The Hindu Business Line : What brands need to do

Marketers are pondering a startling New Year’s question: will there be a shortage of consumers in the new year and how alarming will this shortage be? Perspiring along with them are advertising honchos, media folks, brand consultants and other s whose fortunes hang on this answer. We believe this nervous approach is not becoming of the marketing profession, which has confidently led a century of consumers through upturns and downturns. Instead, marketers should ask the infinitely more exciting question: What are the key consumer needs our brand can fulfil during 2009?

The reason is simple. When economic buoyancy exists, most brands tend to do well. A high tide carries all boats along, unless your boat springs a leak. On the other hand, when economic head winds and a slowdown comes into play, brands which understand and smartly leverage topical consumer needs perform brilliantly. The rest are grounded or begin to collapse, because there is no secular tide to coast on. Witness, for instance, the birth of great cosmetic brands such as Coco Chanel during the Great Depression of the 1930s. They understood and delivered what consumers needed in such trying times.

It is also true that during a year likely to be saddled with many economic uncertainties, some specific human needs will tower over the rest, because needs arise from fundamental human dissatisfactions, tensions and desires, and these are quite different in bad times compared to the good. Also because in times of economic stress, consumers are forced to make choices more sharply and more often. They will, therefore, become increasingly conscious of their strongest needs and focus on fulfilling them. In an environment where job losses are a regular feature, a holiday to the Swiss Alps, for instance, may not be high on a computer professional’s needs.

The New Year will be marked by razor-sharp consumer choices. Brands which best fulfil the fundamental needs which underlie these choices will win. What are the five strongest human needs which are likely to dominate 2009? Here is our hypothesis.

The need for security and safety

In a slowing world, where job losses are dominating several sectors, salary increases are becoming a rarity, banks have collapsed and a housing bubble is beginning to unravel, many consumer groups are feeling increasingly insecure. This tension may manifest itself most prominently amongst groups such as yuppies, families dependent on salaries from US multinationals, automobile and realty companies — possibly the worst-hit sectors. On the other hand, Government employees, doctors and families in the FMCG sector may not be directly affected at all.

Brands in many areas can feed this need wonderfully well. Amongst the most obvious are financial sector brands — Indian public sector banks such as SBI, insurance brands such as LIC. But so can brands in other diverse fields including realty companies, educational institutions, consumer durables and religion. If a management institute or a home security system can offer reassurance of unquestionable quality and use this foundation to feed the emotion of security, the brand will surely make consumers feel far safer — particularly since large amounts of monies are invested in making these purchases.

Interestingly, this need can also be leveraged strongly by employer brands such as Tata and Hindustan Unilever to attract the best talent. They offer stabler and more secure careers in addition to exciting workplaces.

The need for trust

Over the past 12 months, Indian consumers have come to mistrust several parts of their environment. After many years, the stock market can suddenly no longer be trusted; it sank like a stone and now yo-yos wildly. Banks, once the most rock solid of institutions, can no longer be trusted; witness the number of global banks which have collapsed. The Government can no longer be trusted to defend our people. Even the value of your house (perhaps your most precious material possession) cannot be trusted, it has begun declining and who knows where it will settle down. So consumers are starved of trust, and will embrace brands which can occupy this space in their lives. Brands which position themselves as reliable and trustworthy will be strong winners this year. Fortunately for marketers, trust works well across categories — whether you are peddling toothpaste, a watch or contraceptives. Also, the quality of trust can be appropriated most easily by established brands and market leaders. This is where Colgate, Jet Airways and Maruti Suzuki should head.

The need to escape

If the downturn lasts several months, consumers will feel increasingly caged, experience increasing urges to break free and “leave it all behind”, even if for a brief while. Brands which offer harmless escape routes will surely have a brilliant year, particularly if they price themselves well. Movies, media and books which feed fantasy, domestic Indian resorts, spas, cosmetics, and, of course, the usual escape artistes — alcohol and cigarettes. But think about this for a moment: Even products such as tea and coffee, bed linen, lingerie, automobiles, soft drinks and paints can feed this desperate need to escape. Only marketers’ imagination will define how well we will seize this opportunity. We can already see where Ayush, Zee TV, Tata Safari, Green Label Darjeeling Tea and Nerolac Paints need to head.

The need to celebrate

In an environment where moments of natural rejoicing will be relatively few, consumers will crave occasions to celebrate. We will try to get these moments of celebration particularly perfect because they are rare. We will also look forward to small celebrations (in our homes, offices and minds) because celebrations make us happy and renew our positive bonds with our circle of humanity — particularly if we are in sectors affected by the slowing economy. This holds great opportunity for brands which can become our partners in celebration.

Lifestyle brands — fashion apparel, wrist watches, shoes, motor bikes, retail stores — are well placed to build on this consumer need. The act of buying into a discretionary lifestyle accessory, even visiting a lifestyle store, can become an act of celebration in defiance of odds. Product categories associated with weddings are also perfectly placed. Brighter colours, happier moods and more exuberant images set amidst affordable prices can feed this hunger. But it’s not difficult to see how brands across multiple product categories can leverage this need. A new television set, a new mobile phone, a special box of chocolates – all can be positioned as acts of celebration. This is fertile territory for Titan, Cadbury, Sony, Nokia, Shoppers Stop, Pizza Hut and so many others in the year ahead.

The need to win

This is a strong human desire in the best of times. In the year ahead the need to win will be even stronger. It will be stronger because consumers will experience the pain of losing far more often than in a normal year. A fall in the price of your house or the value of your stock portfolio is a loss, even if notional. A lower increase or no increase in salary is a loss in relative terms. A colleague losing a good job is a loss. Negative headlines in the media also build a sense of loss. It is in times such as this that victory will be most sweet.

Brands can enable perceptions of victory in consumers’ lives in many ways. Casinos and lotteries do this well, hence they perform particularly well during downturns. But across all products, a special or limited-period deal is perceived as a victory by consumers.

A reduction in price leads consumers to feel they have won at the expense of some large faceless corporation. Value-adds provided free or at nominal cost help consumers feel they have won. Brands which help you win in love or life can help create a sustained feeling of victory. An opportunity to participate in a sweepstake or mega-contest creates great anticipation of victory. So this is a year when marketers should not shy away from configuring smart seasonal offers, offering more products at the same price or using price as a powerful bait.

The New year will thus see the sharp dominance of five strong fundamental human needs — security, trust, escape, celebration and victory. Marketers and brands who seize these opportunities brilliantly will win. A “shortage of consumers” will only be a weak excuse for the rest.

Harish Bhat is Chief Operating Officer (Watches) of Titan Industries Ltd.

Suparna Mitra heads global marketing for Titan. These are their personal views.

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