Deciding to enter the Indian market is the easy bit; ensuring your brand is relevant is far harder. To create relevance brands need to be prepared to customise their brand and pricing strategy.

Creating accessibility

Unbranded jeans in India retail at between R's 200 and R's 250. By comparison Levi's - retailing anywhere from R's 1,600 up to R's 6,000 - is a premium brand.

Levi's faced a problem, retain their premium positioning and risk alienating their core youth market who aspire to wear their clothing, or reduce prices and lose margin. Both scenario's are unattractive, so instead they decided to develop payment terms that made the brand accessible.

EMI - Easy Monthly Installments

Levi's made arrangements with two Indian credit card providers allowing customers to pay for their purchases in three installments at 0% interest. HDFC cards can be used for purchases over R's 1,500, Axis Bank cards for purchases over R's 5,000.

Zero interest monthly payments aren't new to India, Standard Chartered and Countrywide Finance (now part of GE) have previously offered terms for consumer durable purchases.

Levi's - following a ten store trial - are now offering customers the same arrangement across it's 200 stores. They have taken an understood payment plan and put it at the very core of their brand proposition.

Market creation

The offer improves accessibility while crucially ensuring that the brand retains its premium positioning. A smart move, one that should be considered by other brands looking to increase market penetration, without damaging their brand or premium status.