CPG Brand Growth Tips

Tanishq was a failure for 10 years. But then, this company revolutionized the Indian jewelry market. My family has been in the jewelry business for 40 years. Although I’ve never worked in the business - I’ve seen it around me growing up. Recently, I was talking to my dad, Biren Vaidya, about the state of the market. He reminded that the world was very different when he started in the 80s. As much as 95% of the market was unorganized and there were no ‘brands’ - largely home jewelers – until Tanishq tried to organize the industry. In 1991, India had a severe forex deficit. Titan Company Limited needed $$ to import their watch components so they made a plan: Sell jewelry in Europe → Earn forex → Use it to import watch components → Make more watches in India → Sell the watches across the world This is how Tanishq was born :) After a while, the forex crisis settled down. The management still saw a new opportunity in the jewelry business domestically. They introduced 18-carat gold with European designs, trying to be ‘different.’ But in India, gold isn’t just jewelry—it’s wealth, status, an investment and tradition. This is what they missed. Plus, every family in India had a trusted “Family Jeweler” who had served them for generations – the biggest barrier to entry for any new brand was trust. By 2001, Titan’s stock crashed to ₹2, and the company was ₹150 crores in losses. Consultants urged the Tatas to shut it down. Instead of quitting though they kept fighting and adapted. Eventually a new playbook worked. They: – Shifted to 22-carat gold, aligning with Indian values of purity and investment. – Introduced the “Karatmeter” to check gold’s purity. It exposed that 60% of local gold was impure. – Now, to rebuild trust, they launched the "Impure to Pure" scheme with which customers could exchange their impure, adulterated gold for Tanishq’s pure 22-carat jewelry. They leveraged the core USP of the Tata Group and made it Tanishq’s USP - trust! 25 years hence, Tanishq is 88% of Titan’s revenue. Today, Tanishq is India's largest organized jewelry brand with over 400 stores—capturing 7% of this massive market. We are seeing a new trend as Indian customers are viewing jewelry more as a fashion accessory. This has led to a recent rise in 18 Carat designs – something Tanishq started with but miserably failed in 1994 :) So, India’s largest jewelry company and most loved retail stock started as a failure. Everything that ends well doesn’t necessarily start well. PS - I still see large investment opportunities in jewelry. The next frontier is lab grown diamonds, silver/demi fine and luxury. Thoughts? #business #success #growth

For a long time, scale in FMCG meant one thing: be everywhere, say everything, appeal to everyone. Bigger budgets. Broader messaging. More SKUs. Louder launches. That logic is breaking in 2026. What’s actually growing right now is precision. NielsenIQ data shows that brands with clearly defined target occasions and functional benefits are outperforming broader portfolios on velocity and repeat purchase. In the US, many of the fastest-growing food and beverage brands are winning not because they shout louder, but because they answer a very specific consumer job better than anyone else. McKinsey & Company’s consumer research backs this up. They’ve found that consumers are increasingly loyal to brands that simplify decisions and fit seamlessly into routines, especially in an environment where price pressure and choice overload are real. In other words, relevance beats reach. From my seat in executive search, this shift shows up very clearly in leadership conversations. The strongest CMOs, CCOs and GMs I speak with are no longer obsessed with “owning the category.” They’re obsessed with owning moments. They understand which SKUs earn the right to exist, which ones need to be killed, and where focus actually drives growth. This is where many legacy FMCG companies struggle. Their structures, incentives and leadership profiles were built for scale, not specificity. When everything is a priority, nothing truly is. Meanwhile, challenger brands and even private-label teams are building tighter portfolios, faster feedback loops, and sharper commercial instincts. Specificity is about clarity. Clarity of consumer, clarity of function, clarity of why you deserve shelf space and repeat purchase. The brands growing fastest right now aren’t trying to be loved by everyone. They’re trying to be essential to someone. Curious how others are seeing this play out. Are you narrowing focus in your portfolios and teams, or still trying to win through breadth? #FMCG #CPG #ConsumerTrends #BrandStrategy

