Ad imagery in India is evolving as the consumer shifts from functional products and brands to lifestyle and luxury brands. What’s an average Indian aspiring for?
55-year-old Happy Kumar is now a happy man. He has finally managed to buy a flat. Though his Maruti 800 is already five-years old, he believes, it will have a smooth run for his lifetime. In all these years, he has managed to collect all household appliances – be it a refrigerator, a colour television or a washing machine. He is quite content with his life. Up till the early 90s, Happy Kumar would have been considered an achiever in Indian society because he now has everything that makes his life comfortable and would last his lifetime. But today, he might be called ‘uncool’.
Kumar’s 25-year-old son, who works for a leading IT company, is an ambitious young man. He wants a house in an up-market colony, an LCD television, a mid-segment car and a highend mobile phone which would enhance his lifestyle and the family’s status in society. Between 1985 and 2005, the average household income has grown by approximately 6 percent and in the next two decades, it is expected to grow around 7 percent. At the most obvious level, it’s about the need to advertise one’s possessions. It’s about the watch that boasts of unmatched precision or the car that has been the preferred vehicle of a celebrity, or the leather handbag that was seen with a Page 3 socialite. Today, simple possessions mean a host of unique values to the owner.
Indian households are fast moving from functional products to lifestyle products. In the last decade, these consumers have faced a major challenge to their beliefs. From a market where every product or brand was rated for its durability, or cost effectiveness, the market has changed, demanding product upgrades, and even dumping of old products much more quickly. While increasing average household income and easy availability of finance has had a major contribution toward this change in mindset, the marketers have done enough to lure and inspire consumers.
Along the way, the definition and understanding of luxury, as it is understood in India today, has also evolved into something that approaches global views. For instance, when LG entered the Indian market, many Indian brands had predicted that the television market in India was already saturated. The belief was that there may be a few who would switch to colour television sets from their black and white box, but the transition would be in limited numbers as colour televisions were fairly expensive and the household had already invested in a black and white television. Plus, there was no market for discarded televisions. But brands such as LG and Akai changed the ules of the game. LG offered an exchange price for the old television sets, while Akai cracked the market by offering a Japanese brand at Indian prices.
Once the market opened up, the rest was relatively easy. As multiple brand offerings came in, a pecking order was duly established, with a brand like Sony tasting serious success. Of course, the sustained rise in prosperity means that even a Sony was not enough. Making it easier for the market to make a shift to next generation LCD’s, and that too, bigger, more expensive screens. A similar situation can also be seen in the automobile sector. Till the late 80s, simply owning a car was a luxury, with a purchase expected to serve at least two generations. When Maruti entered the middle-class homes, owning a car became a reality. The tagline ‘realise your dreams’, was apt as it re-defined the meaning of personal transport in the country. Here too, with the inevitable entry of all major brands, the market has now evolved to make space for the truly luxury offerings. As per a study done in 2007, the luxury car market is estimated to be growing by 50 percent every year.
The launch of brands such as Volkswagen Beetle or Honda Jazz – a hatchback more expensive than a sedan – corroborates the fact that Indian market has matured to accept these ‘luxury’ brands. Let’s compare two different ad spots that typify this new bridge between the old and new luxury– the latest Volkswagen Beetle TVC and another TVC of Hyundai Accent from the past. The Beetle shows a couple driving the New Beetle. As they stop and step out of the car at a cafe, a valet is shown staring at the car. The man asks the valet the charge to park the car. The smitten valet replies that it will cost Rs. 200 but in a twist to the tale, ends up paying the amount to the couple instead of taking the money from them and drives the car away.
The TVC for the Hyundai Accent is also based on a similar situation. In this, the valet salutes the owner of the car because he believes that the person is a big man as he drives a big car. This latest Beetle TVC explains that big is no more a luxury for the Indian consumer. For them, luxury is what enhances their social stature.
Another sector, which has taught the Indian consumers to upgrade to a lifestyle product frequently and enhance their image, is the telecom sector. In less than a decade, the same consumer has shifted from a black and white screen mobile phone to a colour screen mobile phone and then to a Blackberry handset. Today, the basic service is probably the cheapest part of the package, when a rich consumer opts for a mobile connection. It’s because the mobile phone has become a lifestyle statement for many – the more expensive the handset, the higher the status. This reminds me of another television commercial for a handset brand where a man hides his mobile phone because it had a black and white screen.
