Prelims

Half Title

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT IN ASIA

Case Studies and Lessons across Industries

Endorsements

An excellent textbook on marketing management. It is comprehensive and a joy to read. What I liked most are the interesting and unique case studies from Asia including Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. A unique feature of the book are separate chapters on social business and rural marketing.

— Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, USA

Marketing as a discipline has made tremendous strides in the last 20 years. It has become far more scientific with appropriate frameworks to better support different aspects of marketing decision making. This book compiled by Syed Saad Andaleeb and Khalid Hasan does a masterful job of capturing these various frameworks in an up-to-date manner and bringing to its readers in an easily accessible form. There is no major concept that the book has left out, yet it is succinct and immensely readable. But the real benefit of the book is its inclusion of excellent cases from South Asia to anchor and animate the concepts in the chapter. This has been the singular gap in the outstanding marketing text books produced in the last three decades. Every one of them uses illustrations from western developed markets, making it very hard for students in South Asia to grasp the frameworks in a context they are not familiar with. Marketing being an applied discipline, context is very important and goes a long way in helping students interpret and grasp the concepts and frameworks in a lasting manner. The Andaleeb and Hasan marketing text is brilliant in that regard and will help thousands of students become better marketers.

— Kasturi Rangan, Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing, Harvard Business School, USA

With the complexities and challenges of globalization, while markets have rapidly developed, each market is likely to be at a different stage of development, governed by various sets of institutional and cultural rules and practices. In this context, marketing orientation and market-driven strategies have become keys to success in delivering superior value to customers

I am delighted to see the book — Strategic Marketing Management in Asia — with a South Asia emphasis (one of the largest population centers in the world) that describes problems and challenges faced by organizations and firms in the region. The contribution of the book is indeed invaluable and will serve to inform localized strategy combined with generalized principles to add relevance to the study of markets and marketing.

— Abdul Mannan, Chairman,University Grants Commission,Bangladesh

Title Page

STRATEGIC MARKETING MANAGEMENT IN ASIA

Case Studies and Lessons across Industries

FOREWORD BY

JAIDEEP PRABHU

University of Cambridge, UK

ENDORSEMENTS BY

JAGDISH SHETH

Emory University, USA

KASTURI RANGAN

Harvard Business School, USA

ABDUL MANNAN

University Grants Commission, Bangladesh

EDITED BY

SYED SAAD ANDALEEB

Pennsylvania State University, USA; BRAC University, Bangladesh

KHALID HASAN

The Nielsen Company; ResInt Canada

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2017

Copyright © 2017 Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78635-746-5 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78635-745-8 (Online)

Dedicated to the extraordinary Marketing educators and practitioners in the Asian region who continue to inspire marketing thinking; and to my wife and friend, Shahnaz, for her unconditional support of our endeavor to bring strategic marketing management in Asia to the reader.

— Syed Saad Andaleeb

Dedicated to all who have come into my life and inspired, touched, and illuminated it with positive energy. And to Nazmun, my wife, and Tasnia and Abid, my children, who stood by with love and caring which inspired me to work on this book to help create a better world for future generations!

— Khalid Hasan

The Editors and the Publisher express with deepest and heartfelt condolences that Professor Uditha Liyanage passed away recently. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loving family.

List of Cases

Chapter 1

Case: Marketing Management

IT Industry of Bangladesh — In Search of Marketing Success

Syed Ferhat Anwar9

Chapter 2

Case: Marketing Environment

Maybank Group Malaysia

Geok Theng Lau47

Chapter 3

Case 1: Strategic Planning and Marketing Models

Vietnam’s Mobile Phone Market: Strategic Choices for Operators

Khandoker Mahmudur Rahman85

Case 2: Strategic Planning and Marketing Models

Veen there, done that! Strategic Story of Veen Water in India

Khandoker Mahmudur Rahman94

Chapter 4

Case 1: Qualitative Research

Qualitative and Visual Consumer Insights in Asian Markets

Russell Belk141

Case 2: Quantitative Research

Tackling Corruption: Research Method Controversy

Syed Saad Andaleeb152

Chapter 5

Case: Consumer Behavior

“Diva” the Rural Sri Lankan Laundry “Queen”

