Editor’s note: Jay Zaltzman is president of Bureau West Marketing & Research in Los Angeles. Piyul Mukherjee is director of Proact, an India-based market research firm.

Western companies are discovering the appeal of marketing their products in India. With a population of approximately one billion, and a middle class that’s larger than the total population of the United States (300 million and growing), there’s definitely money to be made. However, foreign companies have learned that marketing in India is not easy. Despite Indians’ familiarity with the English language and exposure to Western culture, foreign companies, such as Pepsi, were disappointed when they initially tried running their existing advertising in India.

Multinational companies have been far more successful with advertising created specifically for the Indian market. Some examples:

  • Pepsi’s sales increased when it ran advertising featuring Indian movie star Shah Rukh Khan, and popular cricket batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
  • ICICI Prudential Life Insurance uses the sindoor (the red mark in the parting of the married Indian woman’s forehead) as a guarantee, capturing the essence of this powerful age-old metaphor for insuring the future.
  • Heinz ketchup’s main ad uses a caricatured voiceover of a well-known Indian politician from the hinterlands of Bihar, an Eastern state in India.
  • P&G’s advertising for Camay soap failed to connect with the Indian consumer as it dealt with beauty at a superficial and even apologetic level. In spite of a young, beautiful model, the advertising was not very memorable or eye-catching. On the other hand, Lux from Unilever is universally recognized as the soap of the beautiful celebrities and continues to be a dominant player in India. As an endorser, Lux always chooses the top film star of the day. The image of this brand has been so revered over the years that Indian film stars actually consider it to be a rare privilege to be a “Lux-star”!
  • Colgate was initially seen as a purely functional brand. However, the company went on to strengthen its emotional connection with the consumers. From ads that showed a dentist in a white coat tapping on a set of teeth, current ads have cameos of endearing children in their day-to-day lives.
  • An ad for Fair & Lovely face cream (owned by Unilever) had a man saying “I wish I had a son!” This raised hackles among Indian intellectuals. But the ad talked about the marginalized father-daughter relationship and connected to Indian emotions. People saw the ad as a celebration of the daughter’s subsequent empowerment. Sales shot up.

Important theme

The “internal politics” of Indian families are a very important theme in Indian life which tends to resonate well in advertising. However, when it comes to political themes on a broader scale, multinational companies would probably do well to leave these to local companies. When television maker Onida (an Indian company) ran an ironic “border” story after a skirmish over the disputed state of Kashmir, it was highly successful. But when Cadbury’s ran an ad related to Kashmir (with the line “It cannot be shared”), it faced such strong criticism that it withdrew the ad hastily. As they say in India, it is OK for the daughter to criticize the head of the family, but not for the daughter-in-law!

Understanding the Indian mindset is the key to foreign companies’ success in India. For example, Ford initially decided to bring in its older car models (that the American public saw as outdated) - hoping that the Indian buyers would be ever so grateful to get an American car. It couldn’t have been more wrong. Indian consumers did not purchase an expensive car that was not well-suited for Indian families or roads. Chevrolet learned from such early mistakes, and brought in models that were suited to local conditions such as the Tavera. Chevrolet also ran completely Indian-themed advertising. One example: an ad featuring the Hindu karva chauth ritual, wherein Indian women go on an all-day fast praying for the longevity of their husbands.

Other foreign companies have learned that Indian consumers are willing to pay more for a better product - but only a little more. For example, Hyundai has been very successful with a car selling for $7,000 which, while more expensive than the best-selling $5,700 Suzuki model 800, is still significantly cheaper than the $9,000 models offered by GM.

LG has had great success by making slightly more expensive refrigerators and air conditioners that are more resistant to the dust, extreme heat and frequent power surges common in India’s vast rural territory.

Effective focus groups

How can Western companies create advertising that will resonate with Indian consumers? By talking to them! Here are some tips to ensure effective focus groups in India:

  • Don’t mention the incentive.

Unlike focus groups in the U.S., we don’t tell focus group respondents that they’ll receive an incentive for participating. Rather, we give them a surprise gift at the end. This is because, when incentives are mentioned in advance, Indian respondents have a tendency to want to “please the giver” and tell us what they think we want to hear. Cash is still a rare incentive - gifts are more common. For example, gifts for women might be stainless steel utensils in rural India, or a bag of household goodies in urban areas.

You may well ask, “So why do they come?” To India’s garrulous citizens, a chance to talk and be heard is an incentive in itself!

  • Limit repeat attendance.

One of the advantages of working in such a populous country is the luxury of being able to sharply limit the number of repeat attendees in consumer focus groups. We usually require that at least half the respondents never have attended a focus group; the remainder must not have participated in a focus group in the preceding two years.

  • Ensure respondents’ attendance - in person.

We send out our team members to pick up each person and bring them in personally, thus ensuring a high show rate. Otherwise, the tendency to agree to come and then not show up can be very high in India.

  • Focus group logistics.

Focus group facilities, with a one-way mirror and viewing room, are still rare in India, and only found in the larger metropolitan areas. We usually conduct homemaker focus groups in a home that is considered typical for the respondents, with a video camera and the clients viewing the discussion in another room.

Many respondents, as mentioned, are very interested in participating - they’re intrigued by the whole experience. Some respondents (in small towns) even arrive with other family members who patiently wait in the vicinity during the whole focus group discussion. In fact, in rural India, we sometimes conduct two focus groups - the real one, and a mock focus group for the family members, to keep them occupied and appeased! More so, when the accompanying members are older family representatives. In Indian joint families, the older members always believe they have a right to be heard.

  • Socioeconomic class is critical.

A college lecturer earning 10,000 rupees per month cannot be grouped with a construction supervisor with the same income - since their reactions will be completely distinct and different. Thus, occupation and education are the basis of the Indian socioeconomic class table, rather than income.

  • Ask the right questions at screening.

Over a long period of time, we have built a database of questions to be asked of participants, along with the usual demographic questions. For instance, whether she is a member of a “kitty party” or not, when she is a housewife in an urban area, can be a true indicator of her level of articulation! (A “kitty party” is an informal group of around 10 to 12 women, who meet once a month, and zealously guard membership in this “kitty.”) The school her child attends (and the medium of instruction in the school) is another such indicator.

  • Be aware of regional differences in attitudes.

Consumer attitudes and behavior vary widely in different parts of India. We have learned to take that into account when conducting research. Take, for example, the widely used third-person technique to elicit respondents’ opinions: “I showed this ad to some folks yesterday, and they didn’t like it, why do you think they felt that way?” This technique simply does not work in rural India, where people have a very practical and down-to-earth approach to things. Their usual reply, with a great deal of surprise: “Why didn’t you just ask them?”

Very different

As you can see, despite the common language, life and attitudes in India are very different from the West. There are many cultural subtleties of which to be aware. But by paying attention to these factors in marketing and research programs, companies can lay the groundwork for building a beneficial relationship with the vast Indian market.