Tupperware products being sold by women of a Self Help Group in Chennai. NeishaaGharat 2011

Homemakers in India constitute a large section of the society, yet many of them don’t enjoy financial independence. Many such home makers & working women have aspirations and undoubtedly the ability to be successful but a vast majority of them fall short of opportunity and the confidence to step out of their homes to achieve their dreams.

Creating Shared Value

To give a context to Tupperware’s business model we are drawing upon Michael E. Porter’s and Mark R. Kramer’s big idea of ‘Creating Shared Value‘ through business. Can MNCs entering India take the lead in bringing business and society back together and help them progress together?  Shared value is not social responsibility, philanthropy or even sustainability; but a new way to achieve economic success. It is not on the margin of what a company does but at the center.

Tupperware has taken India by storm through their all  women network. They are selling everything from the “roti keeper” (for Indian bread) to the “masala box” (for spices) to “Idli steamer” (steamed rice cakes – staple diet in south India) designed especially for the Indian market in major cities and villages alike. The company entered India in 1996 and has achieved remarkable success, growing rapidly. It is today an important part of modern day kitchen solutions for evolving urban families in India. Reshaping India’s kitchens and lives of millions of homemakers & working women

Tupperware is today a prominent player in India’s direct selling category. Through this, Tupperware India has been able to offer a common home maker  and working women alike a business opportunity at her doorstep. The Tupperware business opportunity not only empowers women by giving them financial independence, but also provides systematic training and support thus making them more confident individuals. The Tupperware philosophy believes in empowering women and goes on further to encourage these empowered individuals to spread this confidence by empowering more women. 16 years after its entry in the Indian market,Tupperware finds itself into millions of homes and has contributed substantially to the US$ 633 million direct selling market (Source : Indian Direct Selling Association). Anshu Bagai, Marketing Director, Tupperware India comments, “There are two aspects to brand Tupperware. On one hand, we have innovative kitchen solutions . This has clearly established Tupperware as a leader in this category. However, the other part of Tupperware is Women Empowerment which is very deeply ingrained in the DNA of Tupperware. Being a direct selling organisation, we have an all-women sales force where a lot of them come from a very simple background but go on to achieve big things in life. They not only earn money which helps them to support their families, but the exposure they get when they join Tupperware makes them far more confident individuals.”

Walking Hand In Hand

A business needs a successful community, not only to create demand for its products but also to provide critical public assets and a supportive environment. A community needs successful businesses to provide jobs and wealth creation opportunities, as explained in the Harvard Business review article ‘Creating Shared Value’.

Tupperware has been a business with empowering at its core. Tupperware India’s unwavering commitment to Enlighten, Educate and Empower women has been implemented religiously and effectively, by imbibing the Chain of Confidence Campaign in its direct selling model. Chain of Confidence invites women to share in the immeasurable rewards of self-confidence and ensures that the next generation of women will benefit from this knowledge. Tupperware’s Chain of Confidence honours women and the profound life altering impact that they can have on one another. The campaign celebrates the powerful bonds of friendship that connects women together. Women connecting with one another create an extraordinary source of strength, enabling them to feel confident about themselves, secure in their ability to succeed.  Asha Gupta, Tupperware MD says,“It resonates very well with the Indian market, as it leverages the power of women. There is so much untapped potential in educated women as homemakers. Further, the product is great, considering Indian climatic conditions, the way we store food, and the infestations. The home-party concept borders on Indian women’s need to get together – for example, North Indians have kitty parties while South Indians visit the temple together. Women use occasions to congregate.”

Dreams Unlimited

While training a new set of Tupperware Consultants (entry level in Tupperware arena), women are asked to fill Dream Cards, which asks them to put down in writing what do they want to achieve with the money that they are going to earn? The trainer then goes on to tell them about the Tupperware strategy that would help them to do that, turning their dreams into achievable reality. These women are not MBAs, some of them have never even had a job in their life and have always been dependent on their father or husband for money. This training gives them a belief that they too can earn money, which for some is a vehicle for supplementing the family income, a better life for themselves & their children and even at times a means of running their household.

