Credit card trends, Mega trends in India & other reports

Credit Card Trends in India

Credit cards are the current trend. Everyone likes more purchasing power. Purchasing power does not only mean cash. You can purchase on credit too. This is the idea behind credit cards.

Credit Cards In India - More Purchasing Power

The requirements of youth have increased significantly in the past few years. You can find them shopping for textbooks. You can find them escaping to trips. You can catch them having fun at the local pub. More friends mean more expenses. But they do not compromise on money.

So where do they find financial support? Banks, of course! Credit cards let you bypass any financial restrictions that you may have. But more than a necessity, you find Indian youth using the credit cards as an object of desire.

Credit Cards In Youth - Social Glamour

Coming back to the trend, Indian youth loves to swipe the credit cards. Not only do they improve your purchasing power, you can also impress your friends with a line of credit cards. The more cards you have, the more wanted you are. Be it petrol, dinner, beer, or a beachside party, you can see the glitter of credit cards.

Credit Cards Simplify Life

Credit cards are simpler to use as compared to cash. You need to count money when you use notes, but not when you pay with a card. In this age of speed, who will like to count the notes? You can just put your card forward and your payment is made.

Credit cards also mean that you do not have to wait. Once you see something interesting, you cannot wait to get it. Now, you do not actually wait until you arrange the money. You can purchase it as soon as they see it. This is yet another reason why credit cards are more famous among the Indian youth.

Credit Cards In India - An Analysis

It is not difficult to obtain a credit card. It is, in fact, a type of unsecured credit for your needs. You can apply online and the banks will themselves come to your doorstep. If you have a credit card with good ratings, it is even easier for you to get more cards. This helps youth in procuring more purchasing power.

The year 2002 saw some 20 million credit cards being used in India. The figure doubled by 2007. The fiscal year 2006-07 saw approximately 100 per cent more transactions than the fiscal year 2003-2004. This means that the rate of transactions is increasing at a steady pace of 33 per cent each year.

Credit Cards and Indian Youth - Stay Free

As different consumer products are offering more and offers, people tend to go for them. Few years back, you had to consider the finance, but now as you have the credit card, you can straightaway purchase the item. This is often projected as financial freedom by the credit card companies.

If you take a deeper look at the business, you are actually taking a very small loan to finance your purchases. You have to pay interest on long term dues. You have to pay processing fee too, in most cases. Credit cards are financial freedom only if you use them sensibly. Stay free. Use credit cards sensibly!

Author:
Arun M Kumar
#103, Siricon, Near Ayapa Temple, ECIL X RDS,HYD-64
Source: http://www.calcuttaglobalchat.net/2008/06/26/credit-card-trends-in-india/

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Six mega-trends that define India's future

T N Ninan

January 06, 2007

Writing a year ago, I looked at sharply rising (and indeed, record) oil prices and forecast the safe thing: an economic slowdown in 2006, after three years of rapid growth. An unkind colleague mailed me that article the other day, to underline human fallibility.

As far as I know, only one person forecast anything like what the Sensex achieved: something like a 50 per cent gain in the past year, starting from the already high levels of December 2005.

In fact, the member of Sebi (the stock market regulator) who daringly forecast the Sensex hitting 16,000 was hooted out by most commentators.

Despite this failure last year to tell the good news before it happened, the safe forecast this year too would be to stay with the thought that the business cycle has not been abolished, and that a slowdown has to appear on the horizon before too long -- especially since interest rates have been climbing, loans for cars and housing have become costlier, and the United States (the world's "consumer of last resort") is slowing down.


But the nagging worry is that, in choosing what looks like the safe forecast, we may simply be suffering from a fear of heights.

Commentators like Larry Summers and Ajay Shah, both writing on Business Standard's editorial page in recent days, have said in essence that there is reason to worry because there seems to be no reason to worry!

