash our hands of the failure of the Indian government to alleviate the treachery faces by the people in the lowest strata of the Indian economy. Police or farmers being brutally assaulted (read: gunned down or blown away or both) every day does not reflect a 21st century super power. Farmer suicides, rotting food grains meant for the poor due to lack of storage space (yes that was the reason cited by Mr. Pawar, the Indian… ooops! the ICC president and the president of the BCCI) is not something you would like to see either. It is time India forgot about the race with China to the cover of the Time magazine and focused on undoing the wrongs or at least attempting to. Till then “India the super power” is more fiction than fact.