Shiraz Latiff175

Chapter 6

Case 1: Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Square Toiletries Ltd & Senora: Overcoming Cultural Taboos

Syed Saad Andaleeb190

Case 2: Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Japan’s Most Successful Automobile Brand

Al Ries205

Chapter 7

Case: Product Decisions

Tata Nano and Bajaj Scooter — Milestones in Indian Auto Market

Murali Manohar Bhupathi219

Chapter 8

Case: New Product Development

Procter and Gamble, Pakistan: The Ariel Launch

Ehsan ul Haque236

Chapter 9

Case: Packaging

Plastic Shopping Bags in the Bangladesh Context

Khandoker Mahmudur Rahman286

Chapter 10

Case: Brand and Brand Management

Super Beauty Soap: Sustaining Brand Image

Bushan D. Sudhakar306

Chapter 11

Case 1: Consumer Behavior and Branding

Branding a Commodity: The Case of Triumph in Sri Lanka

Thushara Wickramasinghe

Uditha Liyanage325

Case 2: Consumer Behavior and Branding

Garuda Indonesia: Building the Brand

Hermawan Kartajaya

Jacob Silas Mussry

Iwan Setiawan

Syed Saad Andaleeb345

Chapter 12

Case 1: Services Management

Delivering Health Services in an Emerging Economy

Syed Saad Andaleeb365

Case 2: Services Management

Targeted Outreach Program: Services Marketing to Female Sex Workers in Myanmar

Han Win Htat

Laura C Hall

Robert P Gray375

Chapter 13

Case: Pricing Strategy

Indian Airlines

Rajesh C. Jampala394

Chapter 14

Case: Integrated Marketing Channels

DTDC India

Saroj Kumar Datta

Shamindra Nath Sanyal421

Chapter 15

Case: Integrated Marketing Communications

The Aditya Birla Group (ABG)

Murali Manohar Bhupathi441

Chapter 16

Case 1: Sales Force Management

Sustaining Sales Force Performance: AB Controls India Ltd. Auto Component Industry

J. Clement Sudhahar453

Case 2: Sales Force Management

Influence of Sales Force Training in Primary Healthcare

Sameer Deshpande

Anurudra Bhanot465

Chapter 17

Case: Social Marketing and Social Business

Social Marketing of Sprinkles: From Formative Research to Marketing Reality

Stanley H. Zlotkin

Khalid Hasan490

Chapter 18

Case: Rural Marketing

Maruti — Focusing on Rural Markets

Anurudra Bhanot522

List of Contributors

About the Editors

Syed Saad Andaleeb is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Marketing, Pennsylvania State University, USA and Vice Chancellor of BRAC University, Bangladesh. He also taught at the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka for a substantive period. He completed his PhD in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BS in Chemical Engineering and MBA from the University of New Hampshire. He is the editor of the Journal of Bangladesh Studies since 1999. Blending economic development and marketing, he has published widely in peer-reviewed and practitioner journals and has presented invited papers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Cornell University’s South Asia Program on improving health services in developing countries. Recently he presented a paper at the Berkeley campus on health metrics in Bangladesh. His present pursuits are on capacity development in research methods and pedagogical approaches at the institutions of higher education in Bangladesh. The University Grants Commission, Bangladesh, recently, asked him to chair a team to chart how research ought to be incorporated in the higher education system. He was selected as a Senior Fulbright Scholar, twice selected as a Fulbright Senior Specialist, and served as a peer reviewer for the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program. He has consulted for The World Bank, UNFPA, ILO, FAO, IFAD, and various corporate bodies in the United States; he has also advised the Government of Bangladesh on various social development programs including health care and education. He served on the expert panel for Transparency International, Bangladesh. He is the recipient of teaching, research, and outreach awards at The Pennsylvania State University and has edited several books on socioeconomic and political aspects of Bangladesh. He is presently working closely with a leading change agent recognized globally — Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, founder and chairperson of Brac. He has also worked briefly with Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus on research regarding social enterprises.

