Advertisement in India - Essay Example

Advertising in India McDonald’s McDonald’s launched itself in India for the first time in the year 1996. According to the management consultancy AT Kearney, the consumption of the urban Indians in two major cities of India i.e. Delhi and Mumbai was increased three to five times a month with the launch of McDonald’s (Chaturvedi, n.d.). At the time of its launch, the biggest fear that McDonald’s faced was its rejection on the basis of people’s perception that this restaurant offered foreign or typically “American” foods that were quite away from the traditional foods and eating patterns in India.

So McDonald’s decided to project itself as a food that caters for and addresses the needs of the “Indian” population. “McDonalds wanted to position itself as Indian and a promoter of family values and culture, as well as being comfortable and easy. Simultaneously, the brand wanted to communicate that, operationally, it was committed to maintaining a quality service, cleanliness and offering value for money” (Chaturvedi, n.d.). From the standpoint of marketing communications, McDonald’s directed its attention on developing a familiarity of the customers with its brand.

McDonald’s did not use much of mass media like advertising on television in India until the start of the 21st century. Till then, the marketing efforts of McDonald’s paid emphasis on designing of the outlets, opening of new restaurants, and customization of its menus to the standards of Indian food. McDonald’s India primarily got success in India through strategic advertising meant to develop the customers’ familiarity with the brand as well as use of traditional Indian spices on the typical McDonald’s meals.

Pepsi Pepsi has always been popular in India and its popularity has only grown with the passage of time. Pepsi particularly realized the importance and influence of the Bollywood Film Industry on the people of India. Indians have a craze to follow their stars and celebrities in all aspects, so food was no exception as well. In numerous television advertisements of Pepsi that have been on-air from time to time, Pepsi has been using Indian superstars like Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor to promote its product.

Not just this, Pepsi also has been closely examining the popular relationships of Indian superstars thinking that making the couples of actors from the Bollywood Film Industry act in its ads would have an even larger influence on the audiences and the idea actually worked. Another very important realization by Pepsi was the popularity of cricket among the Indians, so many Pepsi advertisements that have been shown on the television include famous cricketers in them. In addition to that, having realized that the young generation makes a bulk of its consumers, Pepsi particularly projected its product as something that represented the young generation in India.

This is evident from how Pepsi used the word “Youngistaan” in its brand idea that represents “Hindustan” in general and the “young Indians” in particular. Making the cricketers act in its ads served both of these purposes i.e. the influence of cricketers and the projection of Pepsi as an icon of youth. References:Chaturvedi, P n.d., How McDonalds evolved its marketing in India, [Online] Available at http://ipm.ge/article/How%20McDonalds%20evolved%20its%20marketing%20in%20India_ENG.

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