During his podcast series “People by WTF,” host Nikhil Kamath spoke with prominent actor Ranbir Kapoor about an Indian shoe brand he highly rates. Kamath even goes on to say that he considers that brand far superior in quality over other foreign brands, which is usually the rage in the luxury market. But Indian brands don’t get the same kind of love, mainly due to preconceived notions. The brand is called “Cuero”. Kamath goes on to explain that this brand, according to him, has the best kind of leather, the best kind of craftsmanship, that feels better than even Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
To be honest, he is not wrong. And here’s why Nikhil Kamath has a point in choosing local ‘Made in India’ brands over reputed International ones.
Indian brands have produced superior-quality products for a very long time. From ancient times, India was a hub of textiles, weavers, and other handmade decorative products. The fine quality of those products has never been a matter of question. While a lot of it was lost during the colonial period, India required a little bit of reconstruction after Independence in 1947, and now we are back again at producing some of the best quality products in a variety of markets.
Cuero is just a single brand of footwear that deserves all the limelight. Other clothing brands, such as Snitch, Souled Store, and My Designation, that usually deal in printed T-shirts and pants, are also on the rise. Indian consumers today are shifting towards local brands due to better value for money, superior cultural relevance, and the rise of high-quality direct-to-consumer alternatives. These brands often outperform global brands in pricing and personalization.
Global brands are also highly expensive, often much more than their Indian equivalent brands. While Global brands struggle with high costs and rigid models, ‘Made in India’ brands are gaining loyalty through agility, competitive pricing, and a growing sense of national pride.
Let’s look at this phenomenon from a dual perspective: Why does India reject global brands, and why is there a rise of ‘Made in India’ loyalty?
Key Reasons for Rejection of Global Brands:
- Price Sensitivity & Value – More than 60% of Indians give importance to price and value-for-money over anything else. This automatically makes many premium-priced global products unappealing.
- Lack of Cultural Context – Global Brands have a market to keep and a reputation to maintain. Therefore, they seldom bend according to the market demand or anything else. They often fail to tailor products to Indian preferences, leading to low adoption, whereas local brands offer better customization.
- Rigid Operational Models – International brands sometimes offer inconsistent experiences. Since the product quality is so high, which often raises the brand value, even a slight hiccup in a single product may cause the image to shatter, albeit temporarily. This causes trust issues compared to agile local competitors.
- Higher Costs – High import duties and taxes make global products inherently more expensive. They end up losing out to local competitors that offer better value.
Rise of ‘Made in India’ Loyalty
- Support for Local Businesses – Things changed drastically post-pandemic. Consumers have increasingly started to prioritize local brands and small businesses. This is driven by a preference for local manufacturers.
- Digital First D2C Brands – New Indian brands such as Boat and Mamaearth are challenging global giants by offering products designed specifically for the Indian lifestyle. They often do that through online channels.
- Influence of Local Context – Consumer preference has shifted towards brands that solve specific local problems or reflect Indian culture. This has been led by the rise of online education and social media.
Several international brands remain immensely popular, particularly in the luxury and high-performance sectors, in spite of all the aforementioned trends. Here, foreign products are still seen as status symbols. However, the general trend indicates a strong, lasting preference for brands that understand and adapt to the unique needs of the Indian consumer.
