Who is my Customer?Who is my Customer?

Are you cool as a BRAND

By: Alok Sharma

alok_sharma1@yahoo.com

Can I b yr Tgt Custmr ?

New Generation• Bye to GenX, This is iGen.• They have most ipods & personal laptops in the country.• They blog.• They travel with friends not family.• World’s best hackers are from age 13 onwards.• 54% of Indian Population is below 25 year of age.• They are true multitaskers.- email, chatting, over phone and smsing at one time.• 25% of Asian youth admitted that they can not live without internet,• They spend more time on Music, Sports and online.• Least time spent is on magazine and newspapers.• They don’t have time- Cricket matches 5days -> 1 day-> 20:20; next what?• They have pure disposable income• They want to 'unbelong', stand apart and not merge or blend in .• Spread of Indian Youth- 10 years back Indian cricket Team was from Mumbai, Delhi,

now only Tendulkar, Dravid & Ganguly are from Metro.• They love movies like Rock On, Rang De Basanti not Don• They learn and use most of the complicate gadgets; adults - struggle to keep up.• 72% of Asian youth decide there apparel brand

• MTv research reveals that the country where young people had the greatest perceived sense of ‘wellbeing’ was India, followed by Sweden with the USA coming third.

• They don’t believe in Father figures, icons changes like seasons.• They look for “ whats cool” – Ipod is not cheap but in trend.• Current elections has conveyed youth is serious and well aware.• Is a GDP growth rate of three percent in an ageing country (US), with

a median age of 37, more attractive to a businessman than a GDP growth rate of 7 percent of a youthful country (India), where the median age is 24? With over a billion people, of whom more than 500 millions are under the age of 24. – That’s why every brand focusing youth is serious about INDIA.

As per KSA Youth Marathon survey

• 55% youth buys apparel from key high streets and malls.

• Basic spending is growing by 4% - Apparel, Books, Music, Movies, Vacation etc.

• Lifestyle spending is growing by 20%- Computers, Mobile Phones, Gaming consoles, internet connection etc

• In 1981 they were looking for 8 items now they are looking for 17 items.

• Threshold age of owning a mobile set is 16 years.

World’s youth Population-2005

Some findings

• "In every city you find young people upward of 21 moving out for different reasons“- even if parents are living in same city 

• 53% claim to have had premarital sex, half of them below 21, according to an MTV youth survey 

• Most young people are college educated here, unlike in the US where bulk of them tend to be high school dropouts

• "responsibility towards family and my freedom both are important."

• According to data available, around 50 percent of Bangalore's voting population belongs to the age group of 18-39.

• Gen Y is passe, say hello to the iGeneration or as they prefer to be known, iGen. Chanting the mantra of individuality, acquiring bite size chunks of knowledge from the internet and flashing their iPods, they are the new consuming class" 

Online Buying Habits of Indian Youth- Ebay india

• on an average day on eBay India, a stamp sells every 12 minutes and a coin or a note sells every 15 minutes.

• The youth also collect other interesting genres of collectibles & some clear trends emerge city wise:

• • Ahmedabadi youth collect key chains• • Hyderabadi youth prefer designer pens and football jerseys• • Chandigarh youth collect ties• • Delhi makes a style statement with Zippo lighters & miniature

cars• • Mumbai goes cultural with art• • Bangalore pays tribute to history with British India Coins & stays

contemporary with radio control toys• • Navasari (GJ) loves Bollywood Memorabilia• • Chennai collects die-cast toys

Some quotes

• Traditionally,'‘- ``being cool simply meant who you knew and what you wore; today, it's a much more multi-faceted thing involving knowledge, attitude, behavior and visual cues -- `experiential cool', in the marketers' jargon.''

• Indian youth key for all our designs: Renault India MD

• Youth Market moves in two speeds- Fast and VERY Fast – Research Agency

globally connected urban tribe

– male/female. “20-something”. middle-upper class.– urban dweller. educated. working. blue-chip. boutique.– entrepreneur. well-traveled. bars. clubs. restaurants.

– c a f e s . g a l l e r i e s . f i lm. e x h i b i t i o n s . s o c i a l .– gym. spa. yoga. balanced. media hungry.– gadgets. real world. virtual world. high speed.– wireless. connected. casual. luxury. fashionable.– opinion leader. trend conscious. trend watcher. trend– s e t t e r . c o n f i d e n t . s u c c e s s f u l . i n c o n t r o

l .

So which brands are doing youth marketing

the right way?

