Brands in India believe to reach their target consumers they have to invest in traditional marketing and advertising; television, print, electronic, events etc. It is probably true.

However, they often and more times ignore the impact that word of mouth marketing creates on their consumers. Here’s one such story that made waves in India last year and continues to do so in 2009.

We’ve all heard of Polo, Ralph Lauren and we all know how their Rugby/Polo Pony’s with the single digit number on the sleeve became the biggest ‘style’ statement in India for 2008.

There was no advertisement in print or television. There is no Polo store in India. There is no marketing tactic that Polo used for the Indian market. So then how and why did this story become such a big rage? I decided to ask around and see how the Poly Pony tee became the most talked about and worn brand in India last year?

Asked where these tees were first seen, no one remembers except the fact that they saw people around wearing them. So how does one get a hold of these tees? How does this virus spread? Either you or someone you know travels abroad once a year, and in one of the trips picks up a few of these, without realizing that they’ve become ‘sneezers’, for the Big Polo Pony tees. The virus spreads to ensure that everyone you know owns a tee.

It certainly became the style status symbol, unknowingly! How can we avoid that tee whether you like it or you don’t? Owning these tees suddenly made you look more cool, heads turned, murmurs were heard of ‘even I want to get one of these’ or ‘oh my God, not another one of these Polo tees’, however either which way, you caught their attention and finally it made you either bold, confident and stylish or if didn’t like the tees you still knew what they were and what they symbolized.

If you go on social networking sites see yours’ or your friends’ albums, at least 2-3 people are wearing them. So not just is the virus spread offline through people seeing you or your friends in the tees at parties/dinners/brunches etc but online as well, again absolutely unknowingly without any effort from the brand and absolutely, subliminally using buzz/ word of mouth marketing.

USA, Europe, Bangkok, Singapore etc Indians picked these tees up from everywhere. So many people wanted them that soon they were available in the black market too and now fake or not, the sales of these tees are booming. Obviously had there been a store in India, had there been a way to get these cheaper, the story would be different.

All is all it was the single most popular tee we all wore/ heard/ seen in 2008. We all created a word of mouth story for the big Polo Pony in India.

Hate them or love them you cannot avoid seeing your friends and strangers alike in Polo Pony tees.

However, yuppy or not, fake or not, style statements or not, its 2009 end and everyone’s still wearing them a trend that started in 2008, though now it’s the three horses which have become the new word of mouth story, the new style statement. Come Spring Summer, and Indians will welcome a new style and a new word of mouth story. Watch Out!

if youve reached till here, make sure you post a comment atleast to tell us if you own/have seen/have bought these tees.......:):)