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Rural India: Myths and Realities
Demand Drivers

Rural India: Myths and Realities

The recently held CII Conference on Rural India was a wonderful stock taking on where Rural India stands as we speak. There was unanimity of opinion that it was far more advanced on most counts than is the general impression of it, in our minds. Even the development sector folk at the conference agreed that there was a new rural India that had a URAL – urbanized rural mind set (Dileep Ranjekar, Azim Premji Foundation) and was as avid consumer of microfinance for entrepreneurial ventures (Annie Dufflo, Micro Finance Institute). The NRS presentation made the point eloquently with data, that Rural India was not quite the dark continent, and had surprising amounts of consumption and media exposure. A few years ago, at a FICCI Conference, Ashok Das of HRG had made the case, using IRS data, that there was a ‘developed’ rural, not insubstantial in number, which had ‘close to […]

October 1, 2005 0 Comments
Buying Sales by Bribing Consumers
Business Strategy

Buying Sales by Bribing Consumers

I was reading a very absorbing leaflet about what seemed to be a very good health supplement. It explained what the supplement contained, how totally natural and safe it was, how exactly it worked, why, the research evidence available; it was totally honest and completely professional in tone – all in all it was a great product and a superb piece of branding. Then, suddenly, it said on the last page “lucky draw – win a holiday to Goa”. Made me wonder about everything I had read and thought so far. A potential-to-win brand with a totally un confident brand owner! There is a disturbing trend of marketers of all hues, across all categories, to offer all manner of sops, almost all of the time, to get consumers to buy their products. Disturbing, because the dominant marketing logic of the day seems to be that when there is a slow […]

May 23, 2005 0 Comments
Food for Thought – Part II
Consumer Trends

Food for Thought – Part II

In my previous column, I had wondered why the processed food ready to eat / ready to cook market had not blossomed, despite consumer conditions being fertile in terms of changing attitudes and lifestyle. I had concluded that it was due to suppliers not being able to get their product performance – price equations right, so as to create greater value for the consumer compared to existing traditional options and still be financially viable. Thinking about it some more, I am coming to the conclusion that the “in-home convenient eating” market has also happened, only we don’t notice it because it’s format is different from branded packaged retort packs! There are more and more women supplying dabbas of home made food in everyone of them big cities, with Bombay in the lead; their consumers are and not just to bachelors and hostel dwellers but homes as well. The Maharaj or […]

March 13, 2005 0 Comments
Food for Thought – Part I
Consumer Trends

Food for Thought – Part I

Middle and Upper income India, the bulk of which is urban, has grown well above the national average in terms of number of households and the quantum of income growth. With this growth, two of the three of the “roti, kapda and makaan” trinity have happened. The Kapda boom is happening. Clothing expenditure and behaviour of this target group has definitely changed and is vibrant with experimentation. Of course, the old and the new co exist very comfortably, but the rigid structures of traditional clothing have definitely changed, be it at weddings or the work place. The Makaan buying boom has happened and the “where in my life cycle do I buy a house” notions have completely changed. The average age of the home loan taker has dropped by ten years almost, in less than a decade, and we could be in a rolling mortgage, perennial home up gradation cycle, […]

March 13, 2005 0 Comments
The Data Dilemma
Demand Drivers

The Data Dilemma

I have had an epiphany. The other day, we were at lunch – a senior Indian business leader, an erudite foreigner who advises CEOs all over the world on globalization, and yours truly. The debate was about the size of the Indian market. 50 million? 200 million? What income level qualifies people to be consumers? Black money, wrong income reporting, and data denial was on the menu. And that was just the starters. I had a feeling of deja vu. When will we ever break out of getting our knickers in a twist on data about India, and move to acceptance, understanding and insight? Can we accept that the data about India, especially Consumer India, is confusing and inconsistent in what it tells us? And that this is not because we lack a sophisticated understanding of complex data collection or interpretation, or because we can’t discriminate between dodgy data and […]