Economic independence also corresponds to respect and right to have a say and to be heard. Tupperware gives them the means to become more than they ever imagined. Dreaming is encouraged, as this is the source from where one gets the power to strive and achieve.

Inspiration Unlimited – She Can You Can

Tupperware India wanted to create a ripple beyond just the current associates’/ distributors’ family. The objective was to instill confidence in women of India that they too can do something worthy of notice. To achieve this, they showcased real life stories of women through the  ‘She Can You Can’ campaign. The idea is to hold up examples of women who have achieved their dreams and also empowered many more on their way; to tell women at large that they too can a make a difference to their own lives as well as the lives of many others. While showcasing the protagonists the following points were considered :

• The protagonists must have achieved success in their respective fields not through any gifts of nature, but through their own strength, passion and perseverance.
• The protagonists must be role models that women can aspire to emulate, yet not ‘celebrities’ because that would alienate common women.
• The protagonists’ achievements should be such that they not only empower her, but also empower others.

…thus inviting more women to come forward and chase their dreams.

Tupperware parties celebrate lives

Today Tupperware’s associates are a vibrant community they believe in inclusive growth. There are examples of women who have achieved success despite physical disabilities such as Deepika who is hearing & speech impaired due a childhood accident. “When I was presented with an opportunity to sell such lovely products, it really did not cross my mind that I should be able to speak. After all, I have gotten so far in life without speaking or hearing. Selling Tupperware would have been a new challenge worth taking on. You need to connect to people to be able to sell. And talking is just one way of connecting,” explains Deepika via sign language, leaving us to fill up the remaining part of the sentence using our imagination.

Overcoming Cancer – Reshma, a 52 year old Tupperware manager, was diagnosed of cancer. The following morning, she mustered the courage to call a couple of close friends in her Tupperware team. One of them, Kochurani, runs the distributorship that Reshma belongs to. “We want to get together with you and give you positive energy”, said Kochurani. A day later, surrounded by her team of thirty friends, Reshma stood holding hands  with everyone feeling goodness and energy flow from their hearts towards her. Everyone said a prayer for Reshma and set her up for what would be her first sitting of radiation. She did not want a dull moment. She took on two big sales challenges with the distributor and won them both. “My immediate plans are to work towards travelling to Hyderabad for a sales conference next month. The radiation should be complete soon and I have told the doctor that there is no way I will miss my conference for anything in the world. Kochu has asked me to fly to Hyderabad, but I am going to go by train with the rest of the managers. I am not going to miss the fun we can have on the train over a long journey.” says an excited Reshma.

Arti walked into her brand new dream penthouse in Aurangabad. At 43, Arti is a woman of steel having transformed herself from a meek Gujarati housewife, with just 12 years of schooling to being a guest lecturer in business schools and a leader who inspires other women to success as a Tupperware distributor in Aurangabad. Being born into wealth alone does not guarantee a cushy life as proved by Arti’s case. At the age of 18, when she married Kumar against her family’s wishes, she alienated not just her parents but also her claim in the family wealth. After 15 years of a stable and comfortable life well provided by Kumar, their fortunes turned for the worse when his business suffered irreversible losses. Relatives lined up to give advice that was a little help. She was often told by her relatives to start making savouries and papads at home and sell them in the market. After all, with her poor education, there is nothing better that she could do, they said.  Arti’s ego was bruised, but not battered. She then took a tough decision which would eventually become the turning point of her life. She decided to take up an opportunity of developing a new market for Tupperware in Sholapur, which entailed her leaving behind her husband and children for days at a stretch. For Arti, those were the days that moulded her to become what she is today.

This article was published in my column Shades Of Money on India Inc. – The India Global Story

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neishaa-gharat-a-year-in-pictures-2012

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Wishing you & your family happy festival of lights & festive cheer.
Be it Diwali and Christmas, light and joy, even life
light is all encompassing.
“You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world.” Oprah Winfrey

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Project Crayons – School on Wheels at Malwani

Historically schooling in India has seen many struggles both before and after independence. Divided political views, ineffective policies and unaccountability have only added to the dilemma. But the growing awareness amongst all income groups, who once considered being educated as something pious and that added to your character are now clearly relating it to their children’s future in terms of income and opportunities. This brings new hope for a effective education system that will be accountable to create our future citizens.

