The world today is moving towards premiumisation and the consumer is seeking more value for the money spent. Internet exposure has widened consumers’ reach to global brands, followed by evolving distribution models that changed the way the consumer researches and buys products.

The biggest challenge in today’s time is to launch innovative products/brands to match global brands and consumers’ evolving choices. Indian brands can only match consumers’ expectation and compete with foreign brands if they are high on brands’ imagery backed by innovation.

An unstable and inconsistent regulatory environment is also fuelling the challenge. Marketing has never been easy in India. It’s like catering to the choices of 29 different regions. In the next five years, social media will play a very important role in influencing consumers’ decisions. Seventy per cent of Indian consumers are below 40 and prefer to first gauge the information and reviews of the product before buying it.

High penetration of mobile internet has eased consumers’ search for different brands. Shifting the base from traditional to digital will need careful monitoring as measuring the exact ROI and extent of impact the product has made in the absence of a touch-and-feel factor is a challenging task. Moreover, driving brand loyalty and satisfaction will also be challenging in this scenario. Earlier consumers used to stick to one brand or taste. Today they want to experience new tastes as they have a plethora of choices, which will only increase in the future as more and more brands enter the market. Marketers need to trigger the reason to switch and offer the right choices at the right time.

(Rahul Gagerna is President, Sales & Marketing, Radico Khaitan)

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