Imagine visiting a shopping mall, and a product item grabbed your attention. The minute after picking it up, you put the product back in its place, feeling annoyed. What went wrong here? Well! The product description was in another language, and there was no understandable guidance or instruction for a local buyer. Yes, the buyer was initially interested in the product. However, having no clarity, understanding, or relatability with the product, he kept it back and moved to check other products that seemed relatable and understandable.
Here, we observed a clear message that it is necessary to have a customizable approach for the local buyers that could feel Indian, and that the consumers could easily understand and relate to. Other aspects like pricing and quality follow. However, businesses often fail when they enter the Indian market with a global and standardized approach. The strategy does not work in the Indian marketplace and falls flat. Furthermore, to enter the Indian market or expand business in the Indian local markets, business owners need to work on their approach to customize it for the Indian local audiences and their understanding – linguistically and culturally.
Indeed, India’s strength lies in its diversity, but for business, it presents challenges, too. Therefore, the key to winning the diverse Indian consumers is making the approach Indian enough, blending their global expertise with the local nuances, adapting to the regional differences, and using the Indianization approach.
What is Indianization, and How is Regional Adaptation Important in India?
Indianization is simply the process of adapting the products/services, their approach, and other business and marketing strategies to fit into India’s diverse regions, including its unique cultural, linguistic, and behavioral patterns. Let’s understand this in detail:
- Firstly, it includes the adaptation of languages. Depending on the area, your brand must customize its language and communicate in the local dialects to be easily understood by the audience.
- Secondly, customization and adaptation of the cultural sensitivities of the target area. It includes festivities, jargon, humor, etc., to show honor and relatability with the locals and not disrespect their sentiments in any form.
- Thirdly, customizing products/services per consumers’ behaviors and buying patterns. It further includes pricing, trust-building mechanisms, and customers’ shopping habits, which vary from region to region.
Brands that understand the importance of customization and regional adaptation penetrate easily and grow well in rural areas. Moreover, Indianization is the key to the Indian market, to help with everything that a business needs to unlock its potential and thrive in it.
Ways to Implement Indianization and Expand Your Business in India
Talking about the Indianization approach is not just about avoiding missteps but also leveraging success by incorporating the right approach – the Indianization approach. Following are some of the steps of the Indianization approach, using which you could get better traction and earn more business profits:
1. Communicating in the local language
In India, using only English and Hindi will not work. Businesses must communicate in local languages like Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, or Punjabi. Ensure the use of multilingual content, from websites to product packaging.
2. Customizing the Product Offerings
Your product offerings, features, descriptions, and other aspects must not feel foreign to customers. It should be relatable and align with the local consumers to attract them and win their hearts.
3. Understanding Regional Preferences
How could you deal with this? Well! Working according to the data and analytics of your target area and audiences. Be sure to research, analyze, and strategize as per the market insights and tailor your offerings accordingly to see the best results.
4. Leveraging Local Festivals and Trends
India is known for its diversity and its diverse festivals. From Holi to Pongal, Eid to Diwali, and Durga Puja to Christmas, leverage each of the festivals, and other opportunities by aligning your marketing campaigns and efforts with them.
5. Adapting Products/Services Pricing
India has mostly price-sensitive markets, and audiences prefer value-for-money deals in most regions. Therefore, ensure that your pricing strategies are tailored to the different areas.
6. Tailoring Marketing Strategies
Just like a global approach won’t work for different regions in India, the same marketing strategy won’t bring you profit. You must identify the touchpoints and distribution channels and tailor your marketing strategy accordingly.
7. Building Trust and Reliability
To win the Indian market, you must first win your consumers’ trust and build reliability over your products/services. It is the only way to get through your audiences’ heart and make your business a success in the Indian marketplace.
Conclusion
Digital adoption is skyrocketing in India, and so are the rural market expansion, business opportunities, and consumer expectations. Several companies are today penetrating the Indian marketplace and expanding their business in the rural to remote regions. However, only those who know the secret to getting ahead among their competitors stay relevant and future-proof themselves.
So do not let the one-size-fits-all strategy hold you back. Use the right techniques that work for your business, and incorporate Indianization. Need any assistance? Our Indian market experts are here to help you at every step. Let’s step up and take one customized step at a time, let’s shake hands and build your market presence together because the future belongs to those who Indianize.