We can see broad divide among the poor, one where sending their children to school meant trade offs like income to the family or making a choice between food for the family versus school expenses. The other who send their children to school, but are helpless or purely not involved in understanding whether the school is effective and bringing any real value for the child. How are we going to face the challenges of failing schools and failing children? The stakes are high.

Children’s access to basic education has been the major focus of national and international education development efforts for the past two decades. However school dropout has become recognized as a major educational challenge both in developed and developing countries as more children enroll in school, but fail to complete it, . Although the pattern of dropout varies by country, the result is the same: increasing numbers of under-educated and unemployable youth. Reducing dropout is key to improving access to basic education.

As per a report, nearly one third of the states and union territories have seen an increase in the dropout rate in primary education despite an overall increase in enrolment two years after the Right to Education (RTE) was implemented in India. This comes at a time when fund allocation has been doubled. More children have dropped out in 2010-2011 as compared to 2009-2010 in 10 of the 30 states where RTE has been notified.

Grassroots innovation – can we nurture new ideas to support school drop outs or never been to school children? Are we ready to scale these ideas for larger impact?
Project Crayons – School on Wheels
Creating new learning environments to put children back in school
For over 15 years Project Crayons has been working as a grassroots NGO in Mumbai and Mangalore towards its mission to educate marginalised children. The Empowerment of Dreams Program (EDP) has supported children from marginalized families to continue their primary and secondary education.
While working with children through EDP, Project Crayons observed that while a large number of children and their families want to study and make best possible use of EDP, they do not have basic skills to perform in school; some students drop out and discontinue. These learnings and insights inspired the design of School On Wheels as a tool to support children to stay in school and go back to school.
School On Wheels is a creatively designed bus turned into a class-room that aims to deliver holistic education to drop outs and never been to school kids. The mobile school and the community centre will nurture every child’s cognitive, emotional and social competencies and mainstream these kids into formal schools.
Since its pilot in 2008 working within a community in Mankhurd, Mumbai, School On Wheels is today supporting 100 children in Malwani, Mumbai with one bus.
School On Wheels will continue to mentor and envisions them as role models for others in the community. Along with a rigorous curriculum, it incorporates different contemporary and alternative teaching tools like arts, comics, dance, theatre, games and technology.
Bringing class rooms closer to children
• The bus will be a mobile classroom that will enable us to reach out to kids who work in places like construction sites where at times we don’t get permission to run our program.
• The creatively designed mobile learning environment will be used to create awareness and invest the entire community in the first few months. The bus will then move out to another community where there is a need and its place will be taken up by a permanent community centre or by collaborating with a local school (supporting EDP)
• The bus will also be used during holiday period for various activities like art therapy and mobile library.
• Potential of a mobile learning centre beyond a classroom- The bus can be used for awareness campaigns to inspire people to volunteer, contribute their skills and support the program in whatever way they can.

India produces the second largest number of engineers in the world every year as well as the largest number of school dropouts.

While the rest of the world frets about the economic effects of an ageing population, India will grow increasingly younger. According to India’s census bureau, 40% of the populace is below the age of 18, and by 2015, 55% will be under 20. That sounds like plenty of worker bees to fulfill the promise of making India a services and manufacturing power over the next two decades. The actual situation prevailing in the Indian context is that while 96% of India’s children enroll in primary school, by the age of 10, about 40% drops out.
The nation’s economy and competitive standing also suffers when there are high dropout rates. Dropouts represent a tremendous waste of human potential and productivity, and reduce the nation’s ability to compete in an increasingly global economy. The study of McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on India’s manufacturing exports in 2004, projected that India will need 1.5 million trained technicians every year for the next decade – twice the number it currently produces – to be able to boost its manufactured exports from $40 billion a year to $300 billion, the amount exported by China. Concerns about the effectiveness of education in Indian government schools is paramount as it directly effects India’s rise as a knowledge economy.

