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Monday, July 11, 2005
The purchasing power of Desi
Indian's abroad are becoming an increasingly important segment of the market, reports Barbara Kiviat of Time magazine. She writes:
(Time link via Sanjeev.)
Welcome to the next marketing frontier. For years, Western companies have understood the potential of 1 billion consumers in India, but now they are slowly starting to realize the purchasing power of people in the U.S. who trace their roots to the subcontinent--a group known as desis. MTV India has aired overseas since 1996, but MTV Desi--a channel for Americans of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Bhutanese and Nepalese descent--is brand new, launching this summer. And MTV isn't alone as it chases desi dollars. South Asian marketing is still in its infancy, but early adopters like General Motors, Citibank and GlaxoSmithKline are advertising in ethnic newspapers, buying airtime on satellite channels, sponsoring cultural festivals, underwriting minority scholarships and even creating new products, like MTV Desi.Not just marketers abroad but also those in India are catering to overseas Indians. Bollywood producers to start with.
(Time link via Sanjeev.)