Khalid Hasan is Senior Advisor, South Asia, Nielsen based in Toronto, Canada. He is a senior management and research expert with a unique blend of 25+  years of experiences, spanning social and community development, market research, and business focusing North America and emerging markets in Asia. He is in the Board of ResInt Canada - a management think tank. He is also the Editor of the prestigious journal “Mind Your Marketing” of World Marketing Summit created by marketing Guru Professor Philip Kotler. He is an experienced Six Sigma Black Belt, capable of solving problems through using tools and methods of Business Process Improvement. He has vast market research consultancy experiences with global MNCs and organizations including US Government, World Bank, UN Organizations (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, and WHO), Asian Development Bank, Hospital for Sick Children Canada, CIDA/DFATD, GAIN, Micronutrient Initiative, Plan International, Coke, Pepsi, Unilever, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Voice of America, BBC, etc.). Co-edited a book — Marketing Practices in Developing Economy: Cases from South Asia; (Foreword wrote by Professor Philip Kotler). In his credit, 45 articles were published in local and international journals/magazines and presented papers in 21 international conferences. He is a frequent public speaker in international seminars. He has also teaching experience in different universities and colleges in Canada and South Asia. He is an active member of Rotary International. He is a Paul Harris Fellow. Recipient of medallions, awards and accolades for outstanding research and social activities from a number of organizations in South Asia and Canada. He is closely associated with Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in creating Social Business in Canada. He is in the Executive Committee of Toronto International Microfinance Summit. Khalid holds a PhD and an MBA and research diplomas from different universities and organizations in Asia, USA, and Canada.

Acknowledgments

Preface

This book was written to create a unique strategic marketing management book that would be contextually relevant for Asian students and managers interested in understanding the basics of marketing, as well as for those who desire to glean insights into the application of marketing in the region. The book provides exposure to marketing concepts in succinct form, embellished by cases, to create excitement about Asian approaches, in addition to informing students about the giant strides that Asian businesses are making toward building the largest global economy!

Asia comprises more than 60 percent of the global population with about 4.4 billion people living in roughly 51 sovereign nations. According to financial forecasts, Asia is the fastest growing economic region in the world and the largest continental economy by purchasing power parity (PPP). The continent is currently undergoing rapid growth and industrialization spearheaded by China and India, the two fastest growing and major economies in the world.

Considering the availability of a productive labor force and rapid economic growth, Asian markets represent tremendous opportunities for firms despite the presence of a unique set of complex challenges such as poverty, climate change, literacy rates, gender disparities, political unrest, governance failures, and so on.

To continue the current growth momentum, excel in all phases of business, and create future business leadership in Asia and across the globe, there is a felt need to gain a deeper understanding of the Asian business environment and ways of creating effective marketing strategies in the region that will help grow various businesses. This book on marketing management, embellished with Asian cases, will help students understand key issues in marketing, especially in the context of changing economic and related challenges in Asia. The cases in this book address how marketing opportunities need to be created, how to leverage constrained capabilities, and how to create sustainable and competitive advantage to pursue profitable growth in Asia, especially South Asia. Specific cases in this book are drawn from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Asia is a region of vast diversity in terms of geography, population size, political and social systems, as well as economic resources. A region of majestic mountains, arid deserts, humid to extremely cold weather, densely populated urban centers and remote rural communities, Asian countries are classified across the spectrum — from low-income to mid- and relatively high-income countries. For instance, China and India are the largest countries in the region by population and total economic output. Despite China’s place as the world’s second largest economy and one of the most rapidly growing countries in the world, it is still classified as a developing country. Similarly, India being known as another “growing giant in Asia” still faces huge challenges on many social indicators. Other South Asian countries are mostly classified as low to middle-income countries. South East Asian countries other than Singapore — such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia — are striving to move from middle to upper middle income status. Countries like Singapore and Japan are already labeled as developed countries.