In other words, that this is just too good to last, and it could therefore be the calm before some as yet unseen storm. Since that is the kind of forecasting that no one can deal with or prepare for, what about staying with the assumption that the economy will continue to soar, without meeting Icarus's fate?

What would that mean? Four more quarters of handsome corporate results, and the Sensex at 20,000 a year from now? Another year of 20 per cent pay hikes? And hiring in the tens of thousands by a dozen and more firms that are burning the rubber in many different sectors? More foreigners telling us nice things about ourselves?

Like Goran Ivanisevic sending down one service ace after another, permanent good times can sound monotonous and almost boring. Except that China has been sending down those aces for a quarter of a century, and the story of its dramatic rise is anything but boring.


Still, better than attempting risky forecasts, it may be more productive to understand mega-trends. "Mega" because they cannot easily be reversed, have large ripple effects, and which therefore will define the future. I can think of half a dozen such.

MEGA-TREND #1 is the acquiring of scale. The Indian economy, Indian companies and Indian markets were mostly small or tiny. Remember that the Ambani family wealth seven years ago was about Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) -- the same as Jignesh Shah's today. Don't know about him? He is a first-generation entrepreneur who is not yet 40.

The telecom market was 5 million connections 15 years ago; now it is over 180 million, and the fastest growing in the world. The fourth-largest phone company in India is now being valued at $20 billion. Or take commercial space: all of India's cities used to have office space totalling 40 million square feet. Now we are adding that much as new commercial space every year.

The total Indian car market was half a million vehicles in 2000; by 2010, a single company will be turning out twice that number, and India will be a small car manufacturing hub for the world. Companies, when they hired, used to do so in the hundreds; now the big ones do it in the tens of thousands.

On a visit to India some years ago, the chairman of General Electric (Jeff Immelt) said that whenever his company had bet on the Indian market, it had failed them; but whenever they had bet on the Indian people (Indian skills, that is), the bet had paid off. But by his last visit to Delhi, Immelt had changed his view: now the market is working too.

MEGA-TREND #2 is the spread of connectivity and awareness. In John Naisbitt's original identification of mega-trends, back in 1982, he called it networking.

Imagine the difference between a country that has 5 million phones and another with 180 million; between a country with 10 million TV sets and one with 120 million; between a country whose trucks move at 25 km per hour on the highways (counting the time taken for stops), and 50 km per hour.

Think of the consequences as Country No. 1 morphs into Country No. 2: better supply chain management, just in time delivery, and therefore scale of production if you can start at dawn and give delivery 500 km away by dusk (tomorrow it may be 800 km).

Think different awareness levels and therefore a different quality of decision-making; and think speed of response because you can reach someone on a mobile phone anytime anywhere. In short, think productivity gains -- which is what the growth story is all about.

MEGA-TREND #3 is the growth of the middle class -- talked about and anticipated for 20 years, but finally acquiring true scale. In 2001-02, there were 61 million Indians belonging to families that earned more than Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000) a year; by last year (2005-06), that number had crossed 100 million.

In 2009-10, the National Council for Applied Economic Research forecasts it will be 173 million. Marry that with growing urbanisation, and it is a safe guess that well over a third of all Lok Sabha constituencies will have a sizeable middle class and urban voter base. Think, then, of the many changes this might bring about. The obvious point is about growth of consumption, but we can go beyond that.

For instance, could it lead to a different type of politics and politician, because the urban voter is usually not thinking caste? The middle-class will expect (and increasingly demand) reliable power, clean water, comfortable mass transport systems. . .

Look at the pressures on the government in Delhi in recent years, to provide clean air, uninterrupted power, fast traffic, and responsive government-and you can see what could happen elsewhere in the coming years.

MEGA-TREND #4 has to do with the growing problems of growth. There is the environment: the increasing pollution of air (all those additional cars), the dropping of the groundwater table, and the failure to renew resources (like forests).

There is the energy question: do we really think the world oil market will not go haywire if we treble our consumption? The fact is that we are locked into a pattern of increasingly energy-intensive, resource-gobbling production and consumption from which there is probably no escape any more because everyone wants the western middle-class dream.

