Market mantra for 2013

The Mayan era is done with. And we survived it. As 2013 dawns, what’s ahead for Brand India? Plenty, provided the mindset is to reap the plenty. Read a lot in those words, as this ‘sneak-peek’ piece is all about reaping the opportunity that lies in the largest of the masses, rather than the old approach, which has held us in good stead over the last several decades, of “reaping the niches”.

The year, and indeed the decade, ahead of us is all about looking at market opportunity with a different set of spectacles. If I were to summarise it for the Twitter-gen, I would put it thus in 31 characters: Get inclusive, or get excluded.

The idea is a simple one. An old one as well, but one seldom heeded by a nation that was plucking the low hanging fruit of market opportunity that lay with those who had early-money in their hands. Now, since that opportunity seems to be drying up, time to think different and look at the masses with a keener glad-eye than before.

The world is today all of seven billion people. And 1.2 billion of them reside in India. Maybe a lot more than that. Of the world’s total population, as much as five billion are those a typical marketer would put outside of the active branded consumption mindset. This mass is really large. This group is one that is growing not only in size, but aspiration as well.

If you look at India, this mass could be as large as 840 million people, waiting on the precipice of a brand buy. Eight hundred and forty million people who have a skin-deep penetration of brands today. And most of the brands that have penetrated their lifestyles may be in the realm of telecom, telecom services, and basic FMCG products. Imagine the opportunity ahead as this mass booms in terms of aspiration to buy and consume. Imagine the opportunity ahead as this mass moves from products to services. From the basic to the value-added segment as well.

In many ways, modern India was built by brands that started their work in the first few years of the last decade. Look at telecom. Telecom brands have helped place 942 million handsets in the palms of as many as 670 million people. The halfway mark has been breached. Look at the telecom service providers who power these handsets with basic and value-added services. Look at every FMCG player in the market who has quietly built a super-structure of active consumption of brands. India is a nation of 1.2 billion bellies and bladders. As many bellies, that much opportunity for food; as many bladders, that much opportunity for every kind of beverage. And guess what? The Indian at large has not only a belly and bladder — add to it 31 other body parts that crave branded solutions. The hair for hair oil and hair dye, the skin for moisturisers and vitamin creams, and lots more.

The real opportunity ahead is looming large, and lies in India’s under-penetrated categories, in rural and urban areas. Our big asset is our population. And its time to deliver has come. The marketing and brand fraternity needs to wake up and leverage the advantage.

There is a problem, though. The opportunity is out there in terms of numbers, but it can be leveraged only by those who believe in ‘market creation’ exercises, rather than ‘market reaping’ processes that have dominated past decades. Time to change that mindset altogether.

Markets of the future, which lie in the realm of the bottom five billion of the world, will need to be created rather than reaped. And that mindset that needs to dominate 2013: Create first, reap later. The era of instant gratification for the marketer is over.

The trends that will dominate market creation activities in the years ahead will be aided and guided ably by systems and processes that are falling into place. The UIDAI Aadhaar, its financial inclusion goals, its real pan-national roll-out, and the tools of schemes such as the Government’s DCT (Direct Cash Transfer) scheme, will all help and spur the movement of market creation.

Till now, as much as Rs 3,50,000 crore was reaching the bottom end of the market as subsidies and transfers that were less efficient and leaky in the delivery pattern. As the subsidy regime gives way to DCT, it means one big thing for the salivating marketer. When subsidies are doled out, the consumer receives kerosene and has to use it. The consumer gets rice and fertiliser and pesticide, and has to use it or re-sell it at sub-optimal prices. Now, if DCT finally kicks in, it means there is money in the bank accounts of the consumers. This money will find its way into consumption. And this consumption is going to spur market opportunity. As more money enters consumer wallets at the bottom of the pyramid, more expenditure happens.

As India becomes an opportunity that is getting bigger and bigger, marketers need to become inclusive. The marketer needs to think of the masses that are larger than what he defined them to be. He needs to reach out to potential consumers and non-consumers alike. Every brand offering needs to have two avatars — one for the potential buyer, and one for the non-buyer. The marketer needs to mollycoddle the non-buyer as well, with the hope of making him a vital part of his future market. Marketers who forget this basic tenet will be excluded from consumer mindsets.

In future, you cannot depend on advertising to buy markets. You will need to depend on your market creation work. The India Marketing Rubik’s cube is in your hands. You need to create the right picture on every side of the cube, not only the one side you were comfortable with all these decades.

Get inclusive. Or get excluded. Touché.

Harish Bijoor is a business strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.

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