Heard of 'Creator's bias' ? This is when the creator sees things from his mind's eye, where he believes that everyone around him sees things the way he sees them. Technically it would be defined as the tendency by the class creating a product to imagine that those consuming the product are very similar in orientation to themselves.
So accustomed to seeing the brand on the pack mentioned in English, I always gave this thought a miss. Is it a better idea to have the brand name on the pack, in a multi-lingual country like ours, in English or some other language???
Now let's imagine ; you walk into a store to pick one of your regular brands of toothpaste and other than the familiar red and white pack, the font seems unfamiliar. Not just unfamiliar but just not fit for my consumption. Imagine purchasing a pack of toothpaste which reads "colgate" (in hindi or telugu or even urdu for that matter). Just does not feel like your brand of toothpaste....does it? This is precisely one of the reasons that marketers of fmcg and such use English so profusely on the pack. They feel the same way - people associate English with some degree of premiumness.
Another reason that some leading fmcg companies provide for not having a non English pack is because it can prove to be a logistical nightmare. Just imagine, as a marketer, when you need to spend money not only on printing packs in different regional languages but also ensuring that the right one reaches the right region. One interesting observation by a Strategy officer from an ad firm - "how are multi-language newspapers managing logistics?!" so why is it so difficult for an fmcg marketer. Hmm good question!
The marketers however defend their stand by stating that the brand name in English, over a period of time and exposure, serves more as a mnemonic and what matters at the end is communication, which anyway is executed in various languages - whether it is PoPs, danglers or even inserts or instructions for use.
So what if the brand name on the pack is in English, so long as the brand gets identified, and the English language provides that 'dash of premiumness' to the brand!, marketers are smiling all the way :)
So accustomed to seeing the brand on the pack mentioned in English, I always gave this thought a miss. Is it a better idea to have the brand name on the pack, in a multi-lingual country like ours, in English or some other language???
Now let's imagine ; you walk into a store to pick one of your regular brands of toothpaste and other than the familiar red and white pack, the font seems unfamiliar. Not just unfamiliar but just not fit for my consumption. Imagine purchasing a pack of toothpaste which reads "colgate" (in hindi or telugu or even urdu for that matter). Just does not feel like your brand of toothpaste....does it? This is precisely one of the reasons that marketers of fmcg and such use English so profusely on the pack. They feel the same way - people associate English with some degree of premiumness.
Another reason that some leading fmcg companies provide for not having a non English pack is because it can prove to be a logistical nightmare. Just imagine, as a marketer, when you need to spend money not only on printing packs in different regional languages but also ensuring that the right one reaches the right region. One interesting observation by a Strategy officer from an ad firm - "how are multi-language newspapers managing logistics?!" so why is it so difficult for an fmcg marketer. Hmm good question!
The marketers however defend their stand by stating that the brand name in English, over a period of time and exposure, serves more as a mnemonic and what matters at the end is communication, which anyway is executed in various languages - whether it is PoPs, danglers or even inserts or instructions for use.
So what if the brand name on the pack is in English, so long as the brand gets identified, and the English language provides that 'dash of premiumness' to the brand!, marketers are smiling all the way :)
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