As surely as night follows day, then, there will be consequences. As someone said, other than weapons of mass destruction, the only thing that can extinguish human life is environmental change.

The third problem of growth is disparity, which is almost certain to increase (think all the way from executive jets and Bentleys to luxury watches and multi-crore apartments). How will this play in a democratic system, if others don't have food to eat and are committing suicide?

Consider then how politicians are trying to mediate the tensions: reservations of seats and jobs, cesses of various kinds to finance big spending programmes. . . If the rich have thought they can secede into gated residential communities and offices in corporate parks, hang on because outside reality will intrude.

Two statements were made at a conference I attended last year. One said: "Globalisation is a market efficiency project, but badly prepared to handle its political fall-out." The other said: "The issues are emotional. The solutions are technical. The decisions are political."

I interpret that to mean the issues will not go away.

MEGA-TREND #5 has to do with India's increasing openness to the world. The number of US visas issued in India doubled in 2006, to over 800,000 -- more than in any other country, barring Mexico. More Indian students are studying in other countries than those of any other nationality, barring perhaps China. Neither of these was remotely true 15 years ago.

The foreign trade component of India's GDP (if you include trade in both goods and services, like software) is now about 55 per cent -- nearly three times what it used to be. Foreign institutional investors own about 25 per cent of India's listed stock. And Indian firms were buying three overseas companies a week, through 2006.

A country that is open to the world reacts in fundamentally different ways from a closed system (of the kind that India used to be).

There is greater self-confidence, faster acceptance of new influences and ideas, a willingness to accept global benchmarking, and a speedier response to changing circumstance. It is simply a more adaptive and therefore a more efficient system. Translate that to mean more productivity growth.

MEGA-TREND #6 the continuing dominance of youth. Something like half of India is under 25, and it will remain that way for some time. This is usually spun around into the economic fact that a higher percentage of people will be in the working age till the mid-twenty-first century, but that is only one facet.

Youngsters are different from oldies in a hundred ways, and anyone can make a long list of the differences. How this will affect Indian society cannot really be predicted, except to say that it will be more mobile (think more migrants), and more volatile (stronger responses to frustrations-- one manifestation being the spread of extremist Left ideology in some 60 districts).

It will adapt faster to new trends, and marketers will be encouraged to focus on low-cost products and services because youngsters usually have less money. It will probably mean that the two-parent home (for nurturing children) will remain the predominant norm for long, and that there will be a strong saving habit because families will be planning (among other things) for their children's educational future.

Four of these six mega-trends have almost entirely positive implications; one is clearly negative, and the last can cut both ways. There could be other negative trends too, like the steady collapse of governance and the country's politics shooting off the tracks.

The first is (one hopes) more easily reversible than these six and therefore does not affect quality; and the second is more a risk than a trend.

If, therefore, you were to outline a medium-term future for the country, you would paint a mostly upbeat picture. After that, whether GDP growth is 8 per cent or 9 per cent is really a matter of detail.



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January 26, 2006

Lad Culture, India Style
by Guy Brighton


India is surely becoming one of our most talked about countries - there’s so much interesting stuff going on there. How about this: Brit lad mag Maxim has launched an Indian issue aimed at twenty something Indian men in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. Yep, they’re targeting the metrosexual Indian lad! The BBC describes him:

"A call centre employee who is earning more
in his mid-20s than his father was being paid in his mid-40s; a young
man with small-town roots but big-city ambitions. A social climber keen to sample the best food, wine,
clothes, movies and machines; an image-conscious trend-follower with
enough disposable income to afford the latest gizmos and gadgets; a guy
with his finger closely on the pulse and the latest mobile phone in his
palm. It is the personification of the new, metro-centric India."

