Did you know?
Credit
card companies are increasingly targeting India's one million cardholders
through directly-mailed offers of goods and services.
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Advertising, direct marketing and trade promotion
English-language
advertising in India is among the most creative in the world. TV advertising
(especially in the Hindi language) has made major headway in the past
10 years, especially with the advent of satellite TV. Hindi TV channels
- such as ZEE and Sony TV - have fashioned themselves on lines of
Western channels, and most advertising on such channels is glitzy,
smart and tailored for the middle classes. Such channels have forced
the state-owned channel, Doordarshan, to add spice to their programmes
which, earlier, were quite drab. The importance of the Hindi-speaking
market (which is also fluent in English) is borne out from the fact
that STAR TV, once an all-English channel, is now rich in Hindi programmes.
Even the British Broadcasting Corporation is reportedly toying with
the idea of airing Hindi programmes.
Most major international advertising firms have chosen local Indian
partners for their work in this market. Mumbai (formerly Bombay) remains
the centre of the advertising business in India.
India has a diverse
and growing number of daily newspapers. Since 1991, the increase of
business and financial news reports in English-language and vernacular
dailies has paralleled the economic reform programme and the movements
of the stock markets. Most leading publications have their circulation
audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation which has an India-dedicated
office in Mumbai (formerly Bombay).
Leading business newspapers
include Business Standard and Economic Times.
Magazines include India Today, Business India ,
Business Today, and Business World.
In addition to advertising,
other kinds of trade promotion activities are also well-developed
in India. A large of exhibitions are held all over India, the most
prominent ones at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Conferences and seminars
are also widespread.
Direct marketing
The mail service in
India is slow though generally reliable. Telephone service is poor,
but rapidly improving.
While private courier
services are growing strongly and the telecommunications sector is
opening up for a range of modern services, until goods can be ordered
conveniently and delivered with certainty, direct marketing will be
limited to door-to-door sales. An inefficient state-owned banking
system also prevents prompt transfers of funds from consumers to retailers.
Credit card companies are increasingly targeting India's one million
cardholders through directly-mailed offers of goods and services.
The most successful
direct marketers in India today are the millions of door-to-door sales
representatives who visit neighborhoods and villages across India.
From ice cream vendors to carpet sellers, India 's residential neighbourhoods
are frequently visited by merchants offering a variety of products.
Some soft-drink companies have used beauty queens to make surprise
knocks on the doors!
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