INgene report on the Comic Con and various trend directions

Comic con india 2012

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tablet war

the battle of tablets are in full swing! Last year, DataWind in association with the Government of India came out with a 7 inch Android tablet for students. Named Aakash, the tablet costs Rs 2,999 in the market; while its subsidised rate is just Rs 2,250. Aakash, which was hailed as the cheapest tablet in the world, was projected as revolutionary and was talked about the world over. In fact, its makers got lakhs of pre-orders. Before the euphoria could die down, though, public sector telecom operator BSNL has come out with an extremely low cost tablet of its own. Manufactured by Noida based Pantel Technologies, the Penta IS701R tablet has WiFi and is priced at Rs 3,499.
The tablet market is clearly getting divided among the have ("I have an iPad") to haven't ("I can't afford an iPad, hence the cheapest is better"). The marketers are missing the concept of "disposable gadgets" (use it for a year and renew it to a newer one) ! Today, like other products, the gadgets have very less life (before its faded into the "uncool" category) and almost no resale value. The marketers should en-cash it and sell the "cheap" gadgets as "disposable one" rather than calling it as cheap / for poor!

my article on the psychology of "being in denim"

denimisation of youth in India- my article in Streetwear international India

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Social media, its relevance, the “flattening of social space” and assumption of “otherness”

India, being numerous countries inside one country and further divisions of regional, religious, cast and sub sect makes a indefinite complex social pyramid structured social positioning which is tough to avoid for brands that seeks consumer attention, visual impact and indigenous usability. The visual representation of one’s social position is very important in this subcontinent which gets reflected right from the clothing, architecture, political posters to the grass root day-to-day customs. The so called “big fat Indian marriage” is nothing but one’s exhibition of social class and positioning. The belonging to certain spiritual, religious and political parties are also a display of one’s class and “otherness” from the mass.

Certain brands or products fail to understand this situation and enacts in a way that India is a “utopian” super-flat democratic society where everybody is visually equal and has the urge to speak/ exhibit of what they are / wants to be or with whom they wants to belong to. The problem broadly exists with those brands who unfortunately doesn’t understand that their products are actually an asset in stead of consumption. The western brands once imported in India with high import duty and currency conversion, certainly lifts to the higher market segment but fails to understand its high impact on how the brand should be portrayed in India.

For example, the vision of Nano car was to replace the two wheelers which it failed to address due to the social pyramid of consumption and perception of product value. A car is considered as an assent among mass India and they will not compromise with the “look” of the product because an asset is supposed to be “exhibited” to enrich the status quo of the owner (first generation riches, mostly). Nano failed here due to its fragile non-classy “dumb” look. It would have been great if Nano appeared as “cool car” among the youth in India where the cast / class doesn’t matter but “desi coolness” is counted (say, Nano offers cool colors, funky decos, add on accessories and appears as a “consume and dispose” car rather than “own” a car concept!).

Interestingly, Social media is an active tool / social platform where class doesn’t exist but one’s intelligence to interact, instant humor, story telling capacity and PR matters. The Facebook is an excellent example on how this social media is literally diminishing the regional, religious and cast barrier in India (at least virtually) which, I believe will have a long lasting influence in offline social division to restructure our society in a new frame.

Facebook provides equal space for everybody to display his/ her photos / works etc. and share the thought in Wall. The discussion is open and anybody from the friend’s list can comment on any topic (no social / political king pins dominating the discussion). Anybody can like the photos but, it has no dislike option!

But, mobile is not as socially flat as social media! This product has become the symbol of class division from the very beginning of its introduction in this subcontinent. There are the brands for “haves” and “have-nots”…for example, today Nokia is the brand for “have-nots” where as “Blackberry and iPhone” are for haves…unfortunately Nokia does not understand this and trying to become the brand for the other class. This “other class” represents not more than the one third of this population! Hence Nokia actually has a better segment to cater, which they are not focusing!

Social media is also a place which is not having gender barrier or age barrier.

Though it will take decades to bring this ‘flat society” concept in India unless the perceived division between the haves and have-nots exist and both of them are very conscious of this existence to showoff their “otherness”!

Several Kanpur girls silently bear sexual abuse: Survey

Nearly 40 per cent of girls in the city are victims of some form of sexual abuse, revealed a study conducted by the home science department of Chandra Shekher Azad (CSA) University of Agriculture and Technology. It includes girls who are in the age group of 9-12 years and have been molested either at schools or homes. Many girls have faced physical and emotional neglect and social abuse as well.