SOurce:http://www.psfk.com/2006/01/lad_culture_ind.html
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I’m Loving It: Indian Youth And SMS
by Piers Fawkes

Over a billion text messages are sent every month by India’s 56 million mobile phone subscribers. SMS is especially popular with young people for whom the mobile phone is a welcome and private channel of communication with members of the opposite sex. Especially important in a country where ‘dating’ still does not enjoy widespread parental sanction.

The soaring popularity of SMS has inspired 52 year old musician Remo Fernandes to compose a pop track: ‘Love on SMS’ in his new album. In the video, Remo plays a Pied Piper kind of character who helps a young boy fumbling to declare his love for a girl. Remo hands him a cellphone and tells him "SMS is the way to do it."

The video is being premiered - where else - but on a mobile phone.

Contributed by Rashmi Bansal
Source: http://www.psfk.com/2005/07/im_loving_it_in.html

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Young we are...



India is one of the world´s youngest countries, with an average age of only 24. Sixty percent of the population is under the age of 30, and young India has an affinity for modern shopping. (Business Week, April 4 2005.)

While the majority of India´s growing middle class is largely risk-averse, the country´s high-potential target market of high-earning youth, who are able to take bigger risks, are the kind of people who keep up-to-date with trends. Aged between 25 and 35 they have no responsibilities, high disposable incomes and are very consumer-oriented. (Ashit Mallick, market researcher, WGSN interview, March 2005)

The IT and outsourcing boom is responsible for the rise of a new luxury class – those moving from middle class to upper-middle class. The extreme wealth of a new breed of young, high-tech yuppies is challenging traditional gender roles and social values: it´s acceptable now to own a Mercedes, to have money, and to spend it. In the past, being wealthy was something you had to hide. At least half a dozen new luxury cars – ranging from the Bentley Arnage to the Audi A6 – have rolled out on Indian roads in as many months. Some of the major new launches in the near future include a Rolls Royce Phantom, with a price tag of Rs.35million, and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage costing Rs.11million. (The Times of India May 1 2005.)
"There's also a move from Hindu 'self-denial' to indulgence. And the indulgent customer has a very different mindset." (Arvind Singhal, managing director of management consultancy firm, KSA Technopak, speaking at the DSYN tradeshow, Delhi, April 07 2004) “Whether it is the consumerist tone of middle-class weddings or the obsession with imported brand labels, sanctimony towards money has been replaced by ostentation.” (Financial Times, March 22 2005)Results of the MasterIndex of Consumer Confidence for the first half of 2005 have revealed that Indian consumers continue to have an optimistic outlook for the next six months. Consumer sentiments in the country have significantly improved compared to the first and second waves of MasterIndex 2004, with India´s MasterIndex rating rising from 58.0 in the preceding period to 72.0 in February this year. (India Infoline.com, May 25 2005.)
Indians aren´t feeling poor anymore. Foreign aid to India after December 2004´s tsunami roused considerable anger in the country, which is committed to taking care of its own. A lot of the relief supplies were expired or unusable, with developed countries being accused of using India as a dumping ground for unwanted goods. After the first wave of relief supplies, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sparked national pride when he refused aid offered by the US and other countries. That refusal boosted the relief effort from within India – a psychological shift marked by Indians deciding to take charge of their own destiny. It also united the huge divides between rich and poor, bringing together Indians of all backgrounds to help each other. India´s rising middle classes know that if they don´t include the poor in their agenda of economic growth, their own efforts will be negated. (Business Week, January 11 2005.)Indian workers have gained the highest pay rises in Asia, thanks to the growing strength of its call-centre and information technology sectors. A 2004 survey, by global human resources firm Hewitt Associates, says Indian workers gained an average salary increase of 14.5% in 2004 – up .5% from the previous year. The well educated, English-speaking Indian call-centre workers continue to win big UK contracts for their sector. Survey respondents projected greater salary increases for 2005. (Hewitt News & Information November 8 2004.)
Global outlookOther countries have retreated from the idea that globalisation is universally a good thing. The opposite is true of India, as the country gains new self-confidence in its role in the world market. “India is learning from the world at a rate I would not have believed possible,” says Anupam Puri, special advisor to General Atlantic Partners, a private equity firm focused on IT and outsourcing. “The incorporation of best practices has been very rapid. India is preparing to enter a new phase of innovation. The country as a whole is experiencing a new level of entrepreneurialism and a new will to compete and win in the global market… There´s also a new dynamic in India. More people are taking things into their own hands. Villagers, for example, have seen the value of education and are paying to send their children to the best schools available.”(India Business Conference, Harvard Business School, April 4 2004.)