Within the developing countries in Asia, marketing and development are intimately intertwined and the challenges many. For example, in marketing channels — from manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and retailers to customers and end users — many institutions, processes, and activities need to be in place and functioning smoothly before marketing’s contributions to development become readily apparent. There are infrastructure related issues — roads, electricity, and media availability to name but a few — that affect how goods are produced, transported, promoted, and consumed. Then there are governance and institutional issues — in terms of financial and human capital, as well as raw materials — that influence both production and consumption of goods and services. Finally, there are practices that affect how smoothly institutions function to enable participants to engage with the market in a sustained manner, ethically and with a long term view of exchange.

Governments in these countries have already adopted policies that address the variety of complex problems created by natural disasters, population boom, and economic disparity that have led to positive socio-economic changes including improvements in health status, increase in literacy and education rates, progress in gender balance, building of transportation and communications facilities, and generation of employment. Accesses to information, products, and programs have been impacted by increases in media’s reach among the rural and urban populations. Broadcast media such as radio and television have also made significant inroads into the dispersed population in South Asia.

Uniqueness of this Book

Strategic Marketing Management in Asia was written based on three decades of teaching, research, and practical experience, both in Asia and in the developed markets, which we believe will provide a unique blend of materials to our valued readers. As we know, Asia is the most dynamic economic region at present. Asian countries have a young labor force, as well as a strong consumer base. To fully understand the ramifications, we felt that there was a need for a strategic marketing management case book that must go beyond any typical case-based text book. The book was thus planned to be written with full-length practical cases backed by (1) a careful exposition of the basic concepts in marketing and (2) discussion notes on key issues. This approach was either missing from other text or case books or somehow ignored. Keeping this in mind, we deliberated extensively on positioning before embarking on writing this book.

The text and cases were written very lucidly so that students in Asia can easily grasp the knowledge and concepts of marketing. Readers will also find many action-oriented strategies in the cases that are used by successful entrepreneurs and organizations.

Another unique feature of the book is the combination of cases from profit-making companies and not-for-profit international organizations that target social causes. For instances, there are cases on poverty alleviation, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, rural marketing, social marketing, and social business. On the other hand, there are also cases from leading brands of MNCs including Unilever, P&G, Tata, Maruti, Subaru, Square, Maybank, Birla, etc.

We also wanted to emphasize to students the need to understand the importance of research, be it quantitative or qualitative. Research-supported strategy can become a distinguishing feature of innovative firms vying for market share and profits.

Finally, this book result from the contributions of a galaxy of experienced and globally recognized professionals in their own areas in marketing. Different chapters on marketing management were contributed by scholars doing research in specific fields while working in leading universities and organizations in different countries.

We would also like to note that this book does not favor any particular industry and/or country. Rather, the students, whether they are interested in consumer packaged goods, high-tech marketing, services, research, rural markets, social business, or pricing, will find something useful in this book for them.

We believe this book is an ideal text to use in undergraduate, MBA, and executive development courses where a first-hand but deep exposure to marketing is the goal.

Organization of the Book

This book is divided into four parts, the contents of which follow a specific sequence: (1) introduction to marketing, the environment of marketing, marketing strategy and decision-making processes, (2) understanding consumers and the importance of segmentation, targeting, and positioning, (3) marketing-mix decisions, and (4) special topics such as services marketing, social marketing, social business, and rural marketing that cut across all of the preceding material. The special topics are particularly relevant for marketing in the 21st century.

Chapter 1: Evolution of Marketing as a Discipline. It covers the basics of marketing: evolution and definition, why it is important in business, and the importance of a customer/competitor orientation.

Key benefits: The text and case will introduce students to the importance of being customer-oriented and to focus on both the external and internal aspects of business.

