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Friday, 29 April 2011 |
Overwhelmed by the diversity and attitude of the Indian consumerism, Andreas Gellnerwho,
India Head of Adidas is getting inspired by the India’s cricket fever. Monitoring the Indian market since 2004, Gellnerwho finds the attitude of the Indian consumer very distinctive from other parts of the world. He says Indian consumers are very dynamic and their expectations grow in accordance with the brand. He says the average Indian buyer makes rational and analytical purchase decisions. There is also growing willingness among Indian consumers to pay a premium for a brand along with the brand preference and loyalty rising simultaneously.
He feels it is not easy to sell sports gear and accessories to a nation that does not have a sports culture and does not look beyond cricket. What is even more interesting is while sports viewership is huge, participation is low. All this makes India a complex market. Even a mega sporting event like the cricket World Cup doesn’t spur high sales in India. Realizing this challenge, Adidas signed up Sachin Tendulkar 11 years ago, a bold move and a big financial decision for them as the business was very small.
For Adidas, the focus now is to reduce the lead time of 18 months from design to the shop. The lead time makes them lose out on the new trends that emerge. Adidas has identified India, China, Russia and North America as growth markets and expects them to contribute 50 per cent of sales growth by 2015. In 2005, Adidas bought over Reebok but the two continue to exist as separate entities. In India, they faced a unique situation it’s perhaps the only market where Reebok leads Adidas in sales and revenues. Together they dominate the sports-gear business. |
