Local brands ride PM wagon

Last week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a bid to revive the economy announced the war cry Vocal for Local Instagram was flooded with posts by homegrown brands keen to remind us that they exist Using the hashtags Vocalforlocal madeinindia and supportlocal indie brands hopped on to the bandwagon to woo potential buyers who after being hit by the Coronavirus are not just hesitant to step out but also wary of consuming anything importedSome marketing campaigns have already started taking the saynotomadeinChina tangent And soon we may find ourselves looking for Indian manufacturers of products that were once solely foreign made or those we shopped for when travellingManan Gandhi of Bombay Perfumery who is inspired by Indian chai and kali mirch says his fragrances are just as nuanced as the next best foreign scentEstablished in 2016 Mumbaibased Bombay Perfumery is an indigenous perfume maker with a bottling company in Vapi Its founder Manan Gandhi claims that their madeinIndia perfume will offer the same experience as a Rs 10000 Armani bottle There are very few perfume making firms in India and we are giving due credit to Indian ingredients like jasmine which has been used in global perfumes for years says Gandhi With a starting price of Rs 4000 for a 100ml bottle the perfumes come in a range spanning local spices including black pepper and cardamomAs Aneesh Bhasin cofounder of the threeyearold SVAMI Indias only homegrown tonic water says it has become cooler to buy local in the past five years but he hopes the PMs thrust will make the practice trickle down to all sections of consumers However its not always easier on the pocket to buy local An 300 ml of SVAMI costs Rs 88 while an equal quantity of Schweppes would cost about R38 But SVAMI is 50 per cent less in sugarIn a 2017 survey by LocalCircles a community social media platform it was revealed that about 52 per cent Indians preferred madeinIndia products over Chinese ones on the quality marker Yet 83 per cent said they bought Chinese products since they were the cheapest options in the marketBut thats not always the case as the founders of Kraus Jeans will tell you The denim brand with a starting price of Rs 999 is owned by Atmaram Punjabi and his family The business started from a modest shop in the Kalbadevi market and now has manufacturing units across Mumbai Their marketing campaign which could now be considered aheadofitstime has largely been about the Indian woman and body type being the krausgirl We are the highest selling womens denim brand in the country We understand the Indian body type Our digital campaign was around the message of Indian women being krausgirls This new messaging is only going to help us Punjabi believesAnd its not just denim A whole array of buys that we once associated strictly with travel abroad are now available in India and at top notch quality Gourmet cheese mead and designer lingerie are all being made in India and proudly tooPrateeksh Mehra founder of Mumbaibased artisanal cheese brand Spotted Cow Fromagerie says that Indians should buy local gourmet cheese not because they donrsquot have an option but because itrsquos truly of international standardPrateeksh Mehra founder and cheese maker at Spotted Cow Fromagerie hopes now that the buyer at highend supermarkets and online will opt for Indian cheese which he makes French style The brands workshop in Mira Road has the tagline frightfully close to French cheese to avoid indignation by the discerning shopper No matter how many exhibitions or farmers markets they visit and see whats on offer here people still think international cheese is better But some of it is not just cheaper but also as good They should buy it not because they dont have an option but because its actually good says Mehra who has named his Brie BomBrie to stress on the brands local identityThe Tailor and Circus campaign focuses on the Indian body typeAbhishek Elango the creative director of the Tamil Nadubased innerwear brand Tailor and Circus says they found themselves being tagged on Instagram as soon as the PMs address ended We are already seeing a lot of traction Our positioning has always been based around the representation of brown people and the Indian body type and our products have the breathability India needs he says of the lingerie that is manufactured in Tiruppur adding The India story is a big part of our branding and we will continue to go down that road especially nowMoonshine Meadery is a Punebased brand that has used local vendors from day one of their operations say cofounders Rohan Rehani and Nitin VishwasPunebased Moonshine Meadery is on the same path Over an email cofounders Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwas discuss their branding strategy Since inception and long before VocalForLocal became a hashtag weve been a 100 per cent local brand making our meads using the finest local ingredients Were glad that the sentiment to use local is gaining attraction as this will bring the spotlight on independent local brands like ours While the entire beverage industry is now pledging to source from within India through local vendors weve been doing this right from day one But as the PM said maybe well be more vocal about it now and not just at 8 pmArjun ShahCelebrating all that is Indian is not a good move just for brands but for marketing companies too that are welcoming the current mood of getting India back on track CEO of marketing firm Shark amp Ink Arjun Shah says In India consumers have been drawn to imported brands Weve not trusted our own industries businesses and entrepreneurs to deliver at par with western competitors But this move is going to bolster our local supply chains promote welfare create jobs and above all give the country some hope for the future Brand marketing has already changed In the past 48 hours weve seen domestic brands right from Dabur to Spicejet to Metro Shoes unanimously echo and promote the PMs message in their communicationBBH India which works with both Indian clients like Marico along with international names like Uber feels that in a lot of categories being an Indian brand was seen as a drawback In categories like technology and auto the messaging is not likely to make a dent As an extreme example youre not likely to pick a Maruti over a Maserati But if youre buying say a food product your decision could change There are categories where over the years a lot of Agrade Indian brands have emerged Whats interesting is that it will make buying local an image markermdasha signal to yourself and others that you are somehow through a small act participating in something larger says Arvind Krishnan MD BBH IndiaArvind KrishnanThe cry for local might also be good from the health stand pointIn a study published by the Oxford Academic which traces the connection between industrialisation and health author Simon Szreter says Two of the oldest most wellestablished relationships between economic activity or trade and population health are recognised to be mediated through the epidemiological implications of firstly regular social interaction between populations previously not exposed to each others disease ecology and secondly the increasingly dense permanent settlement of populations which occurs in the form of towns occupying nodal or strategic points in trading networks Both of these relationships have always been understood to be negative in terms of the health of the populations exposed It would then seem that smaller setups like those of homegrown brands could avoid leading to the spread of new virusesTirthankar PatnaikBut will this help the economy Tirthankar Patnaik PhD and Chief Economist at the NSE says that the answer cannot be a simple yes or no since many variables are involved In 1991 as liberalisation began the whole idea was to export and policy was tuned to support exports In the last several years many economies have become inwardlooking The original aim of the governments Make in India plan has been to increase Indias manufacturing share of the GDP from 15 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022 Make in India applies not just to domestic players but also international players that operate here In this context this isnt a black and white rejection of globalisation but a call to domestic manufacturing Further many supply chains are global as well as services or raw materials could be getting imported So we must be clear that this is not a call for insularity or autarky as economists refer to it economic independence he saysAsked if the buy local message is a contradiction to the urge to increase FDI in India he disagrees With over US320bn of FDI into the country since the 1990s international companies based in India pay taxes and provide employment If their shares are listed then gains also accrue to domestic shareholders In other words they contribute to the economy as well This should be seen as an idea to consider domestic manufacturing consumption and being selfreliant Its not about shunning global brands but supporting localCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news