We are Like That Only, Understanding the Logic of Consumer India by Rama Bijapurkar

by Rama Bijapurkar

'The Indian market is about a lot of people consuming a little bit each that adds up to a lot,...the Indian DNA is about continuity with change; it is about "THIS as well as THAT"; about cobbling together clever and low-cost solutions that are ingenious combinations and adaptations of products available in the market.'

Genres: Business, India, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Rama Bijapurkar is one of India's most respected thought leaders on market strategy and consumer related issues in India. She is also a keen commentator on social and cultural changes in the evolving liberalizing India. She has her own market strategy consulting practice and works with an impressive list of Indian and global companies, guiding the development of their business-market strategies. She describes her mission as bringing "market focus to business strategy".

Rama serves as an independent director on the boards of Infosys Technologies, CRISIL, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, Give Foundation (a not-for-profit company) and Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd.

An alumna of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Rama continues to be involved with her alma mater where she is a Visiting Faculty and also serves on the Board of Governors.

Rama's work experience has been in market research and strategy consulting and includes leadership positions with McKinsey & Company, MARG (now AC Nielsen India), and full time consulting with Hindustan Lever (now Hindustan Unilever India).

Reviews

[Ashish Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew...finally I could complete it...more than a month it has been...well...I couldn't read more than 30 pages in a searing ever as I found it very boring...as in most of the book Rama kept on saying the same thing again and again...India is this as well as that...we are not uniform...many layers...this as well as that...well if u are not from India it might amuse u...that also for a while...but it was too much. I will give it to the book that at points I did find it insightful...the author knows the Indian consumer well but the book could have been written in a concise and interesting way.

[Abhilasha Purwar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer and editor of the books forgot one fundamental of writing - Do not repeat yourself over and over and over again. This 300 page book contains material worth hardly 70 pages. I wonder, what Penguin was thinking while publishing it.

[Anirudh Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

To summarize this book
a) Indians have got money
b) There is a vast diversity; one can't assume the country as a single market with a single global strategy. BOP, women, and teenagers are few of the market segments, but one needs to dig deeper before deciding upon the strategy
c) Indians are aware and want the quality at the lower prices, but that doesn't mean that the firm needs to downsize their products or offer the outdated ones
d) Imbibe the concept of duality and its coexistence

But the bottom line is, we are the future and will drive your profits. Hence, invest wisely!

[Ankur Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took my the longest time to read it with so many things happening around, but it was all worth it. One of the finest book written on Indian business scenario which backs facts with data!

[Anchal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book around how Indian customers think. Enough examples from market studies & published data. Unnecessary repetitions to make the book thicker and irritate readers.

[Karan Khatri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rama Bijapurkar has given us a great insight in to the consumer India. The title is also correct. 'We are like that only'. This books shows how India is totally different and challenging then other developed as well as developing countries. Strategies applied in US, UK, China, Pakistan or any other country will not at all work in India and all these strategies is to be made from the start to win the consumer India.

I read the older version, i.e. of 2008 to 2012. Therefore data provided here are out dated. The world is changing and India too is changing. After Modi Government, what I see is the Consumer India is also changing.

If we want to understand the History of our Consumer India and their Logic it is a great book. But, I think in 2017 the situation is changing rapidly and therefore the data provided is outdated. But yes it is in deed a must read to understand Consumer India, even though we are in 2017.

[Shristi Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book, discusses how the Indian market is different from any other market. It mentions how even with low per-capital affordability, the sheer volume of the Indian market makes it far more lucrative than any other market. States many interesting facts like how the Indian GDP is twice the GDP of major nations like Canada, France and even four times that of Saudi but the per capita figures makes it different.
Women, youngster and rural India are the new emerging markets. That should be catered too. They are different from counterparts in other part of world because Indian women have jobs but look after home too, youngsters are individualistic but within family rules and rural India now has businesses.
India was catered to by Liberalization, swadeshi movement and religion.
India lives across 400 years so companies should be clear on which target group they want to focus. A teenager from Mumbai will be widely different from a teenager in Varanasi so companies should be very clear about whom they want to target and act accordingly.
Negatives:
1. Very repetative, a lot of examples that India is this that it gets a bit too much after a point.
2. Looks like Rama is trying to sell Indian market that please come please come. No talk on make in India.
3. Very old data, consumer India has changed a lot over last decade.