Who drops out of school and why?
The reasons are both economic and academic

Economic reasons are the top three reasons cited
• About 55% of parents/guardians and about 60% of child respondents cited need to supplement income through household chores or domestic work. About 30% of the respondents cited need to work to earn money.
• 30-40% of respondents cited school-related expenses (direct cost appear to be a greater problem for dropouts).

Students also drop out of school for academic reasons
• A cluster of school based reasons indicate that school does not provide a supportive environment for academic success or self-esteem.
• Poor academic performance (9-10%)
• Fell behind with lessons (5-8%)
• Discouraged by teachers (14% particularly for dropouts); 46% criticized by  teacher
• Did not like school (5-13% particularly for dropouts); 15% participated in school events, projects or clubs
• Chronic absenteeism is a major contributor to dropout. The majority (55%) of dropouts and nearly half (40%) of at-risk students have missed more than 15 consecutive days of school over the academic year. 36% of at risk students and 61% of dropouts have missed 3 or more days per month. 40% of parents/guardians were not or seldom aware of their child’s absences.
Other factors cited for dropout were: illness and marriage. Factors not frequently cited: conflict, distance to school, too old, pregnancy, school safety, and lack of latrines.
The Interventions
Early Warning System (to reduce student absenteeism and support at-risk students in school)
• Use existing school level data on attendance, performance, behavior etc. to identify students at-risk of dropping out of school
• Enhance the capacity of schools to address the needs of at-risk students
• Strengthen the partnership between school personnel and the parents/guardians of at-risk students
Recreation/Enrichment Activities (to increase attractiveness of education to students and motivate attendance)
• Program activities for unstructured SUPW (lifeskills) class to encourage students to participate in creative, entertaining activities (arts and craft, sports and games, reading and storytelling) that develop learning skills
• Engage teachers and community volunteers to lead and facilitate the recreation and enrichment activities

Neither normal expansion, nor existing pace and nature of improvement can address the need of the situation. ‘There is a lot of change, but i wonder of there is enough of it. India has a lot of ground to cover on education and very little time.’ Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
As Mr. Nandan Nilekani emphatically points in his book Imagining India, “few things are as wide ranging in their impact on the economy as education. The collapse of our schools is a deep crack in India’s foundation, and it impacts everything from our health achievements and fertility rates to our economic mobility and political choices. The evidence of our education failures is brought home to us every day in the children selling magazines on the city intersections, students dropping out of our failing schools and accompanying their fathers to work…”

Neishaa Gharat is the Voluntary director of Project Crayons UK. The UK charity supports the work in India through knowledge sharing, enabling partnerships, collaborations, fundraising and volunteering opportunities. Write to neishaagharat@karmaventures.co.uk and share your views and interest in School on Wheels
Neishaa Gharat contributes to www.indiaincorporated.com through her column – Ideas on Inclusive growth and CSR

References
Imagining India – Ideas for the new century, Nandan Nilekani. School Dropout Prevention USAID, Times of India, Increase in dropout rate in primary education. Purna Prabhakar Nandamuri et al, Int.J.Buss.Mgt.Eco.Res., Vol 2(5),2011,322-333

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Chalo India – Nordic-India Collaboration

India is evolving; it is a nation in transition, emerging from the shadows of the past to the possibilities of the future. The creative sector is growing exponentially through local demand and global influences. This is shaping new thinking and collaboration in the creative sector. Chalo India envisions that the creative economy can be a source of socio-economic growth, social inclusion, jobs, innovation, and trade.

Catalyst

The Indian creative fraternity is ready to play its role on the international stage. Interesting collaborations are bursting all over the world. Through the Chalo India initiative this India-Nordic collaboration was enabled with Pelago Bicycles during the Bicycle Film Festival & World Design Capital, in Helsinki.

