Branding - Promotions in the Indian context

my view : prasoon joshi
Promotions in the Indian context
Promos and freebies must be in sync with the brand’s value — and the social context of the consumer

The author is regional creative director, South and South-East Asia, McCann Erickson India

At a recent client meeting, a research study was being discussed fervently. It put forth that promotions do not work in India. For, consumers say that the decision to buy is based chiefly on the quality of the main product; the freebies are of no consequence.
Marketers would take this finding with more than a pinch of salt. “Promotions stimulate sales for reasons other than the product’s inherent benefits,” they would argue. Those reasons are ‘incentives’, and they work because “consumers love a good deal or free extras with their purchases”. Why then the seeming anomaly between customer speak and behaviour? We will have to delve a little deeper.
Promotions can be beneficial for the brand but to be overtly acknowledged as the reason to buy, they must be in sync with its values — and the consumer’s social context. After all, promotions come from life itself. Let me share an example. I spent the summer holidays of my childhood in the hills of Almora. At dusk, an elderly gentleman called out from his house atop the hill: “Chalo bachcho, bhajan-aarti ka time ho gaya.” (C’mon children, it’s time for the evening prayers). And we would run up to his house where for the next hour we lustily sang bhajans.
As kids, the sole reason to go there had little to do with spirituality. It was the ‘prasad’ that he distributed at the end of the hour. Sometimes, ladoos or fruits and, if lucky, even freshly-made halwa. In a sense, the prasad was the ‘promotion’ for the ‘product’ — the religious value system that he sought to inculcate and the bhajans and aarti he wanted us to participate in.
The lure of ‘something extra’ cuts across all age and income groups. People, however, hesitate to accept it. They seldom admit it openly, perhaps not even to themselves. But why? We need to contextualise this closet consumption of promotions in our social ethos.
Greed may be universally frowned upon, but perhaps it is a touch more in our milieu. We do have a deeply embedded cultural value system that preaches frugality and ‘santosh’ (contentment). So the ‘want for something more than necessary’ cannot be made apparent. For promos too, the freebie would be readily accepted, if couched in a logical and sound reason to buy the main product.
It is difficult to find an example more apt than Kaun Banega Crorepati, now back with much aplomb, to reflect an insight into the Indian value-system and promotions. Its concept was neither centred on academic prowess like BBC Mastermind nor on pure commercial gains. It was deliciously poised between Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity) and Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge). For, traditionally in India, it is believed that there must be a confluence of learning and wealth for success.Knowledge as a route to wealth is regarded desirable. Parents encourage children to arm themselves with ‘general knowledge’ and accompany them to the studios. Of course, the charisma of Mr Bachchan is a huge draw, but then even his persona is poised between his huge commercial success and literary lineage.
The current TV promos for KBC II, which feature characters ‘unsuccessful in all walks of life’ is a bit of a surprise though. KBC II, if viewed through the filter of promos alone, now looks more like a ‘game of chance’ that anyone can take a shot at and win. Humorous? Entertaining? Creative? Most certainly. Nothing wrong per se in this approach.
I refer to this not to find holes with KBC II but merely to offer a perspective. The promos seem stripped off the educational, edifying aspect that blended with our ethos and garnered tremendous social acceptance. For somewhere, the spirit of the programme seems compromised, if judged by the promos in isolation.
Promotions can enhance the appeal of a product if done in sync with the brand values and the social context. Perhaps that is why though I have long forgotten the taste of the prasad, I still hum the bhajans on occasions. Because they, in themselves, were extraordinary.