British made use of several techniques to establish control over the Indian market. The Manchester industrialists attached labels to their cloth bundles exported to India. The bundles mentioned the company name and the place of manufacture and sought to assure the buyer about the quality of the product. Also, images of Gods and famous personalities like nawabs and emperors were put on advertisements. Such representation was to attach a divine or royal approval to the said product. By the late 19th century, manufacturers also began to print calendars which were used by literate as well as illiterate people. Divine and royal imagery was used in these too in order to popularize the industrial goods.
- Advertisement of the product: Advertisements make products appear desirable and necessary. They try to shape the minds of people and create new needs. During the Industrial age, advertisements played a major role in expanding the markets for products.
- Putting labels on the cloth bundles: The label was needed to make the place of manufacture and the name of the company familiar to the buyers. When buyers saw ‘MADE IN MANCHESTER’ written in bold on a label, they would feel confident about buying the cloth.
- Images of Indian Gods and Goddesses: It was as if association with Gods gave divine approval to the goods being sold. Images of Krishna or Saraswati was intended to make the manufacture from a foreign land appear somewhat familiar to the Indian people.