Chapter 2: Marketing Environment. This chapter examines the macro-environment affecting marketing analysis and decisions.

Key benefits: The chapter provides students with a better understanding of the organizational environment within which marketing decisions are made. The case shows how Maybank’s actions in recent years have been affected by social, economic, regulatory, and technological forces in Asia, and how decisions were made to continue their growth by satisfying customer needs.

Chapter 3: Strategic Planning and Marketing Models. This chapter covers the “behind the scenes” work that marketing managers need to do in framing specific decisions before and during various phases and activities of business.

Key benefits: It provides a deeper understanding of strategic tools and techniques such as SWOT analysis, value chain model, and Ansoff’s Product Market Grid. Cases from two countries demonstrate the practical use of strategic models.

Chapter 4: Marketing Research. This chapter shows how market research is fundamental to the development of a marketing strategy and covers both quantitative and qualitative aspects of research. The chapter focuses on various aspects of research design, such as framing objectives, identifying sources of information including primary and secondary data, sampling, and methods of estimating market potential.

Key benefits: Demonstrates to students how to use research techniques for real life situations. The two cases on quantitative and qualitative techniques show how research projects can help solve “problems” in creative ways.

Chapter 5: Consumer Behavior. This chapter covers the basics of why and how consumers (individuals) make purchasing decisions. The first part examines the various factors — cultural, social, personal, and psychological — that influence decisions. The second part examines steps in the purchase process and how marketers can play a role in each step to sway a consumer’s preferences and ultimate choice.

Key benefits: Leads the students to understand the importance of consumer behavior in the development of a marketing strategy.

Chapter 6: Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning. The chapter provides the students with a basic understanding of Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning.

Key benefits: Students will be able to understand the need for segmentation and how to position a product in selected target markets. In addition to explaining concepts, the chapter refers to a real life segmentation situation through analyzing a case.

Chapter 7: Product Decisions. This chapter shows how product decisions must fit an overall strategic framework. Various aspects of product decisions (branding, packaging, new product development) are broken into subsequent chapters to elucidate their importance.

Key benefits: Enables students to relate to an important pillar of the “4Ps.” The cases on Tata Nano and Bajaj scooter will enrich students’ perspectives on how these two products addressed the transportation needs of millions of low-income people in India.

Chapter 8: New Product Development. The chapter looks into developing new products, the lifeblood of an organization. Students will learn, though, that NPD is risky and many new products fail. Once introduced, marketers want their products to enjoy long and happy lives. Sustaining products through the product lifecycle is discussed.

Key benefits: Since new products serve as the lifeline of any business, students will understand the complexities of developing and introducing new products. The case focuses on the launch of a well-known global brand, Ariel, in Pakistan.

Chapter 9: Packaging. This chapter examines various decisions concerning the packaging of products: from objective setting to strategic thinking that helps integrate and align packaging decisions with other broader objectives such as positioning, communication, branding, etc.

Key benefits: Gives students a better understanding of a variety of tests that packages need to undergo — from visual to technical, consumer, retail, recognition, and related tests.

Chapter 10: Branding and Brand Management. Vital to forming identity and positioning, this chapter explains why branding is considered today as central to marketing. The chapter examines why branding has become a “buzz” word in today’s business world. From a consumer’s perspective, it can facilitate decision-making and purchase.

Key benefits: Because of the role and importance accorded to branding, two chapters (Chapters 10 and 11) are devoted to this vital marketing activity, addressing basic concepts and ideas in branding.

Chapter 11: Consumer Behavior and the Anatomy of a Brand. This chapter provides a more detailed anatomy of branding and the processes involved.

Key benefits: Students will have a complete understanding of branding and its anatomy. The cases focus on how consumer behavior influences branding of any product or service. There are interesting cases on both products and services.

Chapter 12: Services Marketing. This chapter discusses the importance of services in most industries. The chapter specifically addresses how services can add greater value to customers and what makes services marketing different from product marketing.