Market research builds confidence to take on the west: Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, an epic film documenting the history of the Taj Mahal, was initially set for release only to India and the Middle East until market research revealed that Western audiences too would enjoy a dose of Indian culture while learning an important history lesson. Celebrations of the 350th anniversary of the completion of the Taj Mahal, a soundtrack composed by a legendary Indian composer and the fact that Bollywood stars have already appeared on Oprah all contributed to the increased confidence of producer Feroz Khan to show the film to Hollywood executives and release it first in the US, before targeting markets closer to home. (Business Week, May 10 2005.)
Media influenceNearly 35 Indian cities have a population of more than a million, and a proliferation of shopping malls caters to the rapidly growing consumer class. With satellite television and the internet now ubiquitous in smaller cities, Vatsala Misra, a consultant with retail research firm, KSA Technopak, says: “People are increasingly exposed to how the other half lives, and the aspirational distinctions are blurring.” (International Herald Tribune) January 4, 2005. India´s seven communication satellites, the biggest civilian system in the Asia-Pacific region, now reaches some of the remotest corners of the country, providing television coverage to 90% of the population. The system is also being used to extend remote healthcare services and education to the rural poor. (New Scientist February 19 2005.)

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Indian youth looking locally to go international: YMF

Indiantelevision.com Team

(21 May 2004 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: There is a "certain" limit that Indian youth will go to and not beyond, when emulating trends that are prevalent in the West. Moreover, Western trends don't necessarily catch up in India very fast. This more or less summed up the sixth MTV Youth Marketing Forum (YMF) held in Mumbai yesterday.


Speaking on how trends in India are caught on and leveraged by Bollywood; filmmaker and actor Nagesh Kukunoor, Brit Asian singer Rishi Rich and fashion designer Wendell Rodricks were of the opinion that with the Internet and modern media brimming over, Indian youth were more clued in to what was happening worldwide than ever before. But the last word remains that Indian youth has a mentality of wanting to 'blend in' and not 'stand out'.

Another interesting point that came forth during the discussion was that in India we have our own needs and psychological patterns that we follow and more often than not, these don't necessarily comply with the trends in the US. Said Rodricks, "The next trend that India is catching up with is the constant crossover which we try to maintain with the West and East. But the thing to be kept in mind here is that if Christian Dior expects to sell gowns in India, it won't be very successful because we Indians are very price conscious." He further added that branded accessories could still do well but not the very expensive kinds.

Indians are also majorly affected by what is shown in the media via music, films, television and sports. Also, the Indian film industry is directing the trend in the country as the youth in the country is no longer looking beyond their idols, opined Rodricks.

On the other hand, Kukunoor said, "In this game there are no rules, you just make them along the way. There has to be some sense of risk taking and it's high time we learn from our own mistakes rather than others'."

Rich, an emerging Indi-pop star in Britain and India spoke passionately about the forces that have shaped British Asian music over the decades from the times of Gurdas Mann and Malkit Singh. Rich has sung with artistes like Britney Spears, Ricky Martin and Craig David, and is one of the driving forces behind taking bhangra and Asian sounds to a mainstream audience.


Rich also spoke about the Indian club culture in UK which was also exploding with the Safri Boys and Bally Sagoo remixes. "With these new forms of club music, the club scene exploded in the UK and DJ culture too. A milestone for Asian youth was achieved when DJ Hanif, Marky Mark, Hustlas and DJ Ritu organised the first Asian night in London's Westend," said Rich. Rich on his behalf was at the time, sowing seeds for a new style of music to come through.

