Establishing True Lifestyle Brand in India: An Integrated Marketing Mix Framework

Abstract

Humongous size of Indian retail market, evolution of modern and external brands friendly retailing formats in addition to attracting many Global lifestyle brands has also prompted many Indian exporters, manufactures, conglomerates and entrepreneurs to launch Indian lifestyle brands. It is evident that only a few Indian brands are able to create true lifestyle brand image in their employees, investors, competitors and consumers mind and the trueness level of the majority of Indian lifestyle brands is still a question. Majority of developing and developed Indian lifestyle brands assume that the success of a lifestyle brand is measured basis the revenue or profit they generate and are impatient and unaware of implicit long- term strategical benefits of creating a true lifestyle brand image in consumers mind. It is true that India is one of the countries with consumers belonging to the widest range of Religions, Regions, Languages, Sub-Cultures and Economic backgrounds which makes it very difficult for any lifestyle brand to own a true lifestyle brand image at National level and makes it furthermore important for them to be more careful and efficient in ensuring adaptation of right Marketing Mix. It is observed that the majority of Indian lifestyle brands believe they have adopted the right Marketing Mix and it is yielding the best possible revenue and profit. This belief/assumption always distracts them from working on their existing Marketing Mix and they rather spend most of their time in finding elements which are new or latent in nature to be added to the existing Marketing Mix. In this research work, we have evaluated existing Marketing Mix of few select Indian lifestyle brands across various product categories and consumer target groups to design a new Marketing Mix by just rationalizing and re-prioritizing all the elements and sub elements of basic “4P’s” of McCarthy’s original ‘Marketing Mix’ proposition along with taking clues from Lavidge and Steiner’s original ‘Hierarchy of Effects Model’.