Why are Brands Targeting the Global Indian Community?

A market of 35.4 million people would already be significant if it were a country. The global Indian community is larger than the populations of many nations, and its influence extends beyond its sheer size. India’s overseas community includes about 15.9 million non-resident Indians and 19.5 million people of Indian origin, according to figures presented to Parliament.

That scale explains why brands targeting the global Indian community are no longer treating Indians abroad as a narrow ethnic niche. They see a connected consumer base with purchasing power, cultural loyalty, digital reach and strong ties to India.

The Diaspora Became an Economic Bridge 

The history of Indian migration helps explain why this audience behaves differently from a conventional international market.

Indian communities abroad developed through several waves: colonial-era migration to East Africa, Fiji, and the Caribbean; post-independence migration to Britain and North America; Gulf migration; and more recent movements of students, technology professionals, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers.

Yet they can share cultural touchpoints: food, weddings, Bollywood, cricket, festivals, language, family networks and emotional connections to India.

That makes brands targeting the global Indian community attractive because the same cultural idea can travel across borders while still being adapted locally.

Why the Numbers Matter to Marketers 

Population alone doesn’t make a market valuable. The World Bank estimated that India received $129 billion in remittances in 2024, making it the world’s largest recipient among low- and middle-income countries. For brands targeting the global Indian community, that figure signals something deeper than money transfers: millions of people abroad maintain active financial relationships with households and businesses in India.

One consumer can participate in several markets at once. Someone in the United States might buy a premium smartphone, send money to parents in India, book a family holiday and purchase gifts during Diwali.

Cultural Familiarity Creates a Shortcut to Trust 

Marketing works best when consumers immediately understand what a brand is saying.

For Indian consumers abroad, cultural recognition can reduce that distance. A Diwali campaign, an Indian wedding, regional food or a familiar language can create an emotional response that a generic international advertisement may not.

Coca-Cola’s 2022 “Milke Hi Manegi Diwali” campaign is a useful example. It focused on meeting friends and family in person after pandemic restrictions had pushed celebrations online. The message was about togetherness, with the beverage positioned inside that emotional experience.

The lesson is important: brands targeting the global Indian community aren’t necessarily selling “Indian-ness.” They’re selling a feeling Indian consumers already understand.

A luxury company that simply adds a diya to an advertisement may look opportunistic. A brand that understands family, gifting, celebration and social status can build a much deeper connection.

The Rise of the Global Indian Consumer 

Indian-origin professionals are prominent in technology, medicine, finance, consulting and entrepreneurship. Students who move abroad can become long-term residents, founders or high-income professionals.

This creates several consumer segments. Young professionals may spend on technology, travel, fitness and fashion. Affluent families may prioritise property, education, wealth management and jewellery. Older migrants may have a strong demand for healthcare, financial services, and products that make it easier to maintain connections with India.

For brands targeting the global Indian community, the implication is clear: there is no single “NRI consumer.”

Brands Targeting the Global Indian Community: Campa Cola Enters the UAE 

One of the clearest recent examples comes from Reliance Consumer Products. In 2025, Campa Cola entered the UAE, its first international market, through a partnership with Agthia Group. Reuters reported that the expansion was aimed partly at resonating with the Indian expatriate community while competing in the UAE soft-drinks market.

Campa Cola carries memories from India’s consumer history, especially for people who remember it from the 1970s and 1980s. For a diaspora consumer, buying it can therefore mean more than buying a cola. It can represent familiarity, nostalgia and a connection to home.

This shows how companies that focus on the worldwide Indian diaspora can operate in both directions. Multinational companies can localise for Indians abroad, while Indian companies can use diaspora communities as a bridge into international markets.

Travel Creates Another Major Opportunity 

Travel companies have a particularly strong reason to understand Indian consumers.

Airbnb reported that nights booked for international travel by Indian guests more than doubled in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. The UK, US and Europe were among the most popular international destinations.