All in all, the consensus at the end of the session was that Indians are looking locally to go international and the Indian youth is one who, in this global community wants to stand out as an Indian, albeit internationally!

Source: http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k4/may/maymam85.htm

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Youth trends - a global picture?


International music channel MTV has released the results of its Wellbeing survey into global culture and how young people feel about their lives.

The research reveals that the country where young people had the greatest perceived sense of ‘wellbeing’ was India, followed by Sweden with the USA coming third.

The full list runs in the following order: 1) India, 2) Sweden, 3) USA, 4) Denmark 5) France 6) UK 7) Argentina Indonesia 9) Germany 10) Japan 11) South Africa 12) Mexico and 13) Brazil (China was not included in the Index as not all questions were able to be asked).


Children in developing countries were also found to be happier than those in developed nations. A majority of 16-34 year-olds in developing nations expected their lives to be more enjoyable in the future, led by China with 84%. More 8-15 year-olds in developing nations expected to have more fun in the future than 8-15 year-olds in developed countries. 83% of Chinese, 69% of South African and 68% of Mexican 8-15 year-olds expected their lives to be more fun, compared to 51% of American, 42% of French and just 30% of German kids.

Globally, only 43% of 16-34 year-olds asked said they were happy with the way things were. Younger children aged 8-15 were happier, but surprisingly not much more so: 57% on average. More than 70% of 16-34 year-olds, and 80% of 8-15 year-olds said they were happy in Argentina and Mexico, versus fewer than 30% of 16-34 year-olds and under 50% of 8-15 year-olds in the US and the UK.

One consistent finding across ages and in every country was the pressure on youth to succeed. Kids and young people are stressing about the same things as adults. More than half of 8-15 year-olds worry about getting a job. By comparison, only 34% were concerned about fitting in at school and only 25% worried about looking cool.

Source: http://brandstrategy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/youth-trends-a-global-picture/

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INDIAN YOUTH - 2005-06DEVELOPED FROM OVER 2500 CONTACTS WITH YOUTH SO FAR...

Source: http://www.multidimensions-india.com/youth.html

Have you played the G STRING today?

Poster at Mood I

SEXXX
ON THEIR MINDS & IN THEIR HEARTS

FTV a favourite channel..
"Its for the see-thrus' that I watch FTV "-


Guys Internet is 'learnt'
- to surf 'unmentionable' sites


Romance - running around the trees is passé
"Lip to lip kiss - no big deal"- Gals



"All those movies with guys jumping off cliffs if love fails is meaningless"



DOWN TO EARTH PRAGMATISM
Make the best of the world, that is, rather than set the world to rights

"Try to marry the same girl. If not possible, let go and go on with life"


Lack of gaucherie with the opposite Sex - Interaction within Guys-Girls - not called 'dating' even when one-to-one

"Tell him lets go for a coffee" Chennai


with both genders steering clear of the 'intense' sentimental types- those who want commitment

"No room for sentees please" Bhopal



"Why tolerate bullshit"




ATTENTION SPANS PLUMMENTING ALL THE TIME...
Tackle information overload by selective avoidance and retention.


Omnipresent technology juggled with ease by multitasking
- Satellite
- Internet / PC
- Cell / technology


Tech-savvyness worn on their sleeve 'Comp. Animated Graphics' 'Downloads MP3' 'Digital'


A VISUAL AIDED Generation

"Live shows give me a high - a feeling of being there"

"Songs by artists - Phil Collins or whoever - has video clips from the film. That's best"




PERSONAL GROOMING
'Stress' a reality - yet continue to pack busy schedules… more to do in 24 hrs.


Diet, Exercise - always on their minds [Visiting the gym / 'long walks' / Aerobics aspired to]


Consciousness high, even if not follow themselves...
"Soft drinks quench thirst but have zero (nutritional) value"


Some usage occasions of Soft Drinks replaced by Tropicanas of the world
"Wholesome. Good for complexion"


Craving for a 'Return to Purity & Nature' via brands and products.



