Business Today Net Special

Only In India

It's the death of corporate imperialism again. Only, now it is the turn of direct-selling MNCs like Amway and Tupperware to adopt unique-to- India strategies.

By Vinod Mahanta

K.S.Bhutani
MD, Tupperware

Learning the lessons fast and learning them well; that's enough to make a real difference in any competitive market. So did Amway and Tupperware, the global giants in direct selling, after a prolonged phase of struggle. After crossing the red-to-black barrier, the direct sellers are now aligning their strategies to suit the local market conditions in order to get their pick of the market and workforce. As these players are realising now, attracting workforce is critical to the success of direct selling, since sales in this segment is directly proportional to the workforce.

Lé Affairé Ciprofloxacin

A Unique Transformation

Down, But Not Out

Amway started off with the same strategy of advertising, which it adopted earlier in mature markets like Australia, and US though it's the earliest they have done world-wide. Having conducted a market research last year by a leading market research agency, Amway found that people knew about the company, but there was a need to create a more popular image. "We feel what we did was important keeping in view the markets in India. These advertisements are aimed at enhancing the Amway brand awareness by highlighting the company's corporate credentials, values, international lineage, reputation, and our commitment to India" explains Amway’s Managing Director Bill Pinckney. Traditionally, Amway has preferred larger packs since they offer more value. But in India, the company has shifted to sachets. The company has even launched literature in Hindi, Punjabi, and Tamil, and plans to follow it in 8-10 languages more. These initiatives are part of the strategy to penetrate the respective markets. Even the distribution strategy is being made more regionally driven with 32 distribution offices in place across the country. Amway's turnover is expected to double to reach Rs 500 crore this year.

Apart from Amway, another multinational giant training its guns at the Indian market is Tupperware. The company launched two brand-awareness initiatives recently, both differing from the party plan that it traditionally worked with and is famous for. Since Tupperware doesn't have retail outlets, its members hold parties where they invite potential members to join Tupperware and also advertise their products. Though the sales were there, it was felt that the traditional channel was not enough and additional efforts were needed to supplement it. "People knew our products by name but did not know about their reach and availability" says Kanwar Bhutani, MD, Tupperware. The company recently launched a ‘Caravan programme’ where a caravan travelled through various parts of the metros, and recruited people to its network. The second initiative was to install showcases in metro-based mega shopping malls like Ansal Plaza and Ebony, and getting the distributors to manage it. "It was to reach customers who wanted to buy products but did not know from where to get it," says Bhutani.

Not to be left behind is the Indian darkhorse among the global giants, Modicare. In its bid to get its share of distributors, the company has come up with a state-of-the-art success centre. Modicare wants to do away with its old look and feels that it needs a brand new image and standard. The Rs one crore-centre is aimed at helping the distributors in convincing customers through live demonstrations of the products. "It's not just a show but an attempt to set up a benchmark in an industry where the competitors are global giants" says Sameer Modi, MD, Modicare. The target: an increase in sales by 300 per cent this fiscal itself. Whew!

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