An overseas Indian may travel to India for a wedding, festival or extended holiday. Someone in India may travel abroad to visit children or siblings.

For brands targeting the global Indian community, airlines, hotels, payment companies and travel platforms can therefore market around family networks, not just tourism.

Luxury Sees More Than Purchasing Power 

Vogue Business has highlighted growing attention to India and its diaspora, including the use of Indian celebrities such as Deepika Padukone in global luxury positioning.

For brands targeting the global Indian community, luxury is not only about wealth. It can also be about cultural visibility.

An Indian-origin consumer may want a product that signals global sophistication while fitting into cultural occasions such as weddings and festivals. Global aspiration and cultural identity can coexist in the same purchase.

Social Media Changed the Economics 

Earlier, a company might have needed separate campaigns for London, Dubai, Toronto, New York and Singapore.

Social media has made cultural communities much easier to reach across borders. A Diwali video can be published in India and watched within minutes by viewers in California, London or Melbourne. An Indian fashion creator can influence consumers across several countries without belonging to a traditional media network.

That gives brands targeting the global Indian community an unusual advantage: cultural campaigns can scale internationally without becoming completely standardised.

But the internet has also made consumers more critical. Diaspora audiences quickly recognise tokenism, stereotypes and campaigns that treat Indian culture as decoration.

The Biggest Challenge: The Diaspora Isn’t One Market 

This is where many campaigns fail. India itself contains enormous regional, linguistic and socioeconomic diversity. The diaspora adds another layer because people adapt to the societies in which they live.

A Punjabi family in Canada, a Tamil professional in Singapore and a Gujarati entrepreneur in Dubai may all identify as Indian, but their cultural habits and purchasing motivations can differ sharply.

Brands targeting the global Indian community, therefore, need segmentation rather than a single generic “Indian” creative template.

Language can matter. So can regional cuisine, festival preferences, family structures, income, age and migration history. The best companies focusing on the worldwide Indian diaspora recognise shared identity without pretending everyone has the same identity.

The Risks of Diaspora Marketing 

Using cultural symbols solely to generate sales can backfire. Brands can accidentally reinforce stereotypes or assume every Indian consumer is highly traditional.

There is also a generational divide. Younger consumers born abroad may value Indian heritage but reject advertising that feels overly nostalgic.

The answer is cultural intelligence. Companies should work with local creators and consumers, test campaigns across demographic groups and build products around actual needs rather than assumptions.

For brands targeting the global Indian community, authenticity isn’t just a creative advantage; it can determine whether a campaign earns trust or gets dismissed.

What the Shift Means for Marketers 

The growth of brands targeting the global Indian community signals a broader change in international marketing.

Consumers no longer fit neatly into national boxes. Someone can live in Dubai, work for a British company, use an American payment platform, watch Indian films, order Indian food and invest in India.

For companies focusing on the worldwide Indian diaspora, geography is therefore becoming less useful as the sole basis for defining an audience. Culture, family connections, income, language and digital behaviour can be equally important.

The most successful companies focusing on the worldwide Indian diaspora will likely build around these connections rather than simply translating an Indian advertisement into another country.

The Future of Global Indian Marketing 

The next phase is likely to move beyond festival advertisements. Brands will increasingly build products and services around cross-border lifestyles: international banking, remittances, education, property, travel, healthcare, luxury and digital payments.

Indian companies may benefit particularly strongly. Campa Cola’s UAE expansion demonstrates how a diaspora community can provide an initial international audience for a product with strong cultural recognition.

Meanwhile, global brands will continue competing for consumers who influence both their host countries and India. That is the real reason brands targeting the global Indian community matter. The opportunity isn’t 35 million consumers living outside India. 

It’s a network of people who move money, ideas, culture and purchasing influence across borders. The smartest companies focusing on the worldwide Indian diaspora won’t treat that network as a demographic category. They’ll treat it as a global ecosystem, and brands that understand it will have an advantage far beyond the next Diwali campaign.

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