[icernet] The desi touch of foreign brands

[Arul Selvan]

Flashback 1985: India had only terrestrial TV channels -- controlled by 
the government. International magazines came into India weeks after 
their release abroad. Indians travelled abroad mainly on work -- only 
the super-rich affording holidays overseas. And foreign brands were 
prized possessions brought back or imported from abroad.

Cut to 2003: The bombings of Baghdad, the Oscars in LA, the Miss World 
pageant in London -- are all witnessed live, simultaneously by Indians 
and their global counterparts. International magazines now have Indian 
versions.

India has changed. The economic liberalisation in 1991 has brought the 
world into India, and transformed the life of the consumers in the 
country. Simultaneously the Indian consumer has globalised -- in 
thinking and in living. Three factors have contributed to this 
globalisation: Media, Travel and Brands.

Details at:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/apr/04spec.htm