Urban Ladder makes a nice gesture to rival Ikea, Parle to Britannia, Mother Dairy to Patanjali. And not just in FMCG. There’s Mahindra & Mahindra teaming up with Ford, Tata Motors cozying up with Chrysler, Maruti with Toyota. Why are rivals in the marketplace wishing each other well or collaborating on key manufacturing processes? Because these brands have understood two fundamental shifts are taking place. One, consumers are not so impressed with aggressive branding strategies that attack rivals. In fact, social media fallout of such ads can often be counterproductive. Two, cost pressures and rapid technological innovations mean shop floor collaboration makes sense for brands selling competing products.

Publication: Economic Times (Online)

Date: September 23, 2018