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Creating Active Citizenry
C'est La Vie

Creating Active Citizenry

I am a great fan of Pavan K Varma. In a recent interview about his book “Being Indian: The Truth about why the 21st Century will be India’s”, he says that we Indians are a bundle of contradictions. “We are focused and will work towards a goal despite formidable obstacles. So we are resilient , ingenuous, ever hopeful”. If you have trouble believing this, just look at the epic proportions to which we take the saga of standard 10, 12 and college admissions. Rich or modest in income, the drama is the same. It’s a discourse which we all are a part of, that says “just do it, never say ‘can’t’, at this time of life, ‘chalta hai’ is not an option”. And guess what? Very few of our children rebel against it. Otherwise the coaching class and entrance test industry would be out of business. In fact Verma agrees […]

January 15, 2006
The Anatomy Of Social Tension
India My Land

The Anatomy Of Social Tension

So, what did I learn in the past year? Other than the fact that the problem of traffic in any given city is inversely proportional to the quality of shopping in that city; or that the MPs seem to work on a cost plus basis to price their questions, rather than on a perceived value basis – hopefully! I learnt yet again, that India changes so insidiously that you can never see the change that you are watching out for, until it comes and bites you in the butt in some other form. Over the years, whenever I have shown the income distribution and income growth pattern of post-1992 to foreigners, they invariably ask, “so will there be a lot of social tension, as some get more visibly prosperous than others”? I have always dismissed this idea as a typical, materialistic “western mind” conceptualisation of life, that says everyone must […]

December 26, 2005
Can India Inc. Build Global Brands?
Business Strategy

Can India Inc. Build Global Brands?

The question is not whether Indian companies have the capability to build global businesses i.e have appropriate products and price points to fulifl consumer needs in markets around the globe, with whatever is the most efficient way to supply to and serve these ma rkets. But of course this capability does exist across several industries, and there are many vibrant examples of this. But the question to debate is whether they have built or have the capability to build global brands. What’s the difference between brands and businesses? Brands are where you talk your business walk. Your customers and potential customers recognize your name and recall it whenever they think about the business arena you exist in. And firmly attach certain positive (and sometimes negative) rational and emotional benefits to the name, which travel with the name, no matter what category of products or services the name is attached to. […]

December 7, 2005
Relaunching Brand Bihar
C'est La Vie

Relaunching Brand Bihar

I remember a discussion a few years ago at a strategic planning session of a multinational consumer goods company on how people of India were changing. A lot was said about the positive effects of liberalisation and all its spin-off effects, on the attitudes of the people of India. Until someone suddenly broke the spell by asking, “If all this is true, then why do millions of people vote for Laloo in Bihar? Do we even know for sure?” An expat sitting through the meeting asked for clarification on Laloo and Bihar. And, with huge relish, got told all the Laloo and Bihar jokes and war stories, starting with an introduction to the word Bimaru. The joke about how we would happily hand over all of Kashmir to Pakistan, provided they took Bihar as well; the one that said that Laloo asked the people of Bihar why they needed roads […]

November 24, 2005
The Shining, Growing Tip of the Iceberg
Consumer Trends

The Shining, Growing Tip of the Iceberg

At my last two speaking engagements, people said they were surprised by my non-optimism (read that as ‘gung ho’ ness) about what’s happening in Consumer India. One of them was on whether values in India are changing (answer: some changes, mostly morphing change, “this as well as that” compromises, new ways of doing old things; let’s not confuse changes in ritual with changes in religion). The other was about what I saw as the latest in Consumer India, viewed through the economic – demographic – consumption lens. I said that none of the data that I had seen had fundamentally changed my view of the past few years that it was forging ahead on the consumption track, with all lights green and no stop signs visible; But though full throttle, it was a large mass moving at a modest speed with modest and modestly increasing acceleration; few rich getting richer […]

November 21, 2005
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
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
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
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
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
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