What drove the growth in the telecom sector - applies for IT products. In these two sectors, the value- added product was offered at no extra cost. Today, one can buy a coloured screen mobile phone at a cost lower than what he would have had paid for a black and white screen mobile phone, some eight years ago. Thus, easy availability became the next issue that helped prepare the ground for luxury further. The next dimension to luxury is the freedom to do what one wants to do and self indulgence.
Luxury brands increasingly appeal to the user’s sense of independence. With a whole new generation that has benefitted from a growing economy, and earning well, a luxury brand is now an indulgence to reward oneself. Today, it’s easy to find a L’Oreal beauty salon in the neighbourhood, in any of the Indian metros. The brand’s tagline is – ‘Because you are worth it’ – inviting people to self indulge!
The average Indian man and woman is shifting from spending just on necessities to personal products. As per a survey, if people were spending 4 percent of their income on personal products in 1995, they are expected to spend 11 percent on the same by 2015. A look at how the luxury market is growing would indicate the growth of the luxury market in India. The market for high-end watches is estimahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifted to be at INR 600 crore and is growing at about 20 percent annually. Similarly, ownership of a private airplane, or even a helicopter, the ultimate status symbol, one might argue, has shot up over 300 percent over the past 10 years. Indians are turning luxurious by the day. Or we should just believe in Shah Rukh Khan when he says – Don’t be santusht (satisfied)! Or Karo Jyada ka Irada…
[Prajjal Saha is deputy editor, afaqs! He started his career in advertising as a copywriter for an agency called Campaign in Kolkata, and moved to journalism shortly after. His experience with the world of journalism spans over a decade. He joined afaqs! seven years ago. Previously he has worked with media2media, where he was associated with niche publications.]
Source: http://www.imagesfashion.com/content/ContentDetail.aspx?pg=1&cid=585
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
India, China lead global economic recovery: UN
The emerging economies of India, China and Brazil are leading the global economic recovery, according to a UN report released on Wednesday. "The rebound has been led by the large emerging economies in Asia and Latin America, particularly China, India and Brazil," the report said. The mid-year issue of the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), said that "weaknesses in major developed economies continue to drag the global recovery and pose risks for world economic stability in the coming years". The report said that many developing countries have been able to use the policy buffers (in the form of ample fiscal space and vast foreign-exchange reserves) they had generated in the years before the crisis to adopt aggressive stimulus packages. The report said that while developing countries continue to drive the global recovery, their output growth is also expected to moderate to 6.0 per cent on average during 2011-2012, down from 7.1 per cent in 2010. It said that that China and India''s GDP growth is also expected to experience some moderation in 2011 and 2012. The report said that the volume of exports of many emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India and other developing economies in Asia, have already recovered to, or beyond, pre-crisis peaks. The study said that exports of developed economies have not yet achieved full recovery and were still 8 per cent below the pre-crisis peaks seen in the third quarter of 2010.
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/India-China-lead-global-pti-2632147440.html
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/India-China-lead-global-pti-2632147440.html
India among most entrepreneur-friendly nations: global poll
India along with US, Canada and Australia, has been ranked among the nations with the best cultures in the world for people to start a new business, a new global poll has showed. While India finds itself bracketed with the better ranked countries, Colombia, Egypt, Turkey, Italy and Russia are the least friendly to innovation and entrepreneurship, showed results of the 24-country BBC World Service poll. The world''s two major economies - US and China - are also among the most favourable countries for innovation and creativity, according to the results. In both nations, 75 per cent say that their country values innovation and creativity -- second only to Indonesia (85 per cent), and well ahead of other emerging economies such as Brazil (54 per cent) and India (67 per cent). At the other end of the scale, only 24 per cent of Turks and 26 per cent of Russians and Egyptians say they feel that innovation and creativity is valued in their country. The results are drawn from a survey of 24,537 adult citizens across 24 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the UK, the US, among others. Most countries surveyed in Asia were found to have a well-developed entrepreneurship culture, and except Pakistan, all had good ratings on the entrepreneur-friendly index. Indonesia scored the highest ratings of all participating countries in the survey (2.81), just ahead of the US.
