The Indian consumer behaviour
I am Aarihant Aaryan! Welcome to the Iron Sharpen Iron newsletter,
I share my weekly homework from my startup journey, learning about human behaviour, and sometimes decoding industries and business models for fun.
I can’t control my curiosity :) )
For some time now, I have zoomed out a little and have been observing Indian consumer behaviour,
Today the behaviour is much different than what it was 4 years ago, India loves quick commerce, Crunchyroll (an Anime app in regional languages), and Participation in entrance exams, and government exams has been decreasing year on year.
But there are much better shifts that are worth noting and I would love to share
1. Indian sepoy syndrome is the same
Indians have sepoy syndrome, which makes us hate consuming things that are made in India,
India has been suffering from sepoy syndrome for a very long time,
sepoy syndrome means a belief that Indians have carried that Western products, ideas, and business models are inherently superior to Indian ones.
That's why India has always adopted global products
Tea, Idly, Biryani, cricket, English, WhatsApp and many such things that unite us aren't from India
Since Indians don't like things that are made in India,
If you can make an effort to create neutral products, that will eventually unite people - you will be able to build an irreversible business
2. Puma won market share in India with Kohli’s influence
Nike and Addidas failed to compete with Pumaa in India puma is the selling shoe in India
Puma, a mediocre, non-aspirational brand surpassed great brands like Nike and Addidas
Puma India's revenue is more than $350m, and Puma's revenue more than doubled in comparison to the financial year 2019. Puma has the highest overall sales compared to its competitors Nike, Adidas, and Reebok.
Even tho Puma had a mediocre brand compared to its competitors, it managed to be the leader of the market because it truly knew how to build for India
Let me explain, Puma was positioned as a shoe brand for middle-class, lower-middle-class Indians
Their price range was starting from 1,500 and going up to 3,000 but still, why would someone want to buy a non-aspirational brand?
That's when Puma hired Virat Kohli as their brand ambassador from 2017 to 2024, they leveraged Kohli's image and his growing success, to position Puma as a must-have shoes
In India, you can build a decent business, by using someone’s influence irrespective of the brand positioning and product quality
3. F1 entering India via Netflix → F1 is doing an aspirational sport pitching
F1 is a useless sport, that was the case in 2018 in India but with one simple partnership today India is one of the top 5 big markets for F1
F1 has so much craze around the globe but they couldn't build distribution in India as cricket has captured the Indian audience like crazy
They wanted the Indian market as it was a huge opportunity that was to be unlocked,
That's when F1 collaborated with Netflix to launch the Drive to Survive series
They put in the effort to position the series as entertainment and build emotional connection
They did a bunch of experiments like showing behind the scenes, focusing on driver rivalries, team dynamics, and personal stories.
This eventually helped Indian viewers connect with the sport more emotionally and build a connection with specific drivers.
4. The luxury market is growing by length and breadth
Ethos has 500 customers but has made 800 crore revenue.
Ethos is a premium watch marketplace, they are listed on the stock market with a valuation of just close to one billion dollars
See Ethos is an offline and online marketplace that sells luxury watches
Last year they made a revenue of 800 crores with just 500 customers
Interestingly, the point is that these 500 customers are ultra-rich Indians, who spend more than 1 crore to buy watches on Ethos every year
Their customers include cricketers, politicians, actors and businessman's
Contrary to what many think, India is a perfect place to build premium brands.
See, As of today, the top 1% of India contributes to 40% of the wealth in the country
India has more than 7000 ultra-rich individuals, this number is expected to increase by 17,000 by 2028
If you have any thoughts or questions share them in the comments :)
If you found this insightful, do drop a like and tap on share.