‘The Ghoda Cycle Project’ is a visual document of the myriad avatars of bicycles in the rural and urban landscape of India. The linchpin of ‘The Ghoda Cycle Project’ is to lay emphasis on the framework, structure, decoration and design of the cycles of India. Ergonomically these cycles may not be the best examples of bicycle design, but they have the strength to carry the hopes and aspirations of a big section of the Indian population. No wonder they are called ghoda (stallion) cycles. Basic necessities like cooking gas, milk, bread, newspapers and tiffin are delivered to out homes on a cycle. And then there are the mobile cycle shops that sell, among other things, tea vegetables, waist belts, ice creams and SIM-cards. Its a display not only of sustainable living but also how a section of the society in India make a livelihood out of it. With customization, adornments, embellishments and a bit of jugaad these cycles start developing their own unique personality, reflecting the occupation and background of the rider. And also collectively adds life and charm to the streets of India, where more than 20,000 cycles are manufactured everyday.
The artworks are a collection of my observations and drawings of these omnipresent cycles of India. – Sameer Kulavoor

About the artist

Sameer Kulavoor (b.1983) is an Indian visual artist/illustrator best known for his music related art and design projects. He has directed and designed animated music videos for Pentagrams ‘Lovedrug Climbdown’, album art for Zero and Something Relevant, cover Art for Rolling Stone India, identity design + illustration for NH7 Weekender festival 2011 and a number of motion graphic pieces for MTV. Besides music projects, he has illustrated for BBC, Royal Enfield, Pepsi, Britannia, Chivas Regal, Honda, KFC, NewYork MOSEX, Condenast, Virgin Atlantic and made his way into in publications like Luhrzers Archive 200 best illustrators worldwide, D&AD, One Show, Communication Arts, The Art Directors club, IDN, Computer Arts Projects. He is the co-founder and co-editor of 100%ZINE: Indias first Visual Art Zine. Under the label ‘BombayDuckDesigns’, he also works on self-initiated projects like ‘Sidewalks & Coffeeshops’ and ‘Zeroxwallah Zine’. The Ghoda Cycle Project is a result of his growing interest in bicycle subculture of India.

Chalo India would like to enable more knowledge sharing and collaboration with creative sectors and innovative businesses. Neishaa Gharat  is a Catalyst at Chalo India

Chalo India acknowledges the spirited efforts of Merilyn Keskula and Lotta Veromaa

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a little prayer

Shubh Dussera, the frangrance in the air, the sweetness of the chatter around and a humble prayer from the heart with the brightest flame to protect us and all we love from evil…

This picture holds special significance, as it brings back memories of my trip to Chennai and being welcomed with these beautiful flowers and effortless smiles by a self-help women group who were running a shirt tailoring unit to support their livelihood.

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My children at Udaan Ghar, Malvani Mumbai

Me, Mumbai & Project Crayons 

Being born and having lived a large part of my formative years in the fascinating & cosmopolitan city of Bombay now Mumbai has had unique influences. Everybody’s Mumbai is different. So what we all do is construct our own versions of Mumbai, inventing a city that allows us to be ourselves.
On one hand we see it as India’s financial capital and on the other home to the largest slums in the world
Its streets adorn the worlds most expensive cars and is also home to innumerable children and families. Mumbai is a city where people come with hopes & dreams, dreams to earn millions, dreams to find a highflying career and simply dream to earn a livelihood for their family.

From this very Mumbai was born a dream to support and save a girl child from the streets before the streets get her. And thus Project Crayons came into existence.

In life, sometimes the only difference is the ones who have the opportunity and the ones who don’t …

Over the last 15 years Project Crayons has simply wanted to give underprivileged children, young people & women “An Opportunity” to make choices in life.

Education is important to fight poverty. We have been relentlessly working towards our mission to educate. Giving them a chance to go to school and learn. Instead, they face a lifelong struggle against disease, violence and poverty. These children should be our next generation of leaders, doctors, scientists and teachers – but without access to free, quality education, they won’t be. Instead of going to school many of them are forced to work and yet, if you educate children, They will be healthier, They will build stronger communities, They will break the cycle of poverty.

http://www.projectcrayonsindia.org

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Love & Welcome spring

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The research report is based on the data collated from approximately 234 organizations who participated in this study, and in-depth interviews with over a dozen of  Senior HR leaders from leading National and Multinational organizations (Fortune 50).

Click here to download the report.  
 
With so much uncertainty and complexity surrounding Corporate India today, this research report predicts some of the upcoming trends and priorities for HR Professionals for the year 2012.
  
Some of the interesting trends for 2012 are as follows:
 
·         ‘Employer Value Proposition’ is going to be the key to attraction.  ‘Advertisements Goodbye – Welcome Social Media’ will be the mantra for branding in 2012.
 
