Busting The Common Misconceptions For A Better FMCG Future

“While there seems to be a lot of demand in the FMCG market what are the products that will be leading?” asks session moderator Anurag Mahajan, Director, Ernst &Young at the Opportunity India Summit, 2018, organized by Franchise India.

Going the Millennial way:

Aditya Bagri, Director, Baggrys India Ltd., says, “People nowadays look at convenience.  Also, there is a lot of premiumisation happening along with demand which is driving the FMCG growth.” It is no more about perception but a brand will actually have to deliver and match up to their name.

Hitesh Dhingra, Founder &MD, The Man Company, agrees, saying, “Consumer behavior has changed due to disposable income and they are unwilling to compromise on the quality.”

Busting the common misconception:

Given that nowadays there is a lot of mushrooming of new entrepreneurs, a big problem is that it is a common misconception that global trends can also work that well in India. What works well in the international market might not work well at all here, customization and alteration is a necessity to set up.

However, it is also true that times have changed and new age consumers are looking at different things. People are maturing and know what is right and what’s not, and they have also started asking questions. Dhingra, says, “Major urbanization been taking place with a lot of disposable income. Consumer behavior has changed due to disposable income and they are unwilling to compromise on the quality.”

Transparency in product range:

New age consumers are looking at different things. People are maturing and know what is right and what’s not and they have also started asking questions. The brands who have managed to enter a 25-year-old’s mindset has actually managed to penetrate and establish an emotional connection with him. 

Prabhtej Singh Bhatia, Founder and CEO, Simba Beer says, “You not only need to be connected with the brand but also need to be extremely transparent about the products. India is too big a market and requires a diverse product range.” Therefore, it can easily be concluded that in today’s time your product needs to be transparent and be able to establish a connect with the consumer base in order to be popular.

New age Marketing:

The next thing to deal with is marketing. The millennials are highly pro-digital. Both Prashant Parameswaran, MD &CEO, Kottaram Agro Foods (Soulfull), and Aditya Bagri, agree that digital marketing has reached that level of inflation that one can now freely post a story. This was previously unthinkable.

Bagri states, “We end up creating a lot of products based on consumer feedback. As an entrepreneur, you need to realize your strengths and weaknesses.”