IAMAI forms committee to promote new-age Indian brands

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Tuesday said it has set up a founder’s community of 35 direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in the country from across segments such as food, consumer durables, electronics, fashion and fast-moving consumer goods.

Currently, there are 100 odd such brands that are digital-first, innovative, competitive, and manufacture in India, the digital lobby group said.

“These brands are innovative since they cater to a younger and often first-time shopper catering to a niche demand. They are competitive as they have to compete for mindshare and shelf space with large incumbents with deep pockets. They are digital-first catering to the internet using socio-economic segments and taking advantage of the digital infrastructure that has been created in India. Finally, they invariably manufacture or produce goods in India,” the statement said.

According to the lobby group, the industry is in the need for a “collective identity” to help it charter through complicated government policies and regulations; buy-in from stakeholders such as e-commerce platforms, logistics and payments industry; and also earn lasting customer trust.

Consumer-electronics startup boAt’s co-founder and chief marketing officer Aman Gupta and skincare-haircare brand WOW Skin Science’s co-founder Manish Chowdhary have been chosen to co-chair the IAMAI D2C committee.                                                                                                                

“The model (D2C) enables a brand to listen to the unfiltered voice of their customer and is a natural progression from shifting the online shoppers to buy from the brand's website and own the experience, data, and lifetime value of the customer. The committee will bring the ecosystem together, indulge in knowledge creation, and put forth the best practices in a mission to build internet-driven iconic brands” Gupta said.

Members of the IAMAI include multiple media houses such as Facebook India, Rediff India, ShareChat as well as emerging business and consumer internet companies in India such as OYO, Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber, and BillDesk.