Marketing in tough times

Are the “tough times” here? Am I going through the “tough marketing times” everyone is talking about?

- Nalina Ganapathi, Mumbai.

Nalina, if you can’t feel it, it mustn’t be here. So enjoy.

I, however, believe that tough times are most certainly here on our marketing shores. In the beginning the categories that took a bit of the jolt were categories such as the heavier priced categories such as automotives, durables and in some cases, even high-end telecom products. And then the trend of under-consumption, reduced consumption, longer replacement cycles and postponement of purchase hit others. The moment this trend hits categories such as FMCG, the cycle is complete and tough times are staring at us.

In all this tumult, the category of luxury, as usual, is untouched and above it all. Snootily above it all. So if you are in the luxury market, enjoy as well.

Another category that has not taken a hit due to these tough times is the cosmetics category. In tough times, it looks like people do not compromise on the basic beauty product. The new adage seems to be, “if they cannot have bread, let them have lipstick”. Some banking and financial products that seem to put an accent on savings are growing as well. In tough times you are reminded of the worth of the savings umbrella. Some banking products are doing well on this score.

In sheer advertising terms as well, some banks are waking up to the fact that they are seen as negative brands in tough financial times. The banking industry at large is considered a villain. And therefore in these categories, the savvier banks have stepped in with a focus on advertising to and with children. The idea is to build a new base altogether. I call this soft branding. And soft branding is certainly a tool for those who have lost their image with the hardbitten old ones in society.

Modern trade beating-up is a trend one witnesses with political parties of every colour. Is this right? Are they right? Or am I who runs one with passion right?

- Rohit Balaraman, Bangalore.

Rohit, in a world where nothing is right and nothing is wrong, I will not pass a value judgment on this question of yours and clear your conscience in apparent turmoil. Instead, let me give my view. I am sure that will help as well.

I do believe that retail density and the quality of retail that a city and a country boasts is representative of the quality-of-life index of its people. When you walk into a store in New York, you understand the quality of life of a New Yorker, just as you understand people’s lifestyle when you enter a store on the streets of Dhaka or Ho Chi Minh City.

Whether it be “organised retail” of the modern format, or whether it be what I call “more organised retail” of the mom-and-pop store kind, retail reveals a lot. Retail presence, type, density and quality have a story to tell of a city and its peoples.

Within Bangalore itself, where you and I live, you will see retail density differs area to area. In Chikpet, you will see mom-and-pop stores cheek by jowl. On Vittal Mallya Road, which is fast emerging as Bangalore’s Golden Mile of premium retail, you will see density, but of a different quality altogether. Both these areas tell a story. A story that reveals a lot.

Retail density is an indicator of buying power as well. It is indicative of the quality of buying, affordability indices of the locality and lots more. Within the context of Bangalore we witness two types of retail movements. One is the premium retail movement and the other is the mass. Both are growing by leaps and bounds. Areas such as Vittal Mallya Road, MG Road, Brigade Road, Koramangala, Indiranagar, and fringe localities such as Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Kamanahalli, HSR Layout and Whitefield have emerged as leaders in retail density norms.

Even as we speak, Koramangala has emerged as the area with the highest density of eating places in Bangalore. Add to it the status of a Vittal Mallya Road, which boasts standalone premium retail outlets like an Atmosphere furnishings store and a cluster of luxury retail within UB City, and Bangalore is a veritable democracy of retail. Every value cluster finds a presence and the clusters are widening and deepening alike. There is plenty of joy in Bangalore retail. We are at a take-off stage.

Forget the political parties and the politician for now. You are most certainly not doing anything wrong. Trust that helps.

Kids have emerged as big participants in the advertising game today. Why?

- Mohan K. Bhat, Mumbai.

Mohan, this question seems to flow seamlessly with my answer to the first one. Therefore, in brief, developing nations such as India show a tendency of kids waking up more to the marketing format at hand than kids in submerged nations such as Africa. Kids are today very important decision support systems and form a very important part of the ecosystem of marketing at large. To that extent, marketing in the country has become more and more inclusive with kids playing a big role.

Brands in the financial services sector, for one, are focusing on kids today in India. The logic is a sane one. Banks and financial institutions that help leverage consumer money are the ones with the worst image ties with the adult populations. Banks, for instance, are seen to be “usurping” and seem to be very self-centred entities at large. The solution: soft branding.

There seems to plenty of outsourcing of advertising from India today. When did it all start?

- Akanksha Jairaj, New Delhi.

Akanksha, outsourcing advertising out of India started well nigh nearly in the Seventies when India just about woke up as the creative hub in the making. The first movement at outsourcing started with a spate of joint ventures between Western and Indian advertising agencies. The idea was a simple one. The overseas entity would bring in money, the bulk of the creative, global practice, and the Indian entity would open up its existing client list to the overseas entity. As the years went by, the Indian creative guy got scented out as a low-priced resource as well. This resulted in movements within the joint venture from Mumbai to London and not necessarily vice versa. That was the first bite of outsourcing.

The Eighties and Nineties saw names such as Chaitra-Leo Burnett, Trikaya-Grey, MAA-Bozell and lots more. The advertising agency was no longer Indian. It had become Anglo-Indian, American-Indian and Japanese-Indian even.

The outsourcing movement then deepened in the Nineties when media-related work (quite akin to a KPO work) got outsourced to Indian arms. And then came real recognition when creative work got outsourced. The Indian creative mind came into the spotlight. Today, happily, this is where it is.

Harish Bijoor is a business strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. askharishbijoor@gmail.com

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