Landing a national deal doesn’t happen overnight. Three years ago, we got our first shot at Whole Foods Market. A few regions, a few stores, a few SKUs, a small test. It wasn’t huge, but it was an opportunity. Most people think success in retail is about getting listed. It’s not. It’s about making sure you move volume once you’re listed. Here’s what we focused on for three years to turn that small test into 500 stores nationwide, full visibility, great merchandise and all our SKUs: 1️⃣ Drive velocity, not just distribution. Getting into a store is one thing, getting off the shelf is another. We worked with store teams, optimized placement, and made sure product was moving. We had creators show where the product is to their community. We also worked with our brokers and WFM team to optimize promos etc… 2️⃣ Build relationships at every level. Retail isn’t just about buyers. It’s the store staff, the merchandisers, the people on the floor. These are the ones who push your product when you’re not there. 3️⃣ Think long-term. Most brands want immediate scale. But if you burn through distribution without proving demand, it won’t last. We focused on depth before width. Three years later, Whole Foods is now all in. All of our SKU’s in over 500 stores! For any brand, operator, or entrepreneur trying to scale… Take the long view. Do the work. The right doors will open. LFG Mid-Day Squares! Thank you to Greenspoon, Whole Foods and our team to working hard to make this work. This picture is from WFM in LA and WFM in NYC, great promo and merchandising. #retail #sales #grocery #cpg #entrepreneur #marketing #chocolate

How Brands Grow is one of the most quoted books in marketing But what worries me is seeing a lot of early stage consumer founders and VCs getting  influenced too much by it Byron Sharp’s core message is simple: - Mental and physical availability drive growth - Mass marketing > targeting - Light buyers matter more than heavy ones - Loyalty is overrated - Reach matters more than frequency All useful principles—if you're a scaled brand with ₹1000 crore+ in revenue, national distribution, and years of brand equity But if you're a new-age Indian brand doing under ₹100 crore with limited pull—this is the wrong playbook 1. “Target everyone” doesn’t work when you're starting from zero Byron says: go broad. Don’t over-target. But early-stage brands don’t have the money to do that You don’t even know who your best customers are yet. You haven’t earned the right to be broad When you're building from scratch, you must: - Focus on 1–2 cities - Target narrow, high-intent cohorts - Double down on what converts and repeats Depth first. Width later 2. Physical availability is not about being everywhere Yes, consumers should find you easily. But for early-stage Indian brands, “being everywhere” in General Trade or even all SKUs in all ecom/qcom channels often leads to inventory dumps, not sales. GT works only when: - You already have pull in that market - Retailers have seen demand or branded search Without that, it’s just placement without movement. And it breaks working capital 3. Light buyers won’t build your business Byron’s data says light buyers drive brand growth. But for early-stage brands, repeat cohorts are the difference between life and death M1 and M3 repeats aren’t vanity—they're your CAC payback and early signs of brand strength. 4. Mental availability isn’t media spends Yes, people need to know you exist before they buy. But most early-stage media spends don’t build mental availability. They build temporary vanity. Mental availability in early stage brands is earned through: - Strong point of purchase presemce - Great service leading to word of mouth - Delivering a product that over-delivers on value Early stage brands don't buy mental availability. You build it. 5. Brand vs performance is a false binary All communication builds brand. At early scale, you need benefit-first, geography-targeted, performance campaigns that seed pull across D2C, marketplaces and offline How Brands Grow is a good book. But it’s not how brands are built from 0 to 100 cr or even 500 cr It's how brands scale after they've cracked product-market-channel fit. If you’re under 100 cr and chasing Byron’s rules, you’re skipping the unskippable Don’t confuse someone else’s endgame for your opening moves.