Out of 249 girls surveyed, 123 reported of instances where their private parts were touched. While 41.2 per cent were forced to expose their genitals or subjected to other forms of sexual abuse. Whereas many girls reported of sexual act where the abuser forced the girl to touch his genitals.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-21/kanpur/28618805_1_sexual-abuse-neglect-sexual-exploitation

BIG Digital launches India’s first youth online reality show ‘Transform India- Youth Uncensored’

BIG Digital, the digital content and marketing arm of the Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd., is proud to announce India’s First Youth Online Reality Show, which promises to play the role of a catalyst, in initiating a youth movement in the country. Aptly titled ‘Transform India- Youth Uncensored’, the reality show will empower the youth by providing a platform for them to voice their opinion through an extensive social media initiative.

Consuming information through multiple platforms and translating it into highly opinionated discussion forums either online or with peers, the youth of today have a mind of their own. It is against this milieu that BIG Digital launches ‘Transform India- Youth Uncensored’, a high voltage online reality show which will address social problems ranging from escalating corruption, safe sex, eve teasing to gender discrimination from the perspective of the youth.

This digital reality show will bring over 100 colleges from across the six cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad to fight the battle to Transform India through their innovative ideas, on raising concern for issues and tackling them thereafter. Colleges will compete against each other, as they upload videos on how they believe they can best tackle societal issues. These videos will be judged by an esteemed jury panel, and will then be left open for online voting. Teams will be given a socially relevant topic and will be asked to upload the video of their proposed recommendation to tackle them. It goes without saying that as the show progresses the battle between colleges will be very exciting and audiences the world over can watch its un-edited version online.

Hard pressed for time and a challenging audience base to garner attention from, with 70% of brands in India struggling to communicate and engage with, the youth are a key audience base that marketers today chase. Transform India – Youth Uncensored, brings forth a unique opportunity for both youth and marketers looking to connect. While it offers the youth a platform for expression fuelled by issues that make for serious conversation currency, creating engaging environments leading to a transformation – an India 2.0, it will provide fantastic opportunities to marketers to get associated and play a pivotal role in piloting India's transformation.

BIG Digital will ensure a holistic treatment to this property, across its media verticals ranging radio, television, out of home, on-ground promotions and of course digital.

Soumen. G. Choudhury Business Head, 92.7 BIG FM said “It is our constant endeavour to offer pioneering initiatives, and Transform India: Youth Uncensored is a leap in that direction. We want, through this initiative to galvanize a movement in the youth space as we allow them to focus their energies towards this path-breaking social media initiative. We are confident of the youth coming on board to express their views, while we offer an excellent platform for advertisers to partners with.”

Transform India will culminate in an online reality show which is fun, motivational and educational. Every episode will capture imaginations of millions of youth, featuring unique tasks, controversies, goof-ups and sincerity. The content will be packaged to create a rage among Indian youth. The content will mirror the face of bold Indian youth willing to go to any extent to accomplish tasks that will transform people, the city and India!
About BIG Digital:

BIG Digital, is Reliance Broadcast Network’s initiative in the digital space, creating a surround of innovative digital media integrations on the mobile and online platforms. BIG Digital works with fresh talent across regions, in the music and entertainment space, to create intellectual properties for brands via digital endorsements. It thereby creates platform agnostic ideas bringing brands and content, closer to the consumer.

Source: http://pearlriseentertainment.blogspot.com/2011/08/big-digital-launches-indias-first-youth.html

Youth in India and their mutating consumer behaviour

youth in India and their mutating consumer behaviour- My article at IMAGES FASHION (Vol. XII, No.6-June'11)

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Asian lower tier youth: Youth market trends from India & Indonesia- cocreated report by INgene

Asian lower tier youth: Youth market trends from India & Indonesia

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Cyber cafes (the internet surfing centres, once the hub of youth to be online) are fading off

The cyber cafes (once the only option for mass young India to be online) is not going great now a days due to the fast-spread of personal internet connections in India.

During 2000, a study found that The average time spent on surfing [at cafes, as there's no other options] was 1.2 hours, with Delhiites logging the highest of 1.7 hours and Bangalore clicking the lowest time of 0.8 hours.The majority of frequenters to these Internet access spots were college students in the age group of 19-25 (49.1 per cent), followed by executives and businessmen in the 26-35 age bracket (32.1 per cent). The survey found that most popular activity was sending e-mail and participating in chats. A majority of them also come from affluent backgrounds.On the spending trends of cyber cafe users, the study found that video games, video cassettes and recorded music were more favoured in comparison to buying of newspapers and magazines or watching television. They spend one-third of their total infotainment budget on cyber cafes. Another interesting finding of the survey was that though 70 per cent of the cafe visitors said they were aware of Internet commerce, only a tenth of them had actually conducted transactions through the Net. The most popular items of purchase were books and CDs.

