South Asia is home to between a quarter and a fifth of humanity. The economies of the region are among the fastest growing in the world. South Asian consumers are at once aspirational and value-conscious, and drive the firms that compete for customers to constantly innovate in order to differentiate and grow. Some of the world’s largest companies from the most developed economies of the world operate here and frequently find themselves brought up short due to home grown rivals. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, Bhutanese: all have marketing running through their veins, either as shop-keepers or start-up entrepreneurs, managers in multinationals or consumers trying to feed, house, and clothe their families. Many South Asians, of those who do not practice marketing, have gone on to research and teaching, often in the best universities and business schools of the West. So much so that South Asia has made a disproportionate contribution to global marketing thought and writing.
All the more surprising then that very few business or marketing books exist that speak to the reality of South Asia. Despite its vibrancy, despite it having produced so many great marketing thinkers (and even more great marketing practitioners), there is very little quality documentation of how marketing is done in this vast subcontinent. The book that you hold in your hands aims to change that. A product of careful thought and research, and excellent writing and presentation, Syed Saad Andaleeb and Khalid Hasan, have brought you a book that will not only inform you about marketing in Asia, with emphasis on South Asia, but also inspire you to practise it yourself and raise the standard of business and management in the region in the process.
There are several things to say about what makes this book special.
First, it is a text + case book. This is important for the simple reason that marketing (like business more generally) isn’t just about theory, concepts, and facts. It is also very much about practice. The text part of this book provides the theory; the cases provide the in-depth, “learning by doing” context of marketing practice. Moreover, while concepts and theory tend to be universal, practice is very much local, and needs to take into account the particularities of local custom, infrastructure, political and legal institutions, and so on. This book does an excellent job of accounting for the local specificity that makes South Asia so interesting and colorful. It ensures that you learn not only about marketing but also South Asia, as well as about marketing in South Asia.
Second, because of the broad sweep of the topics covered, alongside the depth with which they are treated, this book is useful both for those setting out to study marketing (e.g., as a first course in marketing) as well as for those who may be more seasoned practitioners of business (e.g., managers in executive programs in marketing).
Third, as I mention above, the uniqueness of this book lies in its broad Asian and more specifically South Asian focus. The world’s economic centre of gravity has been shifting inexorably eastwards over the last decade or two, and this shift is set to continue for many years to come. This is in large part due to the growing young population of the region, which is in turn driving its growth and global economic importance. Learning about marketing in South Asia means learning about marketing in a large and increasingly important part of the world.
Fourth, the book explores new angles and areas such as social and rural marketing, topics that are rarely addressed in standard Western text books that cover marketing in the West. South Asia is a pioneer in social marketing (think about microfinance and the many social enterprises in finance, health, education, and energy that the region has produced). This book not only tells us about how to do social marketing in South Asia, it also prepares us to think about how these ideas might be applied in other parts of the world, both parts that share similarities to South Asia (such as Africa) as well as those that don’t (such as Western Europe and North America where social business is increasingly widespread). Equally, large parts of South Asia are rural. Historically, most marketing books have sought to describe the urban reality and prepare the next generation of marketers to work in that reality. But new exciting opportunities are opening up all the time in South Asia to develop products and services for rural consumers and to find ways to involve them in these solutions and markets. Indeed, this is where rural marketing often meets social marketing. Again, South Asia is in the vanguard and this book will prepare you for cutting edge thinking that applies to other parts of the world as well.
Fifth, for people who have never lived in or visited South Asia, the region can be both fascinating as well as bewilderingly complex. How, if you are American or European (and therefore more likely to be comparatively rich, urban, and educated), can you learn to work with consumers who are poor, rural, and semi-literate? What does it take to develop products and services for such a market and achieve scale? This book offers students from other parts of the world a powerful way to gain experience of Asia and Asian markets.
Sixth, the book offers insights, frameworks, and practical tools not only for managers in the private sector but also for bureaucrats and policy makers. In South Asia, the bureaucracy and government are still very present in the lives of the people and are a significant player in the economy. Civil servants are not only responsible for the delivery of core public services, they also run public sector companies and help set policies that they must eventually implement. This book speaks to such an audience and exposes them to “marketing” issues and strategies that they can adopt to improve the effectiveness of the way the public sector serves citizen-consumers.
This book is both timely and timeless. Timely because it addresses a topic — marketing — that is particularly relevant to a region — South Asia — that is turning into a global powerhouse of consumption-led growth. And timeless because it addresses themes and issues that have relevance not only for South Asia now, but for the world in times to come. I have no doubt that it will be regarded as essential reading for marketers of all shades and stripes, in all kinds of sectors, everywhere.
Jaideep Prabhu
Professor of Marketing & Nehru Chair of Indian Business, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK