The regional lords it over the national

IIPM Knowledge Centre Local is not down market anymore. While regional brands are gaining acceptance, big national players often lose touch with aspirations at the grassroots level. By SUTANU GURU

Most po­litical pundits lamented the supposed fact that there was no alternative to the Congress and how the grand old party’s stranglehold over power was harmful for the Indian democracy. With a nationwide network of workers and patronage and a huge war chest of funds to fight elections, the Congress would continue to deny smaller political parties their day in the sun. Or so it was believed. And what really happened?

If illusions were horses, pundits would ride them forever. Look at the tumultuous Indian political landscape; peep into the incestuous world of Indian media; and glance at the snooty world of Indian marketing in contemporary times and you simply cannot escape the startling con­clusion that has proven all manner of pundits wrong: the regional lords it over the national. Be it politics or media or consumer products and services, ‘regional brands’ have refused to be beaten into submission by the much bigger national brands.

• The STAR network may rule the Indian skies with a range of programming that straddles news, saas-bahu potboilers and sports. Yet, in Tamil Nadu, it simply hasn’t been able to dislodge the Sun network which is the undisputed number one. Despite taking over rival Tamil channel Vijaya and spending millions on pro­gramming and promotions, STAR is a distant second and sometimes third in the market.
• The Sony network may have taken STAR head on in the national sweep­stakes with programmes like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and The Indian Idol. Yet in Andhra Pradesh, it is the home grown Eenadu network that calls the shots.
• The Times of India may claim the status of being a ‘super brand’ as the largest selling English daily in the world and a strong presence in virtually all major Indian cities. Yet when it comes to the newspaper markets in West Bengal and Kerala, ‘The old lady of Boribunder’ (As old tim­ers fondly describe The Times of India) runs far behind market leaders Ananda Bazaar Patrika and Malayala Manorama, respectively.
• Hindustan Levers, Procter & Gamble, ITC and Tata Tea may be veritable giants that hold sway not only in the Indian market place, but also boast of a significant presence in global markets. Yet, in many consumer product categories, to quote The Hindu Business Line: “Despite slick packaging, attempts at differentiation and well-orchestrated advertising campaigns, players have found it difficult to shake off the legacy of a commodi­tised business… consumers look for cheaper options in regional and local brands.”

So, whether it is market share, vote share or mind share, regional brands have displayed amazing chutzpah in holding their ground against the more powerful na­tional brands. Some analysts say that this phenomenon reflects how diverse and fragmented a nation India is. When it comes to consumer products, cultural variations and differences in preference patterns are dished out as reasons why national brands find the going tough in many product categories.

Yet, such facile presumptions about the impact of cultural and societal diversities tend to hide a big weakness of the major national players, be it in media, politics or consumer products. The primary function of a successful organisation is to fulfil the aspirations of consumers. The national players often lose touch with aspirations at the grassroots level, allowing local and regional players to sneak in and deliver a telling market­ing punch. There is also a huge change in the mindset at work here. With growing prosperity, middle class Indians who are no longer fluent in English are no longer awed by the ‘firang’ image.

Till 1977, the combined circulation of English newspapers in India exceeded he combined circulation of newspapers in all other Indian languages, including Hindi. In what can be a landmark year in 1978, Hindi newspapers overtook English dailies for the first time and the latter has steadily lost ground since then. According to the latest available data from the National Readership Survey, 2003, not a single English newspaper figures in the top ten lists of largest selling dailies. Every single one is a regional brand. There is little doubt that regional brands have given the national brands sleepless nights.

To come back to the transformation in the Indian mindset, the success of regional brands with an earthy appeal also reflects the growing confidence of the Indian consumer; a growing equanimity about the Indian identity and a significant drop in the Indian inferiority complex related to English and all things ‘phoren’.

• Till the late eighties, in upscale college canteens, board rooms, parties and discothèques, it was infra dig and downright downmarket to converse in Hindi or any other Indian language. You could avidly see Bollywood movies and enjoy them; but it was sacrilege to admit it in front of peers. The standard practice was to ridicule Bollywood movies while gushing about the offerings from Hollywood. Most importantly, the host of a party or a discothèque would be banished to the never land of social acceptability if any Hindi songs were played.
• All that changed in the 1990s. The satellite channel boom ensured that ‘Hinglish’ became socially acceptable, and even fashionable. “Thanda matlab Coca Cola” and “Yeh Dil mange More” are just two examples of how far Indian marketers were travelling to woo the new Indian consumer.
• And, it all started with pretty people dancing to singer Daler Mehndi’s Bhangra beats in discothèques. By now, ‘item’ and Hindi pop numbers rule the dance floors. MTV first came to India as a channel that would lure the youth with ‘English’ songs and disdained Hindi songs in a lofty manner. By the late 1990s, all that MTV was playing were Hindi songs.

Pundits should not worry about this ‘fragmented’ nature of the Indian market. On the one hand, regional ‘brands’ in politics are forcing the bigger national players to pay more attention to voters. That is the power of democracy at work. On the other hand, regional consumer brands are forcing the bigger national players to not become complacent and take the consumer for granted. That is the power of the market place at work.