B2B industry forms a large portion of Indian SME market, however the Indian advertising industry is yet to come up with required framework to cater to the branding requirements of this segment.

Will you believe if I say that Nirma, Moov, D Cold, Hi-design, Tortoise and Fevicol were Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) not so long ago? Believe it or not! But that’s what the magic called ‘advertisement’ has done to these Indian companies. Yes, aided in their big-bang metamorphosis, that saw the small fishes grow into big fishes. Now all these big fishes are calling the shots these days in their respective realms.

Unfortunately, today India SMEs are not willing to loosen their purse strings in terms of brand building and advertising, thanks to Indian mindset, where entrepreneurship is all about ‘surviving’ and not ‘thriving’.

Indian advertising industry has been growing at an unprecedented speed, and thankfully big fishes of the Indian Industry like Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, Cadbury, Vodafone, Nokia and Asian Paints to name a few are making most of it. On the other hand, though Indian SMEs comprise a large part of the Indian business environment they are pretty wary when it comes to investing in advertising. Indian SMEs, more often the not, resort to small-tactical efforts and focus on brand building at the micro level.

Notwithstanding the mindset of Indian SMEs, it is imperative to highlight the fact that every big fish today was a small fish not so long go. For the starters, the first registered brand was ‘Sunlight’ by William Hasketh Lever in 1880s. The man with a vision introduced branded soap when homemade products were used both for washing themselves and the laundry. He initially created a silent commercial for the brand in 1907 then went on to launch a series of advertisements to create demand for his product. The small fish of the yore has morphed into a blue whale called ‘Unilever’ – a renowned brand with massive advertising spends.

Closer home, we have we have few examples like Zodiac. In 1961, Zodiac try to build a premium brand of ties via advertising and today the company has ventured into ready-wear and has made its existence felt in highly competitive and crowded Indian market place. As aforementioned Indian brands like Nirma, Moov, Fevicol have put faith in advertising and reaped in huge benefits, while few others have managed to keep the competition at bay. However, such cases can be counted on the finger tips. On a broader level, Indian SMEs avoid spending big time on advertising. Probably the fault lies with both the companies and the advertising industry per se.

The Indian entrepreneur is very different from his western counterpart. Indian entrepreneur is happy focusing on the local markets and don’t believe in building a national brand. They don’t dream big and lay cocooned in their own safe little world.

The orthodox mindset prevents them from aiming high and consequently they look upon advertising as an expense rather than income. When the dreams are small, the question of advertising big time never arises. Moreover, Indian businessmen believe more in relationship-building and pushing the product into the market rather than dealing directly with the consumers and drive sales. Further, the smes don’t believe much in the power of branding. And if at all, they get involved, they don’t have a long term picture in mind rather opt for short term advertisements.

In more than one ways, one can simply pass the buck on the advertising industry for the sorry state of affairs of the SMEs. The industry never ever took pains to make the SMEs understand the value of advertising. Perhaps the boom in the last two decades, which aided easy flow of money from big companies to the ad industry made the industry pretty indifferent to the needs of SMEs. And to rub salt on the wounds, the big agency models never suited the needs of the SMEs as the commission and the retainer fee compensation models are petrifying. Consequently, SMEs end up doing local advertisements with the involvement of local players and so there is no conscious brand-building exercise involved.

B2B industry forms a large portion of Indian SME market, however the Indian advertising industry is yet to come up with required framework to cater to the branding requirements of this segment.

Moving forward, one cannot deny the fact that SMEs are the next big thing. The evolution of the Internet medium may turn out to be the light at the end of the tunnel for the SME industry. Branding and advertising on the internet can be done at viable rates and that too at the targeted audience. Nonetheless, for this to happen the SMEs have to expand their vision and have the will to invest

In 1989, a small time glue manufacturer thought of advertising his product on television, though its use was only in smaller proportions. Today the brand has created a niche for itself and it’s well-known by the name of ‘Fevicol’.