As Simon-Kucher sharpens its focus on India, Joerg Kruetten, Co-CEO of Simon-Kucher, and Amit Kumar, Managing Partner India, sat down for a conversation with YourStory India to explore the plans for this dynamic economy. They share how pricing strategy, data, digital, and commercial excellence can drive meaningful growth for Indian enterprises.
Why India, Why Now: The Case for Confident Growth
Why India, and why now?
Joerg Kruetten: India is a dynamically growing market. Our role is to help companies identify and execute growth and go-to-market strategies: pricing and launch excellence, and commercial effectiveness, so they can scale with confidence. Sustainable profitable growth requires continuous innovation paired with commercial excellence.
What does value-conscious pricing look like in India?
Amit Kumar: India isn’t simply price sensitive, it’s value-conscious. The right approach balances a clear value proposition with the right price structure, so businesses don’t undercharge or erode margins. We encourage teams to progress beyond product-market fit to product-market-pricing-fit. It’s important to align offer design, willingness to pay, and monetization early, not weeks before launch.
Watch: Amit on product-market-pricing fit
Smart Monetization in the Age of AI
Digital, data, and AI: where must leaders focus?
Joerg Kruetten: AI enables personalization at scale and smarter selling, using customer and sales data to steer offers and deploy outcome-based models where appropriate.
Amit Kumar: Two priorities stand out: first, helping AI builders monetize their innovations; second, guiding enterprises to select AI use cases with the strongest ROI. Simon-Kucher supports this with Simon-Kucher Elevate (our digital consulting team) and Simon-Kucher Engine (software for commercial growth). We’re witnessing strong demand for both in India.
On common pitfalls, and how to avoid them
Joerg Kruetten: A frequent mistake is treating pricing as an afterthought or an opportunistic decision based only on costs, margins, or a competitor’s list price. Businesses must start focusing on pricing during the product development stage, segment deeply, and design models that fit their customer’s budget mechanics.
Watch: Joerg on common pitfalls
Amit Kumar: Innovation fails when monetization is overlooked. Our research shows that 72% of innovations don’t succeed. This is often due to feature overload, poor monetization, missed “hidden gems,” or products nobody asked for. The key is to validate value early, test willingness to pay, and align packaging with customer needs.
Watch: Amit on monetizing innovation
Building for India — and Beyond
On serving India (and businesses globally)
Joerg Kruetten: We support two archetypes we see in tech: companies building for India, and companies building in India for global markets. Both benefit from pairing global benchmarks with local expertise on the ground.
Amit Kumar: India’s diversity demands nuance: segments vary by region, income, and preferences. Add to that the momentum in sectors like financial services. Think UPI and 24/7 instant clearing at population scale. Here lies a strong case for pricing, offer design, and commercial excellence as core capabilities.
Watch: Joerg on India’s opportunity and driving profitable growth
The five-year view
Joerg Kruetten: Our vision is joint growth with Indian clients: helping them monetize innovation, expand internationally with fewer missteps, and build lasting commercial capabilities.
Amit Kumar: As India moves toward becoming the world’s third-largest economy, the opportunity is significant. We’re committed to long-term partnerships that translate ambition into measurable results.
Adapted from the YourStory India interview; edited for clarity and brevity. For a deeper dive on pricing, growth strategy, or AI-enabled commercialization, get in touch with our team of specialists today.