Yesterday, a news published at The Hindu indicates that with unlimited broadband connection available at less than Rs.1, 000 at home, few come in cafes (other than the students who has no net connections at their rooms). A cafe owner stated “After one year, I suspect there will be hardly any of us around, especially with 3G mobile services in such demand,”. With business having dropped by more than 60 per cent in the last few years, there is hardly any profit made now after the rental and maintenance charge, he says. "Regular scrutiny by the police which ensures cabins are not closed and the demand for details from customers irritate those who seek privacy," said a cafe owner. “We had more than 150 browsing centres in this area alone till last year. While many have shut down, the intense competition has forced most of us to offer unreasonably low tariffs of less than Rs.10 an hour,” says Kannan, who runs the fourteen-year old Galaxy Net in Triplicane. He says he makes barely Rs.8,000 (US$178) a month, which according to him hardly covers the depreciation cost of computers now. He no longer hires assistants like he used to five years ago when the business was at its peak.

Some cyber cafes still make about Rs.15,000 a month, but only by staying open for 14 hours every day. For the ones in areas where power cuts occur frequently, life is all the more difficult. Some also admit that quite often they resort to dubious means in order to survive, ranging from downloading new movie releases to allowing users to surf objectionable content!
Holding online study centres and examinations, arranging video conferencing between companies and even matrimonial alliance management for families are things we do to keep business on track, says A. Subburaman, who runs a cyber café in T. Nagar.

Since most cyber crime activities originate from cyber cafes, we are extremely strict about recording the identity of the user so that it can be tracked down,” says Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, CCB, M.Sudhakar. Regular checks by instructors also help in deciding which cyber cafes licenses are not to be renewed, he adds.

And then there are the lucky ones like Satheesh Babu, who started Genius Planet, a cyber café in 2002, only to shut it down in 2008. He says, “The regular walk-ins had stopped coming by 2007, and the customers were restricted to medical representatives, and some emergency browsers. I did face a loss of Rs.5 lakh, but that was the time to take the cue.”

Read more at : http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1718950.ece
http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/businessline/2000/05/26/stories/152639z4.htm
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-info-tech/article993106.ece?ref=archive

Chavs are in India! the “nouveau riche naffs" are thriving

As Mark Tungate stated in his book “Fashion Brands- Branding style from Armani to Zara” that “ …Burberry faces a similar problem in the UK. Some time ago, it joined the pantheon of brands adopted by label-conscious but not particularly up-market British youth, notably soccer fans. As a direct corollary and most damagingly of all, Burberry- and particularly its iconic check pattern- has become associated with ‘chavs’… the plaid fabric has become so closely associated with hooliganism that some pubs and clubs have instructed door staff to refuse entry to young people wearing it… An article in The Guardian cites a picture of a soap opera actress ‘clad top to toe in Burberry check…’ as the moment when Burberry became ‘the ultimate symbol of nouveau riche naff’… the similar situation prevails in India where the aspiring young generation and the late 30's(who’s parents belonged to middle class)are fast becoming the “nouveau riche naff”!

Post world war west influenced Japan has also gone through similar revolution where the ‘nouveau riche’ yet “rebellious” youth (from growing working class) were becoming stronger and ‘more visible’ due to economic revolution and rapid twist.

The Blackberry boom and luxury brand rage (as well as their counterfeits!) among youth and young adults in India is one instance for being the nav.
The Chav culture is IN in INDIA and the young wealthy generation is clearly divided into the royal rich and nouveau.

More more detailed discussion please contact me at : kaustavsengupta@yahoo.com

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India’s nouveau riche drink in the high life
By Katy Daigle Feb 24, 2011 12:32AM

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/3412765-418/story.html

NEW DELHI — They’re wealthy, well-traveled, cosmopolitan — and thirsty.
India’s growing upper class wants high-end liquors and fine wines that define “the good life” they’ve seen on European vacations and in Hollywood films. The old habit of slinging a measure of cheap local rum into a cup of cola simply won’t do.
“Life is swinging! If we can afford the best, why not have it?” says Vikrant Nath, a 49-year-old event planner.
For some, the booming economy there has put more money in their pockets: The number of Indians worth at least $1 million rose 51 percent in 2009 to 126,000.
There has always been a market in India for low-quality booze, mainly among men, despite religious and cultural taboos. Independence hero Mohandas K. Gandhi called alcohol “the enemy of mankind, the curse of civilization.”
Now, old local favorites such as Old Monk rum and Bagpiper whiskey are sharing shelf space with world-class scotch from Johnny Walker and Macallan. Last year the industry-standard “Whisky Bible” named an Indian whiskey — Amrut Single Malt — the world’s third best.
“I just love the sexiness of a cocktail!” says Puneeta Khanna, 43.
But, she admits, she would never drink in front of her mother-in-law. AP

Budget and Indian youth

Source: Times of India,5/7/09