January 1, 2005 0 Comments
The Year of Implementation
India My Land

The Year of Implementation

A new year of nationhood. What should the national resolution for the year be? I think that this should be the year when we try very hard to make the Great Implementation Leap. There is awareness, knowledge and discussion, steeped in every pore of this country, on what needs to be done to solve our several problems, and make us totally proud to be Indian, not just proud in parts. Fix infrastructure, ensure that visitors from abroad, especially potential investors, have a great experience at least for the first 72 hours, till they get over their culture shock and biases! Make civic bodies accountable. Get more children to stay in school. Repeal antiquated legislation that was created for a non market driven paradigm. Improve delivery to the end beneficiary of so many existing relief schemes, etc. etc. There are sound and innovative ideas on what to do for each. But […]

August 14, 2004 0 Comments
The Story of India: View through the “Stand Alone” Lens
Demand Drivers

The Story of India: View through the “Stand Alone” Lens

Everyone who has been on ‘marketing India’ road shows, especially in the West, cannot but help notice that while ‘India interest’ in the eyes of the world is increasing, India skepticism is not declining. Also familiar is that India gets less than its due, when balancing the good news and the bad news about it; while China gets more. The questions that get asked about India at the end of very well crafted, informative and sensible speeches from captains of industry or opinion leaders are always in the realm of “yes but…” I wonder if it is something to do with “aukaat” – the developed world feels that we should stay within our aukaat, and worry about our caste system, our perceived absence of civil society, our crimes against women etc, rather than stake our claim to the “who’s who’ of the new economic and hence political world order. But […]

July 1, 2004 0 Comments
Helping the IIMs to Surge Ahead
Corporate Governance

Helping the IIMs to Surge Ahead

Thank God for cosmic chaos. For delivering institutions of higher education from a regressive regime with anachronistic ideas. Thank God for the new HRD minister and his team who believe in logic, dialogue, and the sanctity of governing boards. The IIMs now have a window of huge opportunity to sell a plan to get them well on the path to world class, and get the resources and the changes needed to make it happen. There is now a really urgent need for the IIMs, especially the big three, to redeem the faith and the enormous support that they have received from the new ministry, from their governing boards, from their alumni and well wishers, and from the media. There can be no disagreement from everyone, inside and outside, who participated in this battle, that this is the time to open a discontinuous new chapter of big, hairy, audacious goals, and […]

June 14, 2004 0 Comments
The Consumer Vocabulary / Explanation for Anti Incumbency
India My Land

The Consumer Vocabulary / Explanation for Anti Incumbency

Ever since election results were out, there has been an avalanche of comment by politicians, political watchers, journalists, pollsters, intellectuals, advertising and marketing experts and more, analysing the who – what – why of the results. But conspicuous in its absence has been the voice of the voter. “What”, some might say in horror. “This whole thing is about the voice of the voter”. But as I said in as earlier article “Let’s have real vox pop please”, in a business we would insist that market share and sales data numbers, especially when unexpected, be explained through the lens of individual customer attitude and behaviour i.e. what customers did, and what they thought, which made them do what they did. The election result is like market share and sales data. Real explanations are what we are yet to get – too few facts straight from the horses mouth i.e. from […]

May 14, 2004 0 Comments
Pain and Gain of Urban India
Demand Drivers

Pain and Gain of Urban India

There is no dearth of empirically valid, statistically sound and anecdotally familiar sales and survey data on what characteristics different types of markets in the country have, and how they have been behaving in terms of what and how they buy. Contradictions and counter intuitive findings abound, which we cannot explain away as data errors. “Tier two towns hold lots of potential – do you know that in Valparai, we sell more X YZ than in Hyderabad? And by the way Hyderabad is visibly wealthy”. “UP may be poor but we actually sell as much there as in Gujarat “. “Delhi is actually richer than Bombay, but Bombay has a different character”, “Bangalore and Hyderabad are both very happening markets, but frankly, I would place my bets on Hyderabad ; actually maybe on Bangalore; they are different but I can’t place my finger on it”; Bangalore is a better quality […]

May 1, 2004 0 Comments
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