Key benefits: Students will learn that the competition has increased in intensity in various industries; as a consequence, firms have turned to service differentiation — from faster complaint resolution and on-time delivery to wait minimization and friendly, sympathetic responses.

Chapter 13: Pricing Strategy. It is one of the vital elements of the marketing mix and has come to take center-stage in marketing warfare. The chapter focuses on the importance of understanding the concept of customer value, how much customers are willing to pay for a product or service, and how “value for money” can drive purchase behavior.

Key benefits: Students should understand all about pricing from an important case on Indian Airlines and how pricing decisions are systematically made for survival in a given industry.

Chapter 14: Integrated Marketing Channels. The chapter covers concepts like the value chain, channel structures, multi-level marketing, direct marketing and market coverage strategies, as well as use of the Internet as a channel. The chapter also discusses the importance of retailing and wholesaling and supply chain management.

Key benefits: Students will better appreciate the wide variety of channel options that exist today.

Chapter 15: Integrated Marketing Communications. This chapter covers the basic tools of communication and emphasizes how it is changing due to various media vehicles such as mobile, electronic media, Internet, and the Web, and various social media vehicles (such as Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, and so on).

Key benefits: Students will have a better understanding of the “communication mix” through integrated marketing communications. Student will also learn about ethical issues surrounding communication strategies and best practices.

Chapter 16: Sales Force Management. A sales force serves as a company’s personal link to its customers. The ultimate objective of sales management is to influence the sales force to get sales orders. This chapter briefly reviews some of the key issues on sales force management.

Key benefits: Students will learn how to select, train and retain a “performing” sales force for attracting customers and to aid the growth of the business.

Chapter 17: Social Marketing and Social Business. This is one of the two special chapters included in this book. Students will be familiar with these important aspects of modern businesses. The world is going through a turbulent journey with economic and financial bumps impacting our lives and businesses. At the same time, increasing levels of poverty and unemployment are creating social and political unrest and challenging our quality of life everyday across the globe.

Key benefits: The student will learn about the importance of social marketing and a new concept — social business. Here we have highlighted the concept of Social Business as initiated by Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Chapter 18: Rural Marketing. This is another special chapter. Marketers have started looking at the large mass of consumers living in the rural areas whose purchasing power has been growing slowly but surely. The population in the rural markets is more than the urban populations in Asia. This chapter examines the differences between urban and rural markets and offers insights into how things may be done differently from a marketer’s perspective to gain share of this lucrative and emerging market.

Key benefits: Students will gain many good ideas about the growing rural markets and marketing strategies to fit their specific needs.

Key Pedagogical Features

A variety of pedagogical features have been integrated throughout this text to enhance the learning experience for students.

• Chapter Briefs. Each chapter in this text begins with a brief roadmap to the chapter.

• Chapter-opening Text. Following the brief outline, the text on the specific topics narrates all about the topics in a lucid language so that students in different countries, especially in Asia, can understand and internalize various aspects of the chapter easily.

• Chapter-ending Cases. A chapter-ending case(s) provide(s) the reader with (1) an interesting, contemporary, real-world company situation; and (2) a context within which the reader can easily see how the chapter material can be applied in the marketing decision-making process.

• Examples of Real Companies and Real Strategies. In all of the chapters, real company examples are used for emphasis.

• Figures, Photos, and Hot-linked Company Names. Figures and photos are used to reinforce the concepts raised. To reinforce the relationship of the material to information technology and to help students follow up when interested, company names are “hot linked” in blue and the text’s Web site address is provided in the “endnote”.

• End-of-Chapter Questions. There are “Questions for Discussion” at the end of each chapter.

• Discussion Note. As to the questions, there are discussion notes written by the authors of respective cases. This is expected to assist the readers to convey the ideas in the book and help orient students to the key issues.

Syed Saad Andaleeb

Khalid Hasan

Editors

Foreword

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