When multinational brands entered and tried to conquer market share in the Middle Kingdom 20 years ago, they encountered the same problems they face in India now – how does one market effectively to such a diverse market, where statistics are unreliable and tastes change often, yet sell in a value driven economy? In lieu of encountering a similar market in the same region with alike issues, many companies are replicating best management practices adopted successfully in China in the Indian market.

With economic and cultural similarities and purchasing decisions aligned, marketing managers across multinational companies are bringing their best marketing and distribution ideas tried and tested in China to India.  Take Coca Cola for example, known for its revolutionary, fierce and strong branding, the company recently asked its independent franchisee bottlers in India to weigh a new distribution and manufacturing model it follows in China. The new model involves pooling investments and setting up common manufacturing capacities, and would mainly be for non-carbonated drinks. The Atlanta-based beverage maker’s top brass discussed benefits of shared resources and pooling investments with its franchisee bottlers last month in Shanghai, China

Under the proposal, independent bottlers would split their investments and share the returns equally among themselves. As bottling investments take about five-six years to bring returns, the move would help the bottlers in freeing large amount of money, a model that is expected to work in nations like China and India where distribution of aerated drinks in a problem and large investments are hard to come by.