YOUTH TRENDS

THREE DISTINCT ATTITUDE SEGMENTS EMERGE...

THE BOHEMIANS


Reticent, inner driven,

Think different, Analytical

Safety of groups not sought

Confident but unspokenly so

Love to go against the current

Re: Gym

"Other things important than merely having a good body"

Re: Pub / Disc

"I prefer to play bridge"

Re: Drinks

" Can you get me a glass of milk / water"

Not moved by fads - 'what I wear is fashion' [come to gps dressed in apple green shirt / pathan suits... is making a statement]
Loved by the Girls - more 'caring' partners, with 'sense of humour',
Value 'Open mindedness' , 'Seriousness', 'Experimentation'
->Of the segments, highest of the low attention spans
->Nuances noticed [ Axe Train bf's puzzled expression]

EARLIEST ADOPTERS

'Haves' of the generation... material comforts taken for granted... digital dairy / mobile / PCs/ Cars

Make the most of 'looks'

Brand conscious but not 'to show' 'Not Nike / Adidas à Saucony' - Leaning to Western music / films/ fashion

Active pastimes: gyms, tennis, dating, pubs

Physique: indication of self discipline & control over indulgence -> Sign of mental stability.

non smoker

good posture

not self conscious

Attracted to 'risk' behaviour (bungee jumping) even if not directly participating

Value freedom, experimentation, liberal mindedness

Arrogance inbuilt - quick snap decisions (Active / Noisy participants in gps)

Loved by the girls for the stereotypical aspects

Money

Hairy chest!
-> Lowest attention spans (fascinated when communication layered)

FUSIONISTS

"Co-ed friendships are 'saaf' friendships"

'Mixed' gender peer groups - 'common' and 'usual'

"Friends who are boys - not bf as such"
Chivalry' is out.
At peace with parents - supportive atmosphere at home : open & frank [No angst]
Animated & Articulate - well able to verbalise even discomforts
Low attention spans (representing the times) and any 'waiting' is nerve racking…yet wear out low in spite of 'long' sessions.
Quite 'easy' to locate (unlike Bohemians & E. Adopters) - suggesting the burgeoning representation of 'Fusionists' in TG in India.
As widespread in B Sec as in A Sec; in smaller towns as in metros.

CHRYSALIS

Sense of belonging to peer group important…often seek the security of a crowd.
'Bravado' evident in dealing with opposite sex

"I can talk to my father about my girlfriend"
'Wannabes'

"Now 18 yrs - free to smoke & booze"
'Likes' : Identifiable storylines… such as Just desserts (Axe Pied Piper); Guy gets gal; 'Fantasy' (Girl goes after guy)
Afternoons at home - girls; Guys tend to spend as much time as possible outside home.

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Jul,23,2001

The `coolest' trends

Menka Shivadasani



Vada pav and `cutting' chai -- what do you know, they are supposed to be the coolest things going when it comes to Indian youth. Not burgers, not liquor, and mercifully, not drugs. In fact, vada pav and cutting chai -- those quintessentially Indian items -- are such symbols of cool that they were even served during the tea break at the swish hotel in Mumbai where the MTV-Brand Equity Youth Marketing Forum was being held. What an irony -- all those VJs trying to set trends and then the trendiest thing of all turns out to be exactly what the average Indian has been doing for decades!


MTV and Pepsi's newest study, `Tuning into the Indian Youth Part 3', was unveiled during the Forum and while many of the findings were no more than common sense, there were some surprising revelations. Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- the dignified and elderly dh oti-clad statesman -- was the coolest politician; KBC and Kyunki Saas Bhi ... the coolest TV shows, way above MTV Bakra and MTV Loveline; and studying turned out to be the coolest thing to do, even more than listening to music. At least that's what the survey, conducted by Indian Market Research Bureau, says.