Source (pic) - http://www.flickr.com/photos/haani/2056702546/sizes/l/

Source - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tatianacardeal/36956189/

Youth is no longer a

demographic …it’s a mindset

A look at how youth are leading a rapid A look at how youth are leading a rapid transformation of how consumers interact transformation of how consumers interact

and engage with brandsand engage with brands

Dave KnoxBrand Manager

Procter & Gamble

Youth is no longer a

demographic …it’s a mindset

Insights into Youth Consumption Influences

There are 30 major influence groups and more than 80 influences driving young people’s consumption behaviour

Some of the influence groups include BargainInfluence, Advertising Influence, Celebrity Influence,

Maven Influence, WOM Influence

Do you know rest of the 25 influence groups?

Some of the 80 influences driving young people’sconsumption behaviour……..

Older Sibling Influence

TV Advertisement Influence

Brand Image Influence

Celebrity Influence

Group WOM Influence

Guess the rest of the 75 influences drivingyouth consumption behaviour

Stylistic and Capability Influence groups are at work during

selection of Mobile Phone Handsets

What are the other 17 groups that influence youth selection of handsets

WOM and Bargain Influence groups are at work during selection

of Mobile Network Operators

What are the other 9 groups that influence youth selection of MNO’s

Locality and Peer Pressure Influence groups are at work during

selection of Brands (clothes, cosmetics)

What are the other 18 groups influencing youth selection of Brands

Influences, which drive youth consumption are much more complex than people think it to be

Knowing all the influences is a big step towards understanding

Youth consumption behaviour

GENERATION TRENDSGeneration Trends

MOTIVATING FACTORSMotivating Factors

My Media Generation

Source – Yahoo Truly Madly Deeply Engaged Study

Key Youth Marketing Fundas

• What marketing strategies brands like – Red Bull, Crest, Motorola, BMW, Nike, Starbucks, etc adopt to gain acceptance…….

• Attention: The brain only processes 5% of the information it \"sees\" on an ongoing basis. Youth don’t wake up thinking about your brand

• We are moving from an era of finding customers for our products to one of finding products for our customers“

(Seth Godin)

• Brandwidth = trust + attention

High in demand, short in supply:

brandwidth is the raw material of youth marketing

• Youth don't wake up thinking about our brands. The stark realization is that youth don't give a **** about our latest product, technology or service - they only care about themselves \"The world doesn't need another Soda\" (Jones Soda Founder Van Stolk)

• Network Era In the Network era Industrial tactics are surpassed by the more effective dialogue and legacy building . Networked brands such as Jones Soda, Red Bull, Threadless, Scion and Starbucks can grow without recourse to extensive advertising campaigns.

• Partnership Marketing What Red Bull knows that Pepsi doesn’t is that their best marketers are the customers. Are you marketing to or marketing with youth?

• Passionistas Stop wasting your time on trying to convert the unconverted. Find that 10% of your market already sold on your product and give them something to care about

• The Pepsi Generation Youth have moved on but we’re still marketing like it’s 1969 Pepsi, “the choice of a generation”: * Tell them you’re cool * Tell them in a BIG way * Keep telling them You cannot buy youth Brandwidth like this any more you need to earn it

• Relevance: Don’t be good be relevant Brands are slowing waking up to the realization that advertising Reach no longer works. Youth no longer need to compromise so big means nothing. Youth seek out the most relevant Social Currency for their lifestyle

• Personalization: ----- Pull the TRIGGER

If youth term your brand as “It's cool, fun” You are there.

• Social Currency Social currency is the unit of social interaction. How much Social Currency bang can I get for my buck from this product? How does it help me be significant and how does it help me belong? What is the Social Currency of your product?

• Social Fabric Great youth brands know that they can sell more products by not selling. Rather than sell to youth they focus on helping youth connect with one another. They want to be the Social Fabric of the youth universe.

• Platforms Don’t sell the product, sell the ability to connect customers How do brands such as Red Bull and Jones Soda make their customers care about fizzy flavored soda in a can where Pepsi fails? The difference is simple – one is looking for customers for its products while the others are finding products for their customers.

• X-Factor What is remarkable about your product?

When was the last time you saw an advert for Google or Facebook? The X Factor that advertising has for so long provided unremarkable brands is the ability for customers to talk about something meaningful. What is the X-Factor that will get them talking? Are you relying on your creative agency to come up with answers or are you looking for them out there on campuses, at events and in the streets?

• Lifestyle or the Product:Red Bull will become the gold standard of youth

marketing because it understand its business is “ENERGY” not “energy drinks”

Just as apparel companies need to consider there business as “social fabric of youth” not an apparel.

• Successful youth brands have focused marketing not on awareness but on building sustainable grass roots. