Product of the Year (POY), a global platform that celebrates product innovation, came to India in 2008. This was the time. Debuting in India at a time when the entire world was in the throes of a major economic downturn, it had to face more than its fair share of challenges with very few product launches in the Indian market. However, over the last few years, the quality and the quantity of brands participating in the POY awards in India have improved.

The awards for ?Product of the Year India Consumer Survey 2012? were announced on March 31 in Mumbai. There were 25 winners (consumer brands), voted by 30,000 consumers in 36 markets across the country. The big winners this year include GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare?s Horlicks Gold and Women’s Horlicks, Tata?s Swach Nanotech Water Purifier, L?Oreal?s Total Repair 5 range (shampoo), Airtel Digital TV(HD), ITC?s Vivel Clear Soaps, Aditya Birla Money MyUniverse, Godrej?s Expert Powder Hair Colour and Marico?s Kaya Aqua Radiance among others.

On this occasion, Mike Nolan, CEO, Product of the Year Management, UK, who was in India, spoke to FE’s Payal Khandelwal about how POY has evolved in India as a brand, the advantages it offers to Indian companies, and its plans for India. Edited excerpts:

How has the POY brand evolved in India?

India is a tough country. There are a lot of challenges here ? a large number of people, distance, markets, etc. I think that launching in the middle of the biggest recession of 120 years, too, was a challenge. It had a global effect and India also felt the pinch. We came into a complex market, in difficult financial times. However, we are growing gradually. We now have a lot of major manufacturers involved, not only the global ones, but also Indian companies such as ITC, Godrej and Tata. Of course, the P&Gs and the Unilevers are important to us, but in each country, we have a lot of local companies that can win. Ultimately, we have to represent what housewives are buying and if Godrej, ITC or Tata are making products that housewives are buying then they need to be involved in POY. We are pleased that they have bought the concept in India.

In terms of quality and quantity, how has the participation of brands changed over the last four years?

We are very pleased about the diversity of the products being in the race now. Earlier, because of the crisis that followed the economic downturn companies were launching fewer products. As a result of that, we, as well as housewives, had fewer products to choose from.

Another interesting factor is that brands from some of these local companies such as the Tata Group and ITC have won in POY in sectors where you don’t expect them to be. They are finding this to be a good way to challenge the existing leading player. It also shows that you have to work harder and innovate.

If you have to list some of the main advantages of POY for local Indian companies, what would those be?

You can definitely sell more if you are a part of POY. You also become a part of the global community that POY represents. You will be following in the footsteps of P&G, Unilever, which are big companies with powerful brands. Thus, you can feel reassured that you are not putting your neck out there. You are part of something that is truly global.

We are focused on the shopper. It is about independence and about big vote. Nielsen does our research, and thus, you can be sure that it is independent. The bottom line is that it will increase your sales and that is really important to the manufacturer. But for us, the whole process is also important. Of course, we want to see the sales go up, but we also want to see shoppers rewarded and we want them to get the best innovative product. So, we want to increase the sales for Godrej, but our goal is not to help Godrej, it is to help consumers, who will eventually help Godrej. That is the distinction.

What are some of your plans for India?

We want to include more local companies in India. We would also like to go beyond the consumer packaged goods category and look at services.

We would like to be locked in closer with the retailer. We think that retailers have a big role to play in the Indian market and we see it happening now. There is a reason why Tesco and Walmart are so successful. They are perceived to be dangerous by some people, but the reason that they are so successful is that they give people what they want. This kind of retail will come to India soon, and there is a large number of people who would benefit from it. POY is in a good place to be part of this, if it comes along.

Another area is digital. Even though digital marketing spends are still quite small, we believe that it will change. We want to be part of the digital growth in India.

How do you communicate with the consumers?

At a broad level, it is primarily the individual brand’s responsibility to communicate with the consumers. In the end, we are not going to buying any spots. Unilever or Nivea would buy spots and put our logo along with their brands. Thus, in essence, we do not have to work the whole media landscape. However, we do have great media partnerships with brands such as NDTV, Croma, Future Group, etc. So with all that, we are getting the POY logo out there and we are buying into the media landscape.