I guess when it comes down to it -- being cool really means being yourself, not some pale imitation of a Western culture, and being fully in control of what you are and what you do. Still, it's interesting to hear what the experts have to say, and even m ore interesting to know that they must admit that they don't have a clue as to what they are talking about -- after all, the youth market is an ever-changing, fickle thing. ``There is no simple formula to look at that audience,'' acknowledged Alex Kuruvi lla, MTV India Managing Director. And the booklet they brought out on the occasion echoes the words: ``Get over the idea that you'll ever have a crystal clear picture of where we are and where we're going; this neatly outlined picture exists only in hind sight,'' it concludes.


Well, the experts are certainly trying. There's a lot of money to be made out there, especially since the youth market is supposed to form 60 per cent of the Indian population. ``Coupled with growing incomes, today the niche is THE market,'' the study sa ys. ``Little wonder, then, that every marketer today needs to be a youth marketer.'' These days, it isn't just manufacturers of jeans and sports shoes that are targeting the young: automobiles, durables and financial services are trying to reach out to t hem too. MTV's own advertisers -- more than 270 of them -- include such companies as Intel, Shell, Tata Sierra, Castrol, Cipla and Cadila.


The thing about young people is that they do not form a homogeneous group. Simon Williams, Chairman, Sterling Group, a New York-based brand consultancy, speaks of the three categories of youngsters -- the pre-15-year-olds, who are just awakening to trend s; the 15-24-year-olds who form the core of a trend, and the 25 plus age group which still has a youthful mindset, but which is recognising that life comes first and trends are only incidental.


These are not cut and dry categories, of course there is more than enough diversity even within these groups to make the marketers' lives a little difficult. Nor does it help that what's `cool' is in a state of flux today, and much more subtle than it us ed to be. ``Traditionally,'' Williams said, ``being cool simply meant who you knew and what you wore; today, it's a much more multi-faceted thing involving knowledge, attitude, behaviour and visual cues -- `experiential cool', in the marketers' jargon.''


The Indian youth audiences aren't homogeneous either; the IMRB study divides them into the homebodies (16 per cent); the two-faced -- inwardly traditional, outwardly modern (16 per cent); the wannabes -- materialistic show-offs (25 per cent); the rebels (23 per cent) and the cool guys -- the influencers (20 per cent).


Youth today are supposed to be far more aggressive and independent, highly competitive, and while they might still respect their parents and not talk back, they wouldn't think there was anything wrong in placing their parents in an old age home. Apparent ly, even the homebodies agree with this.


Success is also gauged purely in money terms, and to them, life is all about having fun. (Of course, this doesn't quite gel with the finding that studying is the coolest thing to do, but never mind.) Thirty-nine percent of them also say that it is perfec tly all right to live together, though pre-marital sex is still considered taboo (``We predict a rise in chess-playing,'' commented Vikram Raizada, Director (Marketing), MTV India, tongue firmly in cheek.)


There's lots more in the study that marketers will find useful as they try to target your kids through all the TV channels that beam down on us today. Of course, since no generalisations are really possible -- however hard the marketers might try -- ther e's no quick formula when it comes to reaching out to youngsters. What counts then is not talking to them as marketers talking down to an audience, as Dan Wieden, the star speaker and the man behind the Nike (`Just do it') ads pointed out; what mattered was passion, being honest and building relationships.


It's an attitude that MTV has in its programming as well. As Kuruvilla said, ``We view the tried and tested with suspicion. We celebrate the irreverent, the offbeat, and the sound of surprise.'' No wonder then -- how could the study have said anything el se -- MTV was viewed as the coolest TV channel. Interestingly, its supposedly closest rival, Channel [V], came way after Sony (which was second), Star Plus, and even B4U!


The author can be contacted at menkashivdasani@ftnetwork.com
Source:http://www.hinduonnet.com/businessline/2001/07/23/stories/102344g2.htm