[mira · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some context, I'm a teenager and I read this for some research I was doing a while back. While I don't have much experience with the topics covered in this book and cannot offer substantial analysis of the information provided, I do read a lot, and in a variety of genres, including non fiction, with authors that differ greatly in writing style.

I have read non fiction that truly caught my interest and kept me engaged throughout, and I think that's where this book falls flat. It is truly just incredibly boring, for a lack of a nice way to put it. From the other reviews, I gathered that I'm not the only one with this opinion. It delivers the information it says it will, but in such a way that it is an absolute slog to get through.

I have read parts of Liliput Land also, and I have similar issues with it, in that it does a better job than a cold day and a blanket at putting me to sleep.

That aside, an observation I found mildly amusing through the course of this book is that her writing style contains very stereotypical Indian writing inflections, I feel like if I went in completely blind, there's a very high chance I could tell this was written by an Indian. It really added to my enjoyment of the title.

All in all A+ for effort, D- for delivery.

[Kadambari Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was first published in 2007 and hence the content, though standing true, has changed as well.



Nonetheless the book is interesting if you are involved in the market. The author has given great facts and figures to work on and dissected the entire Indian consumer market. She has quoted good number of easy to understand examples to get her point through.



The language is simple and easy. The chapters are of optimum length. Ample of examples and facts to share, the author herself has helped many corporates and being a faculty to B-School students.



It is a fantastic read for students as well as young professionals. I won't say "We are like that only" is a must read, as many things mentioned are discussed in marketing and consumer behavior classes. But surely "We are like that only" goes deeper into understanding the Indian market and the consumer dynamics.

[Arunaa Ramesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 17 years late in reading the book. However, what mattered was not the data presented but the thoughts and approach, which remains relevant even today because India is still a unique market and will continue to be so for a long time.
It was fascinating to compare the notes of how Rama perceived the market then and how she anticipated it to change in a decade and how things have turned out now. Some right and some not.
As she points out Tharoor’s words “Every truism about India can be countered with another truism”, this country has only become more diverse, more nuanced and more demanding.

[Ishita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple writing to capture complex Indian demographics. Very useful for bussingn researchers and brand managers.

Gives an insight into not just the structure of the Indian urban and rural consumers, but also examples of how one cannot follow rule books when it comes to Indian consumers and marketing strategies.

There really is no textbook approach to indian marketing and capturing consumer behaviour but the book gives you a fair bit of understanding on fundamentals which are critical to understand early on

[Alok Agrawal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent commentary on mindset & habit of Indian consumer.

Very detailed & authentic analysis with examples.An eye opener for companies as how to modify their strategy to lure the Indian consumer.

[Upamanyu Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing insights

The books explains the nitty gritties of the Indian consumer market beautifully. The examples used are simple and easily relatable. A definite must read for every consumer behaviour student and professor.

[Smriti Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gives some good insights, but a lot of it is repetitive over the chapters. Moreover, since the book is more than a decade old and heavily data based, you may skim a lot of pages as the data is no longer relevant.

[Rishikesh Meena · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are like that only, there is an error in the title. "Only" is not necessary. We are like that, is sufficient. 😉

[Divya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had this book on my shelf for a long time, so a bit dated but I still found it relevant and a good read.

[Santosh Sansare · Rating 5 out of 5]

The go to book if you intend to be introduced to the Indian Consumer Market.

[s · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting subject but 1) repetitive 2) exaggerated 3) questionable points like for eg the claim that caste doesnt influence consumerism but rather economic class does

[Anindya · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to be patient to follow what she's saying. This book was referred to me by my colleague. I didn't have Consumer Behavior as a subject hence thought of reading this. It seems to be a casual read in the first instance but as one proceeds through the later chapters (8 and 9) things become numerical and analytical. You need to spend time with the graphs to relate to the story being narrated. If you can't do that, there's no fun.

Some very interesting ideas - automatic vegetable vending machines being one of them. Since I have some background of biotechnology, I could imagine a whole supply chain around this concept. I think this can definitely be done with potatoes. It should also be possible for tomatoes and onions. In my opinion these are the three vegetables that Indians use most often.

The book also explored the market potential of the non-agricultural rural sector. This is something that MFI's might not have thought about. However, what is worth appreciating is the fact that the author not only talked about the size of this market but also about the risks involved in it.

