Taking on the Fastest Track to Move On

The New Age Consumers of India

Two weeks ago my girlfriend and I were out chatting in a local café while she gave me a topic to write on. In fact her ability to observe certain trends of the market as well as the society helps me to discuss and research on various issues. As she is my greatest critic I had to mention the original provider of the thought before I go further into the article.

 

What we were discussing about that day is about a television commercial she saw of a face-wash brand, where the underlying message was that why a teenage girl should use her mother’s face wash when she is not living her mother’s life. The point was a valid one, but the question still remains, why a company would spend so much money behind promoting a product only for kids. It was not long when I was dying to use my father’s shaving cream or any girl would have loved to use her mother’s cosmetics. It was the urge to grow up and get associated with the adults that was what we felt in our teenage days. It was obvious that all the promotions and campaigning were done by focusing on the adults. So, is there any reason of this change? In an interview, VP Sales & Marketing of Godrej Appliances admitted the fact that the re-launch of the brand was only made in order to target the young consumers of India. It is not only the established brands like Godrej, Blackberry, Pepsi etc who are chanting the song of “Youngistaan” (Young India), but there are various brands like Fastrack and Garnier who have evolved itself to match the tastes and needs of this young consumers.

 

There is indeed a reason, in fact two as I recall them now. The first being the overwhelming portion of the Indian population now occupied by the individuals who falls in the age group between 12 to 24. While the second reason is more tempting as this population now has disposable income with them. No, please don’t think that their dads have suddenly become generous and are providing them with huge amount of pocket money. But what is happening now is more interesting as these youths of India are earning and their incomes are fair enough to support the growth of the consumer durables and apparels markets of the country. Large section of the FMCG sector along with banking and also the telecomm sector is banking on the young consumers for realizing their growth. Re-branding and re-structuring are going all around in order to fit into the market. Garnier is promoting the fact that there is no time for the consumers to use hair-oils before bath and for that reason their shampoos are the best solutions as they take care of that issue. Now what these consumers are busy at, as they don’t have time for anything? Of course chatting, texting, shopping and hanging out with friends!! For that reason Airtel offers them the perfect campaign by emphasizing the importance of each and every friend they have. The trend itself is very visible. The young consumers are fast and restless and they ‘Like’ to tag themselves with brands. So, the brands which actually can afford to look cool and appealing enough will definitely catch the attention of these consumers. But, saying that there is a problem with it too. These consumers are prone to have short span of attention and that necessarily means less probability of brand loyalty. They want to change things and move-on very quickly. Thus the companies while generating profit also have to catch up with the latest trend, in regards of both applications and campaigns. The mobile phone manufacturers are having a tough time in this regard as the demand for cool applications (not that useful may be) are changing at a rapid pace. As far as the campaigning trends are considered, they are not lagging behind either. Sometimes back, maintaining a Size-zero was a cool thing among girls, and then the only cool thing was captain Cool of the Men in Blue. But even a World Cup was not enough to keep Dhoni on the top spot of the opinion leaders of the young India brand market as the aggressive Virat Kohlis and Ranbir Kapoors are padding up to hit sixes. Few months later, their days might also be gone.

 

The apparently boring brands of the financial markets are also not far behind. They are also gearing up as companies like State Bank of India, HDFC Life are trying to look more youthful. Now you might ask, what are they doing in this market, where only cool and stylish brands are allowed? Well to be honest, these financial institutes are trying to inject some sense into the young consumers who have started earning at a very young age. These brands of financial markets are whispering only one mantra to these kids. The mantra is to save for future, so that they can party even when they are 60. Thus everything here looks hunky-dory for this new age consumer segment, but how long they can hold the tempo is really a debatable question. Spending disposable income at a rapid pace is certainly a positive sign for the marketers, but the tendency to “move on” so quickly might emerge as the greatest threat for these brands. There are high chances that the concepts like brand loyalty or relationship marketing might lose proper meaning in the market. Researchers have drawn analogies between consumers and butterflies in past, as they tend to shift a lot and it’s really difficult to catch. But these young Indian consumers resemble more with the fireflies as they tend to move in large groups and with shinny lights on them. Also, they will move in flocks wherever the trend is, and for that reason it is not difficult but rather impossible to catch. If Adidas brings a cool shoe design in the market and builds a cult around it, these fireflies will leave Nike and Reebok instantly to catch-up with the trend. Thus it is definitely not a child’s play, but rather a dangerous game altogether as far as the marketers are concerned.

 

So the next time, when you think that it is easy to steal an ice-cream from a kid, think again; as he/she now has the money to buy ten of them and may be can also offer you one!!!

 

 

 

 

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