The difference between a $10M brand and a $100M one? Bold positioning, emotional clarity, and a damn good rebrand.  Great packaging speaks. Sells. It reshapes how people see you. And gives you a new position in the market - and in the mind. Here’s how 5 brands used brand strategy to scale fast 👇  𝟭. 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿→ From blog to brand. Packaging, tone, and community were perfectly aligned. → Outcome: $1B+ valuation. Defined a new beauty aesthetic. 𝟮. 𝗟𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵→ Turned water into a subculture. → Punk branding, dark humor, and serious shelf presence. → Outcome: $700M valuation. Distribution everywhere from Erewhon to 7-Eleven.  𝟯. 𝗢𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗼𝗽→ Nostalgic soda meets gut health. → Pastel packaging, throwback fonts, strong influencer game. → Outcome: Fastest-growing alt-soda on the shelf.  𝟰. 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶 → From “Mother Beverage” to TikTok’s favorite soda. → Bright colors, gut health focus, Gen Z voice. → Outcome: Acquired by PepsiCo in a $1.65B (net) deal.  𝟱. 𝗥𝗫𝗕𝗮𝗿 → Radical simplicity. Ingredient list became the design. → “No B.S.” built massive trust. → Outcome: Sold to Kellogg’s for $600M. Category-defining.  𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀: - 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀. If people don’t know what you sell and why it matters in 3 seconds or less, your shelf space is wasted.  - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁. Especially in retail - if your packaging doesn’t sell it, it won’t move.  - 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Don’t wait until sales fall to fix your identity. Strong brands evolve while they’re still winning.  - 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝘀. Rebrands that succeed make people feel something: trust, rebellion, nostalgia, hunger, optimism.  What's your favorite rebrand? #BrandStrategy #Rebranding #Marketing #ChallengerBrands 

Watching "Made in India - A Titan Story" on Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios was much more than revisiting the history of an iconic Indian brand. It was a masterclass in leadership, values-driven institution building, and what it truly takes to create something enduring. At the heart of the story lies a powerful relationship between Xerxes Desai and the legendary JRD Tata. In an era increasingly obsessed with quarterly performance and immediate outcomes, the series reminds us that great organizations are built on something deeper: values, trust, mentorship, and the courage to pursue bold ideas. The Power of Values and Mentorship: One of the most striking aspects of the series is the influence that JRD Tata's leadership philosophy had on Xerxes Desai. JRD's leadership wasn't about micromanagement or demanding short-term wins. Instead, it was rooted in: 1. Trusting exceptional people to pursue extraordinary visions 2. Building businesses with integrity and purpose 3. Balancing commercial success with societal responsibility 4. Encouraging innovation while staying anchored in values 5. Perhaps the greatest gift mentors provide is not answers, but belief. Xerxes Desai: Relentless in Pursuit of Excellence The series portrays Xerxes Desai as a fascinating combination of dreamer, perfectionist, and uncompromising executor. Several traits stood out: 1. Unrelenting Passion: Desai wasn't simply building a watch company. He was building a world-class Indian brand. His passion for design, customer experience, and quality was infectious. He refused to accept that Indian products had to settle for being "good enough." 2. The Courage to Challenge Convention: Titan Company Limited entered a market dominated by traditional players and deeply ingrained consumer behaviors. The easier path would have been incremental improvements. Instead, Titan chose transformation. Innovation often requires the willingness to hear "this cannot be done" and persist anyway. 3. Winning Against the Odds: The journey was far from smooth: Skepticism from stakeholders, Operational challenges, Competitive pressures, Building capabilities that scarcely existed at the time Yet the determination to succeed never wavered. The story reinforces an important lesson: resilience is often the difference between vision and achievement. 4. Obsession with Excellence: Desai's insistence on details was not perfectionism for its own sake. It reflected a belief that customers deserve the very best. Great brands are rarely accidental. They are built through thousands of small decisions where leaders refuse to compromise on standards. A highly recommended watch for anyone interested in leadership, entrepreneurship, institution building, and the pursuit of excellence. #MadeInIndia #Titan #TitanStory #Leadership #JRDTata #XerxesDesai #TataGroup #Tata #LeadershipLessons #Mentorship #BusinessLeadership #IndianBusiness #CustomerObsession #Innovation #Excellence #PurposeDrivenLeadership #PrimeVideo

