Admit it: We are a fusion nation. We dig our keema do pyaaza pizzas and recommend nolen gurer ice-cream to friends with Jeremy Renner-esque intensity. We team up our kurta-pajamas with waistcoats for weddings and rustle up Italian and Mexican fare for our kitty parties. We believe that the East-West twain shall meet, albeit with some effort.
The same logic can explain, in part, the rise and the evident success of the masstige segment of products. These goods occupy a sweet spot between mass-market and aspirational - they offer some of the best features of the prestige and the mass segments. While they command a premium over mid-range products, they are priced well below super-premium or brand-name luxury goods, which have a well-confined exclusivity in terms of both accessibility and price.
Who are the typical customers? Masstige brands have great appeal for urban consumers who constantly strive to be in step with the times but aren't above a bargain. These new customers for luxury are younger, they earn more, they have a wider choice in financing and the best part is, they are growing in numbers. Competition for their attention is strong, and their consumption behaviour, marketers say, is changing life for many others around them.
Of course, there are compelling economic reasons that many brands have aggressively moved in to occupy this segment, but the blurring of the distinction between the prestige and the mass end of the market in this country is for real. And for many brands - like Micromax lately - it is the only hope to move up the ladder and into your consideration set. So, you know why the brand wants Academy Award-winning Hollywood star Hugh Jackman to speak for its new Canvas series of smartphones.
The masstige segment has picked up in India only in recent years, though globally, many other markets have seen this happening. The first person who really spoke of it at a mass forum about 15 years back was Ann Francke, then marketing director at Procter & Gamble's cosmetics and fragrances division. She was, of course, talking of a growing trend in her own industry - cosmetics and toiletries. Authors who introduced the term to marketing literature were Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske ("Luxury to the Masses": Harvard Business Review, April 2003) and they explained how the rise of this segment is visible in many other categories of products.
That said, the fusion gig is not easy to do and there are categories in which it works well and there are those where such a move can end up eroding the brand value. Take apparel and personal care products. Brands such as Allen Solly have done it with great aplomb. When it realised that there was a yawning gap between the grey-business-suit-and-blue-tie routine on the one hand and the jeans-and-t-shirt routine on the other, it moved in with smart casuals and created a new category of menswear, which is priced in between and is, at this moment, the fastest growing brand, say experts. Peter England has succeeded because it has created an image of a prestige brand that offers "value" as well. Pond's has moved from being a humble cold cream to a skin care regimen to widen its appeal without compromising its image. Food is another category in which you can see this happening in a big way. Proof: McDonald's McAlooTikki burger is the largest selling burger for the chain in the country.
But when a brand is looking to widen its market and price is its key weapon, getting the mix right is important and brand managers must contend with the threat posed by ubiquity. First, ubiquity makes an exclusive good less exclusive. Also, it creates opportunities for rip-offs. Vuitton's handbags, for instance, are among the most copied brands. As a result, owning an original in no big deal - in fact, there's a risk people might think your original is actually a knock-off. When Christian Dior licensed his brand to other categories, its equity dropped considerably because it was no longer an exclusive preserve of a few consumers. That any middle-class consumer can now afford a Mercedes-Benz thanks to aggressive financing means it doesn't have the same aspirational value.
Then there is the possibility of falling between two stools. Silverstein has warned that "…though masstige products in new categories have great potential, they can be attacked by products that offer similar benefits at a lower price or by premium products that deliver a greater number of genuine benefits for a small price increment. Every masstige product, therefore, is a candidate for death in the middle."
So, think before you jump onto the masstige bandwagon - it is bound to impact your mother brand one way or the other.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