A definitely good book provided you are -
1. genuinely interesting in knowing about the consumer behavior of Indians
2. good with reading charts and numbers
3. have a lot of patience

Lastly, a word of caution. This book needs updating on a regular basis as the numbers keep changing and the content of the book is heavily dependent on the numbers. Hence readers shall have to keep refering the sources of the numbers (NCAER, Hansa, etc).

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to break into the Indian market. Bijapurkar presents statistics, fables, and generalizations about the quintessential Indian psyche. India is apparently immune to the machinations of MNCs, because it will patently refuse to globalize like everywhere else. Unless you read this book.

I was struck by how often the author puts herself in the position of imperial agent, on the one hand directing the overlords precisely how to invest, divide, and conquer, and on the other hand teaching them about the indomitable and unique native spirit, voicing the 'needs' of her countrymen, many of whom are subaltern and thus cannot speak very clearly.

"We are like that only" in S Asian English means, "Yes, we are PRECISELY like that, JUST like that." But the title also means "Only WE are like that." India is not only different from Russia, Brazil, China, the West, but more and better different, and all other developing nations are more or less the same-same.

What is special about the Indian consumer? She is still a cheap and savvy consumer, even if she is not poor. MIND IT.

[Manisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes India a place of opportunities in market space is well explained by Rama in this book. Consumer India's nature, characteristics, aspirations exist in real time, having impression of emerging markets, India with significant uneven income groups must not be mistaken with other emerging markets or put in the likes of how developed markets behaved when they were emerging. Rama's demographics about India is too informative and can very well redirect to the notion that for high aspiring market like India, without crafting optimum strategies carefully considered, can fail global marketers to enter into the country. Proper examples make the book more interesting to read and open up facts like secrets.

[Deccancoffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book to understand the Indian market. Read this if you want to know why some trendy bikes are sold better in small towns than Big cities?.Some of statistics given in the book are very surprising and refreshing one which completely bowled out me was, The percentage of higher middle class in india is equal to Australian population,but unlike in Australia we are geographically scattered in much bigger areas, which makes the selling difficult for mnc`s in India.

[Vivek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regardless of whether you are trying to establish a business in India or not this book is a must read for anyone to understand how heterogeneous India really is even when sliced across income segments. This book puts an end to generalisations and stupid comparisons of India with the West and even China. This is not an opinion of the author but facts based in numbers and real success and failures.

[Charu Gupta · Rating 1 out of 5]

a horrible attempt to copy a beautifully written book called mother pious lady by santosh desai. though the book tries to impress with a lot of facts and figures but fails miserably to hold the attention of the readers. most of the text in the book is quotations by other authors, references to other books and extremely sad jokes and jargons which frustrate us to the core. really really disappointed with the book.

[Rajshekhar Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a company has to select their own India, the India where they want to sell. There can't be a fix all strategy for the multitudinous entity India. What works outside India may not work here. To survive in Indian market, know the market and adapt.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with enough data for evidence and with her own anecdotes, she makes it an interesting read.
this should be on the list of everyone who are willing are looking to understand the behavior of the Indian consumer

[Surya Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas but a very repetitive read where a bunch of concepts is reiterated again and again which makes the reading a drag. The book does have some interesting insights for people who are looking at India as a new market for their products but then some of the ideas are quite obvious for anyone who has an economics or marketing background. Can be used as a casual read but not a lot of takeaways in my opinion.

[Rishabh Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an aspiring marketer, consultant, analyst or an senior executive ..it is a MUST MUST READ.

A book which not only enlightens you by the gyaan but unlocks the treasure: how rama bijapurkar thinks?? And that to me is the stuff that one should read this book for..you get a naked view of her thought process..Brilliant.

[Pooja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gainful insights into the minds of Indian consumer.. why we wont fly business class to the fact that we have more color TV sets than toilets in the country.. it made an interesting in-flight read. But then this book also polarizes opinions on what it takes to do business in India.. especially consumer goods. I give it a 3 star

[Kushmakar Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rama draws on her experience as a researcher and tells you in simplest of terms what it takes to win over Indian market. And all this is backed by meticulous data analysis as well as rich anecdotal evidence. A good read for all the global and local managers and strategists who have been hard to trying find a key to unlock the potential of Indian market.

[Ramakrishnan M · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent book. rama bijapurkar spins a good tale of how we indians are great at embracing seemingly conflicting values. some very intriguing case studies

overall, though, a bit repetitive. also a lot of what i read here was already known to me. for a person new to the indian market it is really invaluable reading

good, not great.