Brand Management

Will India Conquer the Luxury World
in the 21st Century?

Article Details

Pub. Date	:	Dec, 2021
Product Name	:	The IUP Journal of Brand Management
Product Type	:	Article
Product Code	:	IJBRM11221
Author Name	:	Philippe Mihailovich* and Caroline Taylor**
Availability	:	YES
Subject/Domain	:	Marketing
Download Format	:	PDF Format
No. of Pages	:	32

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Abstract

Given its long heritage in luxury, it is surprising that India does not dominate most of the world's luxury industries and brands. A majority of books written about luxury brands and India tend to focus on what cultural and other issues Western brands should be aware of before trying to penetrate this complex market. India is either seen as a potentially huge consumer market for European luxury goods or as a huge, low-cost factory in which to produce Western-branded luxury goods. The paper aims at understanding why Indian Luxury Experts-and even Master's Degree Students specializing in Luxury at a leading Business School in India and the UAE-believe India does not create its own global luxury brands. This paper considers their opinions from a 'French' perspective and attempts to offer insights and inspiration towards encouraging the emergence of a confident India that creates, not just 'makes', its own global, 'sustainable' and ethical luxury brands.

Introduction

"Why does India struggle to produce luxury brands?" asked Simon Atkinson, Editor of India Business Report, BBC in 2015 where he cites two cosmetics brands that have made it to that coveted Indian-made luxury category, namely, Forest Essentials and Kama Ayurveda (Atkinson, 2015).

According to Luxe.Digital, the luxury industry in India had been booming in the pre-Covid era. With increasingly more international luxury brands paying close attention to Indian affluent consumers, the country's luxury sector was set to be worth over $30 bn growing at 26% year-on-year. And things will only accelerate from there. Experts estimate that the luxury market in India will expand fivefold over the next three years as the number of millionaires in the country continues to grow. This growth is driven by an increase in purchasing power among the upper class in tier II and tier III cities, but also by a growing exposure to international luxury brands among young affluent Indians (https://luxe.digital/business/digital-luxury-trends/indian-luxury-platform-luxortium#:~:text=The% 20luxury%20 industry%20 in%20India, will%20only% 20accelerate%20from%20there).

That spending is coming from the burgeoning urban middle class and an expanding number of the super-rich (Atkinson, 2015). According to the Wealth-X and UBS