Can we think of a world without culture? Why do we greet or nod at people? Why do we have the afternoon tea or coffee? Why do we pray? Why do we feel that the world is becoming more permissive? There are thousands of answers for all these aspects. But the single concept that can answer these questions is what is known as culture – shared meanings that people have in a social context (society).

These are meanings that do not emerge from cold logic: these meanings arise from practices and values handed over from generation to generation and from emerging practices among recent generations. With technology and environment changing dynamically in most parts of the world, culture assumes a special significance with respect to the management of brands – whether the context is US or Japan or India.

India has a rich heritage of culture diverse and eclectic. For instance, tea brands differentiate their tastes across regions; jewellery designs vary and perception of cleanliness differ across regions.

There is an Indian culture, a regional culture and the impact of western culture. It is this medley of factors that make branding challenging and interesting in the Indian context. How can a brand acquire a mix of these associations? Should the brand be positioned after the consumers are segmented culturally? How can brands of Indian origin position themselves? Can some western brands benefit from Indian culture?

Culture is the meaning that people/consumers share – across food, apparel, grooming, artefacts, religion and language, to name a few domains. How can brands make use of this characteristic of sharing across domains?

There are several dimensions to it that brands can use. Such an approach shapes the thought process of anyone who is in the business of managing brands.

A modest commodity The cultural route of the ritual of including an unassuming snack while we socialise has been interestingly used by Britannia to brand the commonplace rusk. Will a mega brand be interested in such a simple product that no one had bothered to brand? (There may have been a few local brands that just pack them in a package with a name.)

This is a product that had been available in bakeries and roadside shops for decades in several parts of India. It has ingredients in common with bread and is also known by other names in some parts of the country. It is widely popular among the tea drinkers in small shops to the extent that it is a such a part of the culture, as tea or biscuits in a few regions. The point is that it was not consumed in households, like cakes or other bakery offerings, especially in households of higher socio-economic status.

How should rusks be branded?  (They were very much a commodity.) Britannia with its strong biscuit associations has done it very well using its distribution to its advantage, apart from  the synergistic advantage with its other offerings. Being a ‘low-involvement’ product, its ad just raises the interest with the kind of communication that is simple, product-specific and does not go into great depth about the attributes. The ad shows an interesting but culturally appropriate (and clichéd?) interaction between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with an overtone of triumph associated with the latter. Britannia being a well-known brand has the opportunity to take this offering to households that may have rarely bought this offering. 

Tempering permissiveness Tinder is a location-based dating application that is used by people to make connections with one another. The brand is making an attempt to get consumers to perceive it as an application that connects people rather than a dating application. Given the appeal of Tinder to youngsters (a press report says that the application has 14 million swipes a day), the company initiated an Indian campaign that had the mother stereotype in the film. Being a “permissive” application (in terms of mainstream Indian culture) , the brand has introduced a way to blend Indian culture with the contemporary western application.

This is an innovative use of culture to temper the permissiveness associated with the offering.

Offering for the trendy A herbal ‘head bath’ is perhaps as old as Indian culture itself. Several herbal shampoo offerings have crowded the market in the past decade. Nyle Naturals, which presents a herbal offering in its communication, talks about the strength of the hair (traditional claim) and how the offering can prevent hair damage that happens through hair straightening and blow-drying (a contemporary practice).

“Milk is always hot” Do Indians drink cold milk? Boiling milk before it is consumed/ added to any food is almost a morning ritual in every household in India regardless of the socioeconomic strata.

Kellogg’s introduced its cornflakes in the Nineties and found that consumers mixed it with hot milk, which may not have given the kind of taste or texture associated with cornflakes the world over).

After almost two decades, the brand advertised that cornflakes can be had with hot milk. It may be interesting to explore if Kellogg’s had carried such an ad in any other part of the world.

Culture can also take unexpected turns when it comes to beauty. In Japan, crooked teeth are in fashion and women pay dentists to reshape their teeth!

Culture is a goldmine for a brand that explores the connections between consumer mindset and culture.

(The author is a professor - Marketing, in IIM-Bangalore)

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