Ad makers turn focus on women

An ad shows an attractive, tattooed woman holding a bottle of beverage between her legs. Another shows a young mom dividing her attention between a green bottle and her son.

If you think this is not the way to sell apple juice to the Indian woman, you might have to brush off that marketing fundamentals book from the shelf very soon.

Fosters India, subsidiary of the Aussie beer-giant, is test marketing a premium apple-juice for "stylish, independent Indian women" with never-before ads, of course, for a never-before product -- a women-only beverage.

"When we started selling beer in India, they said, 'Women? They don't drink beer in India'. Today, 25 per cent of our sales people are women and they are selling to women," said Fosters India managing director Pradeep Gidwani, participating in a discussion at the India Brand Summit on Friday.

Gidwani narrated his company's efforts at almost having to create a market, which it took for granted abroad, when it started its operations three-and-a-half years ago.

"Like the myth that women don't watch cricket, we have shown that women too drink beer," Gidwani said.

Participants at the summit, discussing "How to market to women of India", tracked the modern-yet-traditional make-up of the country's 'consuming' woman.

They also shared interesting insights into their intriguing buying habits, while also raising a few red-flags on advertising fraternity's reluctance to accept the changed Indian "ardhangani".

"Selling something to the women is radically different from selling something to the men," said Zeba Kohli, who sells "cold storage, bangqueting facilities and chocolate".

"For example, when a man walks in to buy some chocolate, you can give him anything from hot chocolate. For them it's all the same. They want no frills, and the right price. But for a woman, she still wants to touch and feel the product. Her approach to buying is much more sensual. While she is expense conscious, she still wants that twirl of silver on her chocolate cake," said Zeba, director of Fantasie Fine Chocolates, based in Mumbai.

She said that while a majority of Indian women may not have their own sources of income, marketers should still treat them with "as they would treat any self-employed entrepreneur".

Preeti Vyas Giannetti, executive creative director of Vyas Giannetti Creatives, said unlike films, advertising in the country was yet to come to terms with the evolving Indian woman.

Presenting a series of ads for shampoos, detergents and fairness creams, she protested that for every one ad showing an independent modern Indian woman, there were 25 that still stuck to the traditional saree-clad avatar.