·         Work life balance is no more a ‘nice to offer’ but ‘MUST DO’ parameter for retention. Work Life Balance is emerging as a Retention Strategy (34% believe work-life balance is effective retention strategy).
 
·         Talent Custodians is the New Perception of HR function among employees.  35% of the responding organizations perceived that HR department is a Talent Officer. 20% felt that HR department is the employee’s best friend, while 19% thought that HR department was perceived as the messenger of bad news.
 
·         HR Metrics and HR Analytics is the way to go forward. HR metrics will not only help  in building the credibility of the HR function, but it will also help  HR function to build more sustainable processes and make informed decisions.  95% of responding organizations agreed to this viewpoint.
 
Excerpt

Increasingly firms find themselves operating in business environments loaded with a lot of uncertainty. The uncertainty is mainly driven by the unprecedented and unpredictable change. A complex nexus of forces set off the HR function: pressures to reduce costs, higher expectations of customers, the constant drive to meet global competitive challenges and opportunities offered by advancements in information technology. This complexity heightens when the business environments are faced with global economic recessions. This is true for organizations operating in India – be it Indian organizations, Multinational organizations, or Indian Multinational organizations.
However, HR Professionals are always in a constant flux to predict the future and prepare for it. Irrespective of the size of the organization or where they are placed in terms of HR practices maturity, the challenges keep evolving from time to time. So what then are the trends for 2012? 
With so much uncertainty and complexity surrounding Corporate India today, a research report based on the data collated from approximately 234 organizations who participated in this study, and in-depth interviews with over a dozen of Senior HR leaders from leading National and Multinational organizations (Fortune 50), predicts some of the upcoming trends and priorities for HR Professionals for the year 2012.
While it appears that recession is going to impact the HR function in the next six months, it will be important for HR functions to start building in the agility in their processes to better deal with the impact. How organizations build and implement this will be the key success factor for organizations in 2012. This demands the HR function to partner as a strategic thinker, and focus on helping organizations make adaptable to continuous change. While organizations would become more ROI focused and would like to become strategic partners to the organization on one hand, it appears that 2012 will not see outsourcing as an option to achieve these two goals. In order to help the HR professionals build their skills to deal with the forthcoming challenges, it is important & critical to train them and equip them. To be effective Talent officers it is critical that the organization processes support the same.
HR Metrics and HR Analytics is the way to go forward. Using HR metrics and Analytics to their full potential will turnaround the game in favor of HR. HR metrics will not only help in building the credibility of the HR function, but it will also help HR function to build more sustainable processes and make informed decisions.
While organizations don’t seem to be bogged down by the economic environment, and would continue hiring based on their requirements, at the same time the challenges in attracting talent to their organizations are also changing. Unavailability of skilled talent and lack of focused employee value proposition will be the biggest challenge for organizations in terms of attracting talent.
2012 will be a year for HR professionals to pull up their sleeves and come up with innovative practices to deal with the challenges that they would face due to the economic instability and thereby build agile HR organizations.

Neishaa Gharat provides India Market Advisory services through Chalo India. She is a partner at ‘The Strategist, India’ for UK & Europe based in London. ‘The Strategist’ (Strategist HR Advisory Services LLP) is a Global People Advisory & Research firm. The Firm head quartered in India specializes in Organizational Analysis, Behaviour, Change, Communication, Development & Effectiveness. It is currently working with fortune 500 organizations in India and also pioneering many research topics of emerging India.

Researchers
Dr. Padmaja Palekar, Associate Partner and Chief Research Officer, The Strategist
Fellow from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), Padmaja specializes in Research in Human Resource Management. She holds a Masters degree in HRM from Pune University and a Bachelors degree in Statistics. She is currently an Associate Partner and Chief Research Officer with The Strategist. She has presented her research at various international conferences like the European Academy of Management Conference and the International Human Resource Management Conference.