There are over 500+ brands competing in India's healthy food market across quick commerce, online marketplaces & offline. Having engaged with over 80+ brands and investing in 10, there are some patterns & hard truths about scaling in this crowded space. This is a breakdown on marketing and distribution in healthy foods for founders & marketers. First, here’s what you need to know about Indian consumers. - Indians buy food based on trust, not just marketing – If a celebrity promotes it but their neighbour or friend doesn’t recommend it, they won’t buy it. Word of mouth is king. - There is low willingness to pay premium, but high spend on indulgence. People will hesitate on a ₹200 protein bar but will happily buy a ₹500 artisanal mithai box. You need to frame health as indulgence, not sacrifice. -They snack, they don’t diet. Instead of selling "healthy diets", sell better snacking alternatives. That’s why makhanas, chikkis, and seed mixes work. - Unlike the west, 70% of discretionary food spend happens during festivals. Brands that nails Diwali, Rakhi, Ramzan and weddings will win. -Instead of mimicking the US health food market, make Indian-first products. Local trumps global. India is not one country, it’s 20 mini-countries. What works in North won’t work in South. Regional customization is key. - Indians love flavor and indulgence. If your product doesn’t taste good first, it won’t sell. Aim to be a weekly purchase, not a one-time trend. Marketing Don'ts - Don't sell fear, guilt or magic. Most health marketers are doing exactly this. Fear of missing out on fitness. Guilt of not eating right. Magic solutions promising six-pack abs in six weeks, “clinically tested” shortcuts . Health marketing shouldn’t be a psychological warfare. -Don't hijack medical language. Just because you put "backed by science" or "doctor-approved" in your ad ,doesn’t make it true. Most people don’t know what a randomized controlled trial is, but that doesn’t mean you should exploit their ignorance. Don’t throw a lab coat on a model, add "Doctor recommended," and hope no one asks which doctor. -Don't create fake urgency – "Only 3 packs left of our exclusive superfood". Healthy eating isn’t a flash sale; trust and quality build long-term customers, not gimmicks. Marketing Do’s - The best health brands don’t sell a product, they sell a perspective. Tell the truth, but make it interesting. If your product actually works, people will come back. No need to bait them with fake promises. Play the long game. -The best marketing in health is knowledge. Teach people something useful, and they’ll trust you. Educate, don’t manipulate. - Be honest, be helpful, and respect your customer’s intelligence. Anything else is just snake oil in new packaging. If your health product needs tricks to sell, it’s probably not worth buying. More notes on distribution and growth shared in the comments section. Hope this is useful to founders , marketers and their brands.

The Indian beauty and personal care market hit $21 billion, yet most new brands are missing what actually builds loyalty. I've watched brands launch with fancy packaging and influencer budgets, only to disappear within months. If I were starting a beauty or a skincare brand today, here's exactly how I'd build it: Step 1: Start with one hero product Not ten SKUs at launch. One product that solves a real problem. That single focus can help you build trust before expanding. Step 2: Build community before scaling Every product company today is also a media company. Host events, create content that connects, and listen to your community constantly. That emotional bond cannot be copied by competitors. Step 3: Give people a real reason to care Your brand needs a purpose beyond profit. Try to bridge traditional methods with modern science because Indian consumers wanted both. That clear mission kept us focused when things got hard. Step 4: Use minis to convert premium buyers India is the mini capital of the world. Small sizes help value-conscious customers try premium products without the risk. It's the bridge that converts them to full-size later. Step 5: Plan for omni-channel from day one Online alone won't get you past ₹100 crores. You need D2C, marketplaces, and physical retail. For hair care brands, salons matter because they train, service, and sample after sales. Minimalist followed this playbook perfectly. They built strong products, created a loyal community, and recently sold to Unilever for ₹3,000 crores in just 4 years. The beauty market is booming, but success takes patience. Most value gets created in the second or third decade. The brands that survive the frustration zone are the ones that last. Which step do you think is hardest when building a beauty brand?

