Brand Failures

158 Brand failures
Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola company understood that distribution was the
key to building a strong Indian brand. It therefore decided to buy out one
of India’s most successful soft drink companies and manufacturers of
popular soda brand Thums Up. However, although this gave Coca-Cola
an instant distribution network, Thums Up remained more popular than
Coke for many years. Most Indians initially thought that the new entry
to the market wasn’t fizzy enough.
Whirlpool. When Whirlpool launched its refrigerators on the Indian
market, it found the market unwilling to buy larger sizes than the standard
165 litres.
MTV. When MTV India was launched, the aim was to bring Western
rock, rap and pop to the sub-continent. Now, however, the music policy
has shifted to accommodate Indian genres such as bhangra.
Domino’s Pizza. Initially, Domino’s Pizza transferred its Western offerings
direct to the Indian market, but the company eventually realized that it
had to bow to local tastes, as Arvind Nair, chief executive officer at
Domino’s Pizza India explains. ‘Initially, our focus was to stay only in
metropolitan areas, but in the last two years we have felt the need to spread
ourselves into “mini metros” and B-category towns. We have also experimented
with our taste options, especially when we went into smaller
towns. We have focused on more regional flavours now,’ he says. As a result
of this change of strategy, Domino’s came up with localized toppings such
as ‘Peppy Paneer’ and ‘Chicken Chettinad’. This move was greeted with
a wry smile from Domino’s main Indian competitor, US Pizza, which was
the first to offer local topping. ‘In 1995, when we offered tandoori chicken
and paneer toppings, some made fun of us saying, why not offer spaghetti
and pasta toppings The same companies are now offering chole and spicy
masala pizzas,’ says Wahid Berenjian, the managing director for US Pizza.
He told the Hindu newspaper Business Line that US brands such as
Domino’s made the mistake of thinking that US tastes are universal. ‘You
cannot change the taste buds that were developed more than a thousand
years ago,’ he said.
Citibank. When Citibank entered the Indian market, the firm’s aim was
to target only high-income earners. But, in the words of the Business Line
newspaper, Citibank soon realized that ‘in India it makes sense to go the
mass banking way rather than the class banking way.’