'Marketers are in a word-inflation, thought recession mode'

BIG IDEA

Marketers will see a very different consumer in the future "" a consumer who is wise, very demanding and very worried. Are marketers equipped to tackle this consumer?

Looking back, in the first half of the 1990s most markets were booming and faith in advertising was possibly at its best. Media explosion attracted a host of new companies that were first-time advertisers. Many of them have gone on to become strong household names today.

For instance, Fevicol. Many established companies invested in new brands like Le Sancy (bathing soap) and Dollops (ice cream). Investing in building a new brand wasn't a serious debate. The marketer had his way.

The second half of the 1990s saw competition getting tougher. Marketers faced with this challenge spread marketing investment over direct marketing, events, easy finance and some really fabulous consumer promotions.

The Indian consumer was surprised with unheard-of offers "" one on one free, two on one free, no down payment and so on. Consumers put pressure on marketers to offer great value and marketers outdid each other to provide great value. The never-ending vicious cycle of promotions was born. The consumer was having his way.

As a country, we are seeing the birth of a new breed of consumers. The proportion of young will increase in the coming years. Young people never want to use their parents' brands lest they be seen as un-cool.

Opportunities in business process outsourcing (BPO), service marketing will create a new breed of consumers "" the young singles of both sexes, a segment with substantial technology exposure, a significant disposable income and a hunger to reconnect. These consumers will spend oodles of cash on acquiring a "cool" tag. Marketers have to be cool to earn this money; the game will be about seducing the emotions of this group in an individual way.

The six big consumer themes of the future will be mobility, connectivity, travel and leisure, entertainment, health and education.

Mobility, connectivity and education are virtually fundamental human rights for the future consumer. Bikes and cars will continue to be big business in the future.

Entertainment is exploding and creating a new breed of celebrities "" the two-minute celebrity. The remix segment will be big business as the concept has already invaded the shores of advertising. For instance, Sprite.

Expect many more marketers to follow the remix game. Get familiar with contempt. One of the problems of becoming an entertainment society is that we will have to think of people as an audience before we think of them as consumers.

Connectivity will be big again as technology and communication vehicles converge on the ultimate personal product of the future "" the mobile phone. India is adding 1 million mobile phone users every month. In the next decade, marketing initiatives via the mobile phone will explode "" expect to be bombarded with junk SMS in the future (over and above that of the service provider), if you are not getting it already.

Service providers will try and use this database asset for all forms of marketing. Service provider brands will franchise this database for co-branding.

Health will be big business. Consumers are already rediscovering ayurveda, and falling in love with concepts like "The Art of Living". Classically, brands move from offering products to providing services.

Health and beauty areas could see a reversal of that trend. We could well see a full range of health products from a concept like "The Art of Living". We will also see a product range from the neighbourhood boutique/ beauty parlour.

Managing a brand in this kind of consumer environment will be tough. The good opinion of the public will be critical for big brands. If your brand has a message, it has to have some truth in it or you will be found out.

Brands will embrace public relations like never before, to acquire credibility. The branding challenge of the future will be to maintain uniformity so that the brand core is consistent while promoting diversity and uniqueness at the tip.

Are marketers equipped to deal with such rapid change? The current set of marketers are in a "word inflation, thought recession" mode, substituting jargon for strategy.

The traditional marketing syllabus of management schools will need a relook and the run-of-the-mill marketing training courses will need to be overhauled. Marketing and brand consultants will need to revisit their fundamentals.

Market research will need new methods to help develop a better understanding of this very wise, very demanding and worried consumer.

(Shivakumar is vice-president, consumer electronics, Philips India)