Battle among brands for mind share

The market is flooded with similar products and offerings in every segment creating a huge clutter of brands and products. The situation is worse in markets where the entry barriers are low. Take the case of soft drinks market in India. All we see around this summer and every other summer, is more and more brands entering the soft drink market. The market is flooded with desi and foreign brands with similar flavours and product properties. This summer is witnessing fights over mango and lemon flavours.

The brands are trying hard to create a niche through varied differentiators such packaging, jingles & promotion, celebrity endorsements etc. But all these tangible features don’t make any sense to the consumer. For the consumer, it is nothing but a battle among brands for mind share. It is the television channels and the mega serial makers who are benefiting through selling ad slots at a premium.

In certain segments like electrical appliances, the plethora of brands and each of their endorsements are now confusing consumer choices, instead of simplifying the buying process. Product differentiation based on product features has become a difficult task as competitors have very little uncommon among each other.

India is known for its brain wealth. It’s the product development hub for most of the MNCs but seldom marketers were able to create breakthrough products for the Indian market. Tata Nano has shown the world what Indian minds can do when inspired. Tata’s strategy is based on the market need rather than on a product feature. A project that was labelled ‘ Impossible’ by many analysts is now a reality. Nano is a lesson to all Indian brands.

In today’s market scenario of multiple brands offering multiple products by simply aping each other or by adopting the MNC approach as a shortest route for creating brand equity, its not easy to venture into creating something original. Certainly Tata’s effort is well worth the results. Its time for Indian marketers to realise that only those brands who can innovate will succeed.