GCPL CEO Sudhir Sitapati highlights wealth, cohesive media, and retail innovation as key enablers
When Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) launched its pet food brand Ninja and anti-perspirant Bloq, it didn’t debut in the traditional metros like Mumbai or Delhi. Instead, the company chose Tamil Nadu.
GCPL isn’t alone. The southern state is increasingly becoming the go-to market for testing and introducing new consumer goods, including earlier launches such as Fab liquid detergent and Cinthol bodywash. According to GCPL’s CEO and MD Sudhir Sitapati, who explained the reasoning in a recent LinkedIn post, Tamil Nadu presents a uniquely favourable environment for FMCG innovation.
Three key factors explain why Tamil Nadu stands out:
1. Widespread Wealth and Balanced Consumption
Tamil Nadu, Sitapati notes, has more in common with Southeast Asian markets than with many Indian states. With a per capita income exceeding $4,000, the state is 1.6 times wealthier than the national average. Importantly, this wealth isn’t concentrated in one or two cities. Unlike Telangana or Karnataka, where prosperity clusters in Hyderabad or Bengaluru, Tamil Nadu’s affluence is broadly distributed across urban and semi-urban centres—mirroring the consumption patterns seen in nations like Vietnam and Indonesia.
2. Highly Cohesive and Localised Media Landscape
Linear television remains a dominant medium in India, and Tamil Nadu offers an unusually consolidated and efficient media environment. With the vast majority of the population speaking Tamil and a limited number of regional TV channels dominating viewership, brands can achieve statewide media reach quickly and cost-effectively. In contrast, other high-income states often require cross-language media buying, increasing costs and complicating campaign execution.
3. Retail That Fosters Experimentation
Tamil Nadu’s retail ecosystem is both modern and fragmented. New product categories tend to perform best in self-service outlets, where consumers can assess packaging, price, and novelty without pressure. While large-format national retailers often hesitate to onboard unproven products, Tamil Nadu’s vast network of independent supermarkets offers a different approach-they’re more open to testing emerging brands. This flexibility allows for rapid distribution and ensures marketing efforts translate into tangible sales availability.
Together, these dynamics make Tamil Nadu a compelling test market: economically robust, media-efficient, and retail-ready for innovation.
As Sitapati summed up, Tamil Nadu is a marketer’s ideal environment-“wealthy, media-isolatable, and innovation-friendly.”
