A good book on Marketing Issues in India

Prof S Ramesh Kumar of IIM Bangalore has written a book Marketing and Branding - The Indian Scenario. The main strength of the book lies in the Indian examples used to illustrate major concepts in marketing. The book is divided into five chapters, the first one is on product and branding, second one on distribution and retail, third on pricing, fourth on psychological dimensions of marketing and last one on promotion and communication. A good read for people interested in marketing issues related to India.

Packaging the 5th P

Packaging though not part of the original 4 Ps , it sure deserves a place in the Indian marketers product mix. Though it is probably in the developing markets that it holds more importance than in the developed markets of the west. In India companies like CavinKare have achieved success in the shampoo markets through the introduction of sachets in the early 1980s, and in fact ushered in the sachet revolution in the country with most the FMCG majors following up with their own sachets. Today one can find anything from coconut oil to tea powder in sachets. The advantage for the consumer is he gets to use a product at a lowered per use cost and easy of trail. There was a time 5-6 years back when the prices of the sachets when combined were cheaper than the bigger packs offered by the same company, now that anomaly has been removed. In my recent train travels I was given pickles by the pantry in sachets, worth 50pcs each, the brand was 'Chinni' again from CavinKare.

More details on Cavinkare at www.cavinkare.com