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Guide
The gap is real. It is also not the reason to do this.
Senior marketing capability from India costs a fraction of the equivalent in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Singapore or Western Europe. That is a fact and it is a bad reason on its own.
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- Gap
- Substantial and real
- Bad reason
- Price alone
- Good reason
- Access to seniority you would not otherwise buy
- Local wins
- Physical presence and local language execution
Relative, not absolute
Seniority held constant, the difference is large enough to change what a mid-sized company can afford to buy.
The practical effect is not saving money on the same work. It is being able to buy a level of experience that a Tokyo or Berlin budget would have put out of reach entirely.
That is the actual argument. Companies that buy on price alone tend to buy badly wherever they buy.
How to test the quality question
The reasonable worry is that cheap offshore marketing is frequently cheap for a reason. It is, and the way to find out is not a credentials deck.
Bring a real problem to a first call. Not a briefing document, an actual live problem you have not solved. What comes back in thirty minutes tells you whether the thinking is at the level you would have paid home-market rates for.
If it is not, you have lost half an hour. If it is, you have found something that changes what your marketing budget can buy.
Questions overseas teams ask
Why is the difference so large?
Cost base, mostly. Salary, office and living costs in India are a fraction of Tokyo, Seoul or Munich for the same level of experience. It is arbitrage rather than a discount on quality, and it will narrow over time.
Do you charge different rates by market?
No. One fee structure, which some clients find surprising. Charging a Japanese client more than an Indian one for identical work would be difficult to defend if it ever came up.
What is the minimum worth engaging on?
Below a certain scale, consulting fees stop making sense against the size of the opportunity. If your realistic first-year ambition is very small, I will say so rather than take the engagement.
Is it cheaper than hiring locally?
For senior capability, considerably, and it also carries no employment obligation and exits at notice. For junior execution volume, a local hire or agency is often better value.
Bring a real problem to a first call
Not a brief. An actual unsolved problem. Thirty minutes and you will know whether this is worth pursuing, which is a better test than any proposal.
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Kunal Waghmare · Padmavati Hills, Mokai Vasti, Bavdhan, Pune, Maharashtra 411021, India
office@quiamo.com · +91 90216 02686 · English