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/India-among-most-entrepreneur-pti-773898865.html
Source: http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/India-among-most-entrepreneur-pti-773898865.html
Friday, May 20, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
BlackBerry - Getting younger with time
BlackBerry's (BB) growth graph underwent some noteworthy changes since Indians first began using the smart phone. Year 2010, in particular, contributed to pushing it higher. Last year, the smart phone maker came up with a smart move. It introduced lower-end variants for consumers who were young but could not afford expensive phones. It changed young India's way of looking at themselves and their peers. Blackberry's approach to the young rode on the BB Messenger (BBM).
When it was launched, BB was the gadget that helped corporate honchos organise their schedule better, stay connected to one another and avail official emails and other internet resources instantly. This year, however, the BB's TG expanded beyond expectations. What began as a high-end premium product found its way into the restless, enthusiastic hands of India's vast pool of youth. Today, the BB is as much a gadget of the youth as it is an official phone.
The youth took to BBM with unbridled enthusiasm. Just look at how many teens, tweens and young adults have furnished the 'About Me' section of their Facebook pages with their eight character-long BB Pin Numbers. This enables other BB owners to connect with them and find a place on their instant chat-list. This section used to be one where users of the social networking site could write a few words that described them best and gave those who visited their page some insight about the person, his likes, dislikes and core personality traits. Instead, BB-obsessed addicts merely put up their Pin, a seemingly dry, alphanumeric, sometimes only numeric string of letter and numbers.
On the creative front, brand BB gave the advertising industry something to talk about when it awarded its creative mandate to Orchard Advertising. The brand's media duties lie with Starcom MediaVest. Though the brand is not too active on the communication front, it has managed to expand seamlessly. In the recent past, the brand made some noise with an ad film that floated the catchphrase, "Do what you love, love what you do". This happened to be the first time BB - which relies on word-of-mouth communication - rolled out any big advertising message in the TV space.
Service provider Vodafone took note of the youth-slant and launched a much-talked about advertising campaign that attempted to position the phone as a device not just for uptight executives, but also for trendy youngsters who checked their emails and 'pinged' their friends every twenty seconds. The campaign titled BlackBerry Boys was created by Vodafone's creative agency, Ogilvy India. The campaign served to push Vodafone's BlackBerry service plans for its prepaid customers in India at affordable prices. While premium variants such as the BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry Bold did well, the brand's affordable products such as the BlackBerry Curve also grew increasingly popular.
The Messenger was used in various other ways. UTV World Movies, for instance, launched a special BlackBerry Messenger to reach out to cinema fans across India and provide easy access to a range of content on world cinema. UTV World Movies used BBM as a platform to discuss world cinema, share related information and execute interactive contests with its users.
BB has had a good time, barring the run-in with the government about access rights. According to brand consultant Ashok Dhingra, BlackBerry has evolved into an iconic, cult brand in 2010, so much so that it makes Nokia look outdated. He however claims that the marketing strategy followed by BB is exactly the same as that of Nokia. "Nokia used to come up with new innovations and premium variants every now and then, milk them for a while and then drop the price of its previous variants. BB is doing that now," he elaborates, adding that it has helped the brand percolate to all sections of society.
Source: http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=29293_BlackBerry+-+Getting+younger+with+time
When it was launched, BB was the gadget that helped corporate honchos organise their schedule better, stay connected to one another and avail official emails and other internet resources instantly. This year, however, the BB's TG expanded beyond expectations. What began as a high-end premium product found its way into the restless, enthusiastic hands of India's vast pool of youth. Today, the BB is as much a gadget of the youth as it is an official phone.
The youth took to BBM with unbridled enthusiasm. Just look at how many teens, tweens and young adults have furnished the 'About Me' section of their Facebook pages with their eight character-long BB Pin Numbers. This enables other BB owners to connect with them and find a place on their instant chat-list. This section used to be one where users of the social networking site could write a few words that described them best and gave those who visited their page some insight about the person, his likes, dislikes and core personality traits. Instead, BB-obsessed addicts merely put up their Pin, a seemingly dry, alphanumeric, sometimes only numeric string of letter and numbers.
On the creative front, brand BB gave the advertising industry something to talk about when it awarded its creative mandate to Orchard Advertising. The brand's media duties lie with Starcom MediaVest. Though the brand is not too active on the communication front, it has managed to expand seamlessly. In the recent past, the brand made some noise with an ad film that floated the catchphrase, "Do what you love, love what you do". This happened to be the first time BB - which relies on word-of-mouth communication - rolled out any big advertising message in the TV space.
Service provider Vodafone took note of the youth-slant and launched a much-talked about advertising campaign that attempted to position the phone as a device not just for uptight executives, but also for trendy youngsters who checked their emails and 'pinged' their friends every twenty seconds. The campaign titled BlackBerry Boys was created by Vodafone's creative agency, Ogilvy India. The campaign served to push Vodafone's BlackBerry service plans for its prepaid customers in India at affordable prices. While premium variants such as the BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry Bold did well, the brand's affordable products such as the BlackBerry Curve also grew increasingly popular.
The Messenger was used in various other ways. UTV World Movies, for instance, launched a special BlackBerry Messenger to reach out to cinema fans across India and provide easy access to a range of content on world cinema. UTV World Movies used BBM as a platform to discuss world cinema, share related information and execute interactive contests with its users.
BB has had a good time, barring the run-in with the government about access rights. According to brand consultant Ashok Dhingra, BlackBerry has evolved into an iconic, cult brand in 2010, so much so that it makes Nokia look outdated. He however claims that the marketing strategy followed by BB is exactly the same as that of Nokia. "Nokia used to come up with new innovations and premium variants every now and then, milk them for a while and then drop the price of its previous variants. BB is doing that now," he elaborates, adding that it has helped the brand percolate to all sections of society.
Source: http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=29293_BlackBerry+-+Getting+younger+with+time
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Indigenious Trendsetters report- INgene co created
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Sunday, May 1, 2011
''Rural households paid over Rs 470cr bribe for basic services''
Ranging from Re one to Rs 950, rural households in the country could have paid a whopping Rs 471.8 crore last year as bribe to avail basic facilities such as ration, health, education and water supply, says a study.
The ''India Corruption Study: 2010'' report prepared by Centre for Media Studies (CMS), a survey of 9,960 households in 12 states, says on an average a rural household could have paid Rs 164 as bribe for availing these facilities in a year.
The study said the total amount of Rs 471.8 crore is "equal or less" than the total expenditure made under MNREGA during 2010-11 in states like Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
"The estimation of bribe amount paid by the rural households brings out an amount of Rs 471.8 crore...The percentage of rural households that paid bribe during the last year was relatively higher in PDS (11.5
per cent), followed by hospitals (9), schools (5.8), water (4.3)," the study said.
It claimed that the socio-economically weaker sections were most affected by corrupt practices in public services.
More than 40 per cent of rural households belonging to OBC and SCs felt that the level of corruption has increased in public services during the last one year while 28 per cent each opined that the level of corruption has remained the same, it said.
An analysis by income level indicated that three out of four rural households which had to pay bribe in any of the public services have monthly household income of Rs 5,000 or less, indicating the high dependence of the economically poor households on these public services.
"As reported by rural households, they had to pay even Rs one-two to get a family member examined as an out-patient, mostly to get the registration or OPD card and as high as Rs 900 to avail diagnostic services such as X-ray, blood or urine tests at a public health facility," the study said.
A rural household had to pay Rs five as bribe to get an application form for ration card while they had to pay as high as Rs 800 for getting a BPL card without documents, it said, adding, for getting admission form, rural households had to shell out Rs ten as bribe while some paid Rs 700-800 to get scholarship or admission in schools.
"For proper water supply, the bribe paid by households for various services ranged between Rs 15 and Rs 950. The wide gap between minimum and maximum amount paid as bribe for the same purpose indicate that even submission of a request requires paying bribe apart from paying bribe to get water at the right time to irrigate the agricultural field," it said.
The study said Rs 156.8 crore might have been given as bribe in PDS while for water supply services, rural households could have paid Rs 83.3 crore. Another Rs 130 crore have been paid to avail hospital services.
Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/rural-households-paid-over-rs-470cr-bribe-basic-100100121.html
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