Goan products should become brands to catch the fancy of tourists
It's a dichotomy of sorts that Goa has a strong brand name as a tourist destination, but apart from that, there haven't been many brands from the state. This becomes difficult to understand, when Goan markets are filled with products unique to the state. Just like the Goan pork sausages in the markets, there are products like cashew and coconut feni, toddy vinegar and bebinca which are hugely popular in the state and have tourists coming from faraway places to buy them. Despite this, manufacturers haven't been able to make a brand out of these products. Except for a few exceptions, our local products which are in a way ‘brands' in their own right have failed to catch the eye of the tourists. Instead they prefer to choose other generic product because local brands don't exist or have failed to lure the minds of outsiders. In case of feni, few manufacturers have worked hard to give good packaging and labelling to their products, but they too aren't very close to creating a brand out of them.
Branding is the most important aspect of business. You may make the best sausages, but unless you market and brand them well, you are only waiting for a big sausage brand to come in and threaten your very existence. Besides, branding helps companies charge customers a premium. Because Goan products are not a brand, they are priced at a huge discount to similar products.
There is perception that Goa is a small market and therefore spending money on branding is not worth it. This is only partly true, as Goan products can find market outside the state as well. Often, huge brands come out of really small markets. Take the example of Nokia, which comes from a tiny country like Finland and which had ruled the global mobile phone market, until recently.
The fact that tourists love a number of Goan products shows that there is indeed a huge demand outside the state as well. All this potential is just waiting to be tapped. Last year, a senior team of executives from Amazon had met then Chief Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar, to discuss possibilities of Goan products getting marketed on Amazon's e-commerce portal. But, if you don't make a brand of those products, putting them on Amazon isn't going to help in any significant way. Branding doesn't only mean putting a fancy packet and a catchy brand name. It involves a thorough exercise involving professionals working on making the product stand on its own. Time has come for Goan companies to make a brand of their products, which will only help them in growing their business by leaps and
bounds.