You're launching nationwide because it sounds ambitious. Meanwhile, the ₹1 lakh crore brands started with one city and absolutely owned it. Look at India's Snack Kings. Ravi Jaipuria's Varun Beverages sits at ₹1,17,040 crore. Haldiram's at ₹79,200 crore. Parle at ₹75,680 crore. Marico at ₹60,720 crore. Britannia at ₹55,880 crore. Here's what nobody tells you about these empires: none of them went national on day one. The Hidden Pattern: Haldiram's spent decades perfecting their craft in Bikaner and Delhi before even thinking about Mumbai or Bangalore. Parle dominated Mumbai's retail ecosystem so deeply that by the time they expanded, replication was easy. Varun Beverages didn't spread thin—they became the Pepsi bottling monopoly in North India first, then methodically added states. So, Why Does This Matters to You? Most D2C founders I meet are obsessed with "pan-India presence." They're shipping to 28 states with wafer-thin margins, zero brand recall, and exhausted teams. Meanwhile, regional FMCG players grew 12.7% in FY24 while national brands managed just 7.9%. The Real Strategy: Pick ONE city. Own every retailer, every distributor, every consumer conversation in that geography. Build density so deep that word-of-mouth becomes your cheapest marketing channel. Let customers in Pune wonder why "that brand from Delhi" isn't available yet - that's called demand creation through scarcity. The Math is Simple: It's cheaper to dominate 500 stores in one city than be mediocre in 5,000 stores across India. Deep distribution compounds. Shallow distribution just burns cash. Scale isn't about being everywhere. It's about being unavoidable somewhere first. #FMCG #hyperscale #D2C #businessstrategy #distribution #growth

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲. For some FMCG brands, no price cuts, no problem. The brands growing 3-5X faster than competitors have stopped competing on price entirely. This is the framework of how top CPGs win online. The data is clear; 1��⃣ Digital-first brands like L'Oréal, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble are achieving 3–5X higher unit growth 2️⃣ Their edge: Value communication, optimized digital shelf, and content that converts 3️⃣ They’re using pack strategy and personalization, not blanket discounts, to drive volume ++ 𝟰 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗖𝗠𝗢𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝟮 ++ 1. I strongly recommend, stop leading with "20% off" and start with "Here's why this matters to your life." This way you can master value communication over price communication. - Create content that educates, inspires, and justifies your price point - Use storytelling that connects product benefits to real consumer moments - Build trust through transparent ingredient stories and sustainability narratives 2. Your Amazon listing is your new Times Square storefront. Is your digital shelf better then your flagship store by the way? - Invest in premium product imagery and A+ content - Use data-driven SEO to dominate category searches - Leverage customer reviews as social proof, not just feedback 3. Create value through innovation, not desperation. And it happens faster when you deploy strategic assortment & smart pack architecture. - Develop premium formats and limited editions that command higher prices - Use pack sizes strategically to hit different price points without discounting - Test subscription models and bundles that increase customer lifetime value 4. Use technology to deliver the right message to the right consumer. Is there anybody left not leveraging AI for personalization at scale? I didn't think so. :) - Implement dynamic pricing based on demand signals, not competitor panic - Create personalized product recommendations across all digital touchpoints - Use predictive analytics to anticipate consumer needs before they discount-shop 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: Brands that compete on value creation, not price destruction, are the ones dominating market share growth. If you’re still defaulting to promotions, this is your wake-up call. 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 ecommert® 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟰,𝟲𝟬𝟬+ 𝗖𝗣𝗚, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘁 : 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿👇 About ecommert We partner with CPG businesses and leading technology companies of all sizes to accelerate growth through AI-driven digital commerce solutions. #CPG #FMCG #ecommerce #AI #retailmedia PepsiCo Mondelēz International Mars The HEINEKEN Company Colgate-Palmolive Reckitt Henkel Kenvue Unilever adidas Nike The Coca-Cola Company