• by Elle Morris , July 5, 2011

We all know the statistics. India is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world benefitting from a rising, youthful middle-class population that enjoys spending money. While this may sound like the Holy Grail for global brands and manufacturers, many brands are failing to resonate with the women in India's lower socio-economic classes.

Not only are these consumers the middle class of the future, winning their loyalty is key for brands hoping to succeed in India. These women manage the household and the family budget, and they decide which brands to bring into the home. Further, brands aren't just products; they offer connection to a higher social status, a comfortable lifestyle and a sense of tradition.

Brands that are loved by these consumers benefit from a rare, durable form of brand loyalty that is shared with future generations and among trusted members of a tightly knit community.

Foreign manufacturers cannot simply implement traditional Western business models with similar brands, packaging and expressed benefits. To appeal to the Indian woman at mass, brands must understand the daily, often pragmatic needs of Indian women and offer solutions that provide convenience, safety, health and dignity. While this can be a challenge, it is the golden ticket. Brands that are successful in establishing an authentic connection have the unique opportunity to experience a remarkable level of brand loyalty, one that can span generations and communities.

Over 20,000 dialects exist in India, with language differing dramatically from region to region. Combined with low literacy rates, many women living in Indian slums have limited access to new information and products and rely on younger generations to translate or read information. More often, these women consult a trusted community of other women for information related to products appropriate to their life stages and individual needs.

Brand preferences are often passed down from generation to generation, a trend accelerated by the fact that women in areas like Mumbai live highly communal and collaborative lifestyles, starting with her multigenerational home that houses as many as three generations in a 10-foot-by-10-foot living space. In Mumbai, development is moving both horizontally and vertically, and shared spaces create cluster communities that are responsible for sharing a wide variety of resources, from water to communal toilets, household tasks and even child rearing.

This Indian woman is the product of 4,000 years of tradition, and from cooking to grooming, she is keenly attuned to how her choices uphold or modify these traditional practices. Change, along with new products in the market, is often met with skepticism and scrutiny. For many women, ritual and religion can vary dramatically depending on region, but they inform her sense of self, family and routine. The daily life for this Indian woman is often a balancing act between needs, usage and resources. She is not able to afford large quantities of consumables or disposables, but will pool her resources with others to share a purchase.

Marketers who invest the time to know and understand the Indian woman and her lifestyle will win a lifetime of loyalty. In order to be successful in the Indian market, brands should deliver the following:

• Pragmatism: Explicitly address and provide a solution to a functional need, even establishing the product as multi-purpose and easy to share with reusable packaging attributes. Dosing solutions should address her limited resources.

• Pride: Evoke Indian ideals of holistic beauty and pride, and at the same time, reinforce a sensitivity to regional nuances of ethnicities and religions. The end benefits of a product and its instructions should be visually conveyed, clear and pictorial.

• Accessibility: High-frequency markets or kiosks are key points of distribution, but do not provide the opportunity for women to interact with products. Beyond traditional marketplaces, brands must also utilize the trusted platforms of her tightly knit community and be ready to activate within soft economies and systems of trade, communicating with her where she spends her time.

• Empowerment: Educate her about her body and her health, empowering her with knowledge and establishing the brand as a trusted resource. Sustain a two-way dialogue, offering solutions to enable positive change for herself and her family.