Articles 1 to 10 of 45
Finding Success for Indian Business Books Lacking a Western Touch
Professors of Indian origin teaching at Western business schools have had notable success in penning books about India. Books including C.K. Pralahad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid and Tarun Khanna's Winning in Emerging Markets: A Roadmap for Strategy and Execution have built significant followings among Indian readers. But many Indian writers from the nation's own premier business schools have yet to see their books catch on, barely managing to sell a few thousand copies. One explanation, experts note, is that the professors don't practice what they teach -- marketing.
Luxury Resurfaces in India, Cutting a Wider Swathe
Branded luxury has always existed in India. The fashion houses of Europe had regular customers in the many hundreds of princes and princelings of British India. Independence brought austerity and a socialist mindset. Today, however, with newfound prosperity – even in the rural heartland – luxury is making a quiet comeback.
Gourmet Food: The New Item on Indian Consumer Menus
Pegged at US$1.3 billion, the gourmet food market in India is expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 20% and is set to cross US$2.7 billion by 2015. The trend is driven by multiple factors like rising disposable incomes, exposure to diverse cuisines via travel and the media, and the increasing number of specialty restaurants in the country. The opening up of foreign direct investment in retail is expected to give a further boost to this category.
Have Global E-tailers Missed the Bus in India?
The online retail space in India is at an inflexion point and poised for tremendous growth in the coming years. Indian firms are gearing up to make the most of the opportunity. But global players are waiting on the sidelines because of the Indian government's restrictions on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. Experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton that the industry is still young. If the global players come within the next 12 to 18 months, the field is wide open for any of them to ride this wave.
Indian Tourism Finds a New Focus in the Domestic Traveler
India has passed through several foreign exchange crises, which have distorted government policy in many areas. In tourism, for instance, the approach has been to woo the foreign traveler who pays in dollars, though visitor numbers in recent years indicate that it is the Indian tourist who should be the target. But for several reasons, some of them fortuitous, a growing focus on the domestic market is already visible.
Global Yogurt Franchises Attempt to Brand a Homemade Indian Staple
Yogurt, better known in India by local names such as dahi and taire, is a staple of the Indian diet and even finds dominant mention in Indian mythology. But it has traditionally been a generic product, with little differentiation between brands. Now, globally popular variants like frozen and flavored yogurt are catching Indian consumers’ attention, and international firms are moving in to tap the opportunity. But experts tell India Knowledge@Wharton that the going may not be very smooth.
Socio-cultural Changes Cheer India's Wine Market
The wine market in India is minuscule compared to its popularity in other parts of the world. But it has been growing at a steady pace over the past few years. Industry players and experts say that this expansion is a reflection of the country's economic growth, young-skewing demographics and changing socio-cultural mores, and predict that the market will only get bigger. But they caution that the government needs to introduce more market-friendly policies for the sector to reach its full potential.
Moving beyond Direct Selling, Eureka Forbes Embraces Digital Customer Service
Eureka Forbes’s core business of selling water purifiers and vacuum cleaners is built on a direct-selling model. But now the company is trying to move beyond knocking on doors to find ways to engage new and longtime customers online. Although Indians have been slow to embrace e-commerce, the number of people with access to the Internet is growing. In order to tap into this market, Eureka Forbes is trying to imbue its digital efforts with the same level of service that helps it succeed on a face-to-face basis.
Nielsen India President Piyush Mathur: 'If We Can Keep Our Best People, It Will Be Very Hard for Us to Fail'
Nielsen India president Piyush Mathur sees India as one of the fastest-growing markets, both as an economy and for his own business. But the problem, he says, will be retaining talent. Nielsen has put in place a system that motivates talent to stay with the company. The global information firm is now introducing its international products in India, he notes in this interview with India Knowledge@Wharton.
New Strategies for a Rapidly Changing Indian Economy
Inflation has become the biggest worry confronting India's government, its people and its corporate environment today. The government is rolling out measures -- essentially interest rate hikes -- albeit without much effect. People are tightening their belts and reworking household budgets. Companies are evolving innovative strategies and have met with some success. Inflation and its impact on consumer spending and corporate marketing was the subject of a Nielsen India conference titled, "Consumer 360 India," held in Delhi in November. While the gathering didn’t -- and couldn’t -- address the core problem of inflation, it did offer some solutions in terms of corporate strategy.
