Brands for the next 300 million Indians

As demand wanes with the top quintile consumers, marketers have to think afresh about how to cater to the next lot in the socio-economic ladder

With demand from the top 100 million most affluent consumers beginning to falter — evident from plummeting sales of everything from cars, bikes, air tickets to houses — the general consensus is that to sustain even a moderate 6 per cent to 7 per cent economic growth rate, consumption has to kick in in a meaningful way with the next 300 million people in the socio-economic ladder.
 
Consumers in the top quintile, accounting for almost half of income and a third of consumption expenditure, have already been tapped and their appetite and preferences for a host of products and