The Hindu Business Line : Managing the contradictions

India is a society where modern and traditional values co-exist, and marketers would do well to understand this ability to include. Various instances of this `and-ness' exist, be it the seeming contrast between the need for power play and equality of opportunity, or a democratic system and the importance given to political heirs. The first part of this article appeared in the previous edition of BrandLine.

THE MODERN INDIAN: Reconciling contrasting values. _ Falguni Gokhale, Design Directions

The desire for `and-ness' results in a culture of open secrecy and cover-up.

Individual choice, peer pressure and respect for elders: The idea of individual choice and the pursuit of personal happiness leads modern urban Indians to want to try out a whole lot of activities - drinking, smoking, partying, travelling alone, sexual experimentation and such that break the boundaries of accepted and normative behaviour of their community. At the same time, they don't want to lose the respect and regard of the elders of the community who are the guardians of traditional values.

Where from does this fear of displeasing elders arise? What atavistic side of Indians does this reflect? It begins with the relative moral stance of Hinduism as a religion. In the Hindu world view, `right' and `wrong' are relative; they emerge as clear distinctions only out of the total configuration of the four co-ordinates of action (the culture in which a person is born, the period of historical time in which one lives, the efforts required at different stages of life and on innate psycho-biological traits which are the heritage of an individual's previous lives).

The individual can never `know' in any absolute sense, nor even significantly influence this configuration. It is given. Thus his actions are governed by a more permissive and gentle, but much more ambiguous, thou-can-but-try precept. If the search for certainty is futile, one can at least increase one's sense of psychological security by acting as one's ancestors did in the past and as one's social group does at present. Thus, much of individual behaviour and adaptation to the environment is taken care of by a communal conscience. This comprises, from the beginning, not just exclusive parental injunctions but family and social group norms. As a result, instead of having one internal sentinel, an Indian relies on many `external' watchmen to patrol his activities and especially his relationships with all the social hierarchies. Finally, an individual tends to consider the violation of traditional codes reprehensible only when it displeases or saddens those elders who are the personal representatives of his communal conscience.

The result of this constant balancing act of modern Indians, between satisfying individual desire and respecting elders (the communal conscience) is that every modern Indian is a conspirator - he/she is conspiring with friends or family to conceal some behaviours from authority figures and elders. It's a scene played out in millions of homes - daughters want to wear mini skirts and spaghetti straps which their dads disapprove of. Their mothers permit them to wear it to friends' parties, without the fathers' knowledge. Siblings hide the truth of their love affairs from parents for fear of disapproval. Men cover up for other men who they know are cheating on their wives. Mothers of teenage daughters and sons in metro cities know that when they go out as a mixed group, there must be some level of sexual experimentation going on. They don't ask, the children don't tell. And deep down they hold to the belief that other teenagers might be doing this, but `not my son or daughter.'

In changing India, "everyone in my peer group is doing it" is an argument that people are extraordinarily susceptible to, and which young people use to great effect with their parents, when they know they are transgressing the traditional codes of their community, hence failing the communal conscience.

Desire for pleasure, indulgence and scarcity consciousness: The co-existence of these values results in a high degree of value-seeking behaviour and enormous pride in `smart' buying.

In the visitor's book of a premium diamond jewellery store in South Mumbai, a prospective buyer wrote, "Your store is fantastic, it has taken my breath away and exceeded all expectations. My suggestion would be that for valued customers you should give Rs 5,000 off on purchases exceeding Rs 50,000 and have a points-based reward system." A modern Indian, while succumbing to the temptations of shopping and lifestyle spending, is always conscious that scarcity may never be too far away. Driving a hard bargain and obtaining the best price for a high-end purchase is automatic behaviour and a sign of "smartness," a source of pride. The mass consumer believes that great product + great image + great service @ a great price = great value and will hold out to get such value from the brands and products she buys.

What are the implications of the modern Indian's quest for `and-ness' for marketers?

Understand the interplay of modern and traditional values at work in your category and address it, to emerge a winner. Ignore it at your peril.

This is particularly required if there is a conflict between the modern values the new brand/product is bringing, and traditional values and codes. In such a case, the brand needs to provide the Indian with a route to satisfying his need for `and-ness' in order to succeed.

New foods in India offer a clear illustration of this principle. The Global Fast Food brands such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut have understood that the modern values they offer are in the décor, service and branding experience. But they need to adapt their products to cater to the Indian palate, ergo, the availability of aloo tikki burgers and masala paneer pizzas. As a result of addressing `and-ness' they have found significant success. On the other hand, a leading breakfast food brand has stood steadfast in its adherence to its Western product format and positioning. Its global product format strongly violates the Indian cultural imprint of food. By staying rigid and not giving the Indian consumer a way to satisfy her need for `and-ness', the brand and category have languished in the periphery of consumer consciousness.

Search for big ideas that offer the consumer a blend of modernity and tradition.

In 2000, the Diamond Trading Company launched Nakshatra, the first advertised and promoted diamond jewellery brand in the Indian market. It glamorised the traditional idea of jewellery as adornment and beauty by using the star Aishwarya Rai as its brand ambassador. The product was a contemporised rendition of a traditional, floral seven-stone cluster. All-in-all, the Nakshatra package offered women the perfect blend of tradition and modernity and the rest, as they say, is history. In the span of six short years, Nakshatra has become one of India's super brands and is the leading diamond jewellery brand in the country.

Keep a look out for new combinations of tradition and modernity that emerge, as trends to tap into.

Re-mix music, Indo-western clothing, ayurveda therapy centres, news as an entertaining spectacle, televised debates and chat shows, reiki, pranic healing, tarot reading ... the list of trends that have emerged as business opportunities in the past 15 years is endless.

A large, centre-of-the-market brand's personality needs to offer a combination of modern and traditional values to appeal to and bond with the mass consumer. A brand personality that seems too Western and modern will be seen as being too individualistic and selfish and rejected as "not for me."

Prepare to address value-seeking behaviour

The Indian consumer, whether rich or middle class will scrutinise the components of value that the brand delivers, and will negotiate hard on price. She will expect freebies and promotions of various kinds as a matter of course, as a smart marketer's payback to her, for her loyal custom.

Finally, using a celebrity in brand communication is a sure-fire, winning strategy.

References:

The Inner World - Prof. Sudhir Kakar, Oxford University Press, 1996

The Culture Code - Prof. Clotaire Rapaille

Newsletters # 85, 86 of Archetype Discoveries Worldwide, written by Prof. Clotaire Rapaille