By Ashraf Engineer, Head-Content Hanmer MSL
Why is Procter & Gamble moving its beauty and grooming business to Asia? “Because Asia has been the most exciting market so far, and has grown to offer the most opportunities.” pointed out Glenn Osaki, MSGLROUP Asia president, to an auditorium full of students at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai on August 23.
We have come to the last post in our ‘Conversations With India’s Youth’ series, and this week, our 20:20 MSL colleagues explore the value of the celebrity brand ambassador. Do they still influence audiences or is the Indian consumer, today, more engaged by authentic storytelling? This is what Kary, Tanay, Aashima and Deepti of 20:20 MSL think…
We’d like to thank all of our contributors over the past eight weeks, and hope you have enjoyed the insights shared by @kiran_kary, @tanay1Jan, @aashima05, @DeeptiGahrotra, @simplyritz, @radhikanandwani, @NehaChandra3.
Courtesy: Flickr - Kiwanja
An Economic survey 2011-12 suggests that India will be one of the youngest nations by 2020. This means a productive and a ‘consuming’ nation and has implications for the brands marketing to this generation – they need a youthful kick! A Google search on creative communications campaigns throws up a gamut of links related to many Indian brands and it is interesting to explore the ‘connect’ that brands seek to achieve with Indian youth.
Once upon a time, India existed in popular imagination as a patriarchal country steeped in tradition, in which Indian women were perceived as demure. For earlier generations, including Indians in their 50s or 60s, imagining an alternate reality, for Indian women was impossible.
Today, the young urban Indian woman has come out of her shell and there seems to be no looking back. From a ‘home maker’ she aspires to be a ‘breadwinner’. As more women enter the workforce, take home fatter pay packets and become independent, an increasing number are investing in flats, cars, two-wheelers and finance.
In our previous blog, we talked about the lives and attitude of the Indian youth stressing the importance they attach to internet access and social media. However, to look at social media as the only medium by which to connect with this generation would only serve a discerning view of their preferences.
“Spoilt for choice” is an understatement for Indian youth in an environment where mobility rules media consumption. The real social experience that the older generation so loved has now moved to the virtual world.
By Kary, Radhika, Tanay, Neha, Ritesh of 20:20 MSL
A journey through India is not possible without encountering a young bunch of people passionately debating technologies, sports and even political issues. With easy access to information thanks to the internet and the media boom, awareness levels of Indian youth are accelerating at an unmatched pace. To add icing to the cake, spending capacities of young India are also at an all-time high. For instance, a research survey conducted by Hindustan Times shows that 40% of youth from cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai spend up to Rs 4,000 (approx 76 USD) a month on buying branded clothes, while 35% spent Rs 5, 000 (approx 95 USD) on the same. This is a direct result of the economic liberalization process initiated in 1991 which resulted in the growth of newer industries like IT/ITeS and also media and communications.
Photo by Royal Challengers Bangalore on facebook
In 2008, a whirlwind hit world cricket.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 format tournament that borrowed heavily from the English Premier League and the National Basketball Association, was a broadcaster’s dream. Advertisers queued up, shelling out millions to be associated with the brand. Everything that could be sponsored – from the stumps to umpires’ jerseys – was put up on the auction block. Deals were struck for everything that could be sold, from ringtones to merchandise. Players were ‘bought’ for millions of dollars, Bollywood royalty was signed to perform and egg on the crowds, and cheerleaders competed with players for the camera’s attention.
Our previous posts discussed the insights discovered in MSL China’s executive whitepaper, “For the Love of Luxury” on three types of young female luxury consumers: Desktop Cinderellas, Golden Dolls, Trench Coat Tigers that we have indentified in our report. Today, we will share some recommendations for engaging these consumers.
Despite having different backgrounds, lifestyles and shipping preferences, they all have a common desire for luxury products and aspire to set themselves apart. They claim to be more sophisticated and knowledgeable about luxury and lifestyle related matters than the ‘baofahu’ or ‘newly rich’ and try to distinguish from each other by emphasizing their personal style or buying exclusive products.
The three types of young Chinese luxury loving females that we have identified were briefly introduced in the last post. Today, we will be sharing insights from MSL China’s executive whitepaper “For the Love of Luxury” on differing consumer behaviors and brand preferences between the three groups, and what marketers can consider when formulating their engagement strategy.
Purchasing Power and Shopping Experiences are Distinguishing Factors
You may have recently seen the wonderful news that our Taiwan agency, ICL MSL, was recently awarded PR Agency of the Year by the Advertisers Association in Taiwan. It doesn’t stop there, they were also awarded Best Practice in Creativity for their Reebok EasyTone ‘No Pants Day’ campaign! Want to know what makes this award-winning agency so special? Then check out the videos below…