K Srinivas Rao, Chief Strategist & Partner, The Strategist
A research scholar with XLRI, Srini is a human capital strategist with 18 years of experience, having considerable background in Human Capital Value Chain. He has worked both as internal staff and external consultant, with some of the world’s renowned organizations like Baan, Computer Associates, Satyam Computers and Ernst & Young. He is currently a Partner and Chief Strategist with The Strategist. An avid writer, researcher and consultant, Srini has several books and paper publications to his credit.

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Strong underlying economic growth, the burgeoning population, increasing disposable income, an expanding middle and upper class consumer base and the large scale construction of organised retail infrastructure are key factors driving this growth, making India the world’s fifth largest retail destination. Despite this, India’s foray into the organised retail space is still at an evolutionary level which means that the opportunity in India for UK retailers remains immense.

In order to succeed in the Indian market, UK companies need to understand its diversity and uniqueness and accordingly adapt and reinvent their brands to fit the bespoke requirements of the discerning Indian consumer. Replicating a one-size-fits-all global model will not be a successful strategy where India is concerned. More often than not, UK companies have the aspiration to customise their model for India but lack the confidence to do so and therefore opt for the safer option which doesn’t always work.

The UKIBC in collaboration with Portland Design present a seminar titled ‘Adapting Your Brand In India: A 21st Century Retail Market,’ featuring an expert panel of speakers who will share individual experiences of what worked well and what didn’t and case studies to highlight strategies for success.

This event aims to encourage UK brands to explore the Indian retail market and make the most of this untapped opportunity by employing specific strategies for success.

AGENDA

5.30pm: Registration

6.05pm: Welcome by the UKIBC

6.10pm: Speaker Introductions and Scene Setter by Neishaa Gharat, Portland Design

6.15pm: Panel Discussion begins moderated by Kevin McCole – Chief Operating Officer, UKIBC :
• Overview of the Indian retail market and its unique characteristics by Lewis Allen, Portland Design
• Case Study by Walford Wilkie on their experience working with premium Indian clients including lessons learned and strategies for success.
• Case Study by Stuart Paver on Pavers England focusing on their operations in India, challenges encountered and strategies for success.

6.45pm: Q&A Session

7.15pm: Networking Drinks & Canapes

8.30pm: Event comes to an end

The UK India Business Council (UKIBC) is the lead organisation supporting the British Government in the promotion of bilateral trade, business and investment between the two countries. UKIBC seeks to play an influential role in creating and sustaining an environment in which free-trade and investment flourishes. A key objective in this regard is the highlighting, and dismantling, of bureaucratic and regulatory barriers to entry. Through the facilitation of partnerships, and with the support of an extensive network of influential corporate and individual members, UKIBC provides the resource, knowledge and infrastructure support vital for UK companies to make the most of emerging opportunities in India.

Portland Design
Established in 1987 and based in London, Portland is an award-winning design consultancy specialising in the retail, leisure and travel sectors. They are a multidisciplinary design consultancy of around 35 staff working on a diverse range of projects all over the world. Their work spans everything from brand strategy and environmental branding to retail master planning and public realm (shopping centres, mixed-use developments & airports) to retail and F&B environments and brand experiences.

Portland have been working in The Indian market since 2006 on projects for Bangalore & Hyderabad airports, Café Coffee Day and Shoppers Stop. They are in the process of finalising a JV with The Mudra Group – one of India’s leading marketing services groups. (We also have representative offices in Dubai, Cairo & Cape Town).

Event Supported By

Field Fisher Waterhouse is more than just a European law firm specialising in providing commercial solutions for all industries and sectors. It’s our ability to embrace change and to navigate and capitalise on the changing market that makes us different.
Clients choose to work with us because we can provide exceptional lawyers who are highly experienced in working on India-related matters together with a network of Indian law firms with whom we have worked over a number of years. We have dual-qualified lawyers with an understanding of clients’ expectations and concerns, enabling us to understand and meet specific business and legal requirements. We pride ourselves on providing not just advice across a wide range of legal issues but also commercial advice about entering into the Indian market and investments from India into Europe.
This commercial attitude, combined with our empowering and down-to earth style, means clients trust us to provide the best possible legal solutions.

Fees

UKIBC Member – Free

Retail Sector Subscriber – Free

NGN Member – £30.00

Non-Member – £50.00

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