A strategic provocation around ethnic brands gearing up and taking the fight to the global & national biggies in the f&B market. The silent ethnic revolution that is possibly afoot in India.

1. "Ethnicity
in
a
bottle"
As
the
local-­‐ethnic
embraces
modern
branding
hues,
here
is
at
hand
indeed
a
silent
revolution
in
India!!
"Punjab
Sind"
Yet
another
local
brand,
a
consumer
brand
which
enjoys
ethnic
-­‐
local
market
trust
gets
into
packaging,
branding
&
cracks
modern
retail.
Most
local
&
been
here
for
a
while
mumbaikars
have
come
to
love
&
trust
Punjab
Sind
for
their
paneer
(cottage
cheese),
lassi
&
other
dairy
products.
Increase
in
demand
and
opportunity
projected
lead
to
multiple
outlets
&
hence
ramping
up
of
production
capabilities,
leading
to
a
further
opportunity
realisation
of
getting
into
packaged
FMCG...
I
went
to
a
24/7
medical
store
to
buy
a
strip
of
antacid,
saw
a
fellow
customer
billing
4
packs
of
this
lassi
(churned
yogurt/curd
-­‐
flavoured
&
plain),
felt
aah!
here's
an
even
faster
relief
and
an
immediate
calmer
for
my
acidic
tummy
and
went
and
looked
for
it.
Right
next
were
a
range
of
other
big
national
brands
with
packaged
lassi.
But
as
soon
as
I
saw
"Punjab
Sind"
-­‐
I
said
hey!
is
it
the
same
"my
Punjab
Sind?"
-­‐
nah!
cant
be!!
But
I
took
a
closer
look
and
to
my
delight
realised
it
was
indeed
amchi
(our
own)
Punjab
Sind
in
smart
packaging.
Presto,
my
hands
automatically
grabbed
these
instead
of
Amul
/
Britannia
and
others.
Wait
a
minute,
I
always
thought
of
Amul
as
my
dear
local-­‐cool,
cooperative
movement
backed
amchi
brand
-­‐
but
here
I
found
myself
thinking
Punjab
Sind
as
more
amchi
than
Amul.

2. Aaah!
the
emergence
of
the
relative
Amchi.
Amul
based
out
of
anand
in
Gujarat
is
less
amchi
than
Punjab
Sind
which
enjoys
my
everyday
trust
&
interaction
and
hence
my
immediate
/
local
-­‐
contextually
relevant
trust.
I
excitedly
spoke
to
my
wife
about
this
&
was
in
turn
told
there
was
also
Parsi
dairy
milk
products
available
and
she
preferred
them
over
Amul,
Britannia,
Mother
Dairy
etc.
I
immediately
thought
of
my
earlier
post
on
ethnic
products
&
ethnic
distribution
systems.
(
http://on.fb.me/1vvixCn
)
between
local
brands
which
enjoy
trust
of
ethnic
products
finding
local
distribution
systems
and
others
cracking
modern
distribution
systems
-­‐
the
F&B
market
in
India
is
headed
towards
exciting
times.
Split
market
shares,
micro-­‐fragmented
markets
with
each
locality
mushrooming
its
own
local-­‐hero
brands
is
indeed
going
to
pose
a
huge
headache
for
the
#pepsi
#cocacola
#amul
#motherdairy
#brittania
kind
of
companies.
It
is
a
matter
of
which
&
how
many
of
these
local
brands
manage
to
grow,
consolidate
and
extend
beyond
their
ethnic
stronghold
geographies
is
a
matter
of
brand
play,
capital
-­‐
not
being
trade
locked,
out-­‐discounted
and
out
distributed
by
the
bigger
players.
But
with
so
much
more
money
being
invested
into
other
3p's
of
marketing
-­‐
are
big
brands
going
to
have
the
same
mega-­‐large
budgets
for
promotion?.
How
long
will
their
parent
brands
i
India
and
abroad
be
able
to
sustain
this
support?.
Yes
the
new
gen
Indian
youth
may
trust
global
&
national
brands
more
and
showcase
their
preferences
more
-­‐
but
every
such
young
group
has
a
genuine
foodie
amidst
them
-­‐
who
introduces
the
ethnic
fervour
into
their
palette
as
well
and
their
mums
&
dads
and
the
culture
of
their
household
and
the
new
found
pride
in
re-­‐discovering
and
celebrating
ethnic
culture
amongst
youth
is
also
on
the
rise
(look
at
the
amount
of
youngsters
also
visiting
a
#potoba
eating
place).
For
every
10
ethnic
brands
which
mushroom,
6/7
may
die
away
or
be
acquired
and
merged
(like
Dukes),
but
for
every
3/4
which
survive
and
make
it
big
shall
inspire
other
ethnic
brands
to
try...thus
creating
a
never
ending
cycle.
As
far
as
acquisition
strategy
goes,
Duke's
Mangola
is
still
a
local
fav
and
Mumbaikars
still
refer
to
it
as
Duke's
and
not
as
Pepsi
Duke's
or
Duke's
by
Pepsi.
Same
with
#thumsup
-­‐
in
spite
of
Coke
trying
to
choke
it,
it
is
still
the
No:1
cola
brand
of
the
country.
How
many
acquisitions
can
MNC's
sustain?
For
a
global
brand
offers
efficiencies
of
scale.
I
don’t
think
we
will
ever
be
a
USA
-­‐
which
has
such
homogenous
beverage
consumption
-­‐
like
in
all
other
things;
in
this
category
too
shall
we
remain
plural
as
a
nation
-­‐
posing
complexity?
Good
counter
balance
at
play?
don’t
know...but
definitely
interesting
times
ahead
:D

3. "Punjab
Sind"
now
and
simultaneously
happening...
Gujarata,
Maratha
-­‐
Dravida,
Utkala....
(pun
intended)
its
happening
everywhere
locally!
#wolfsighhts
#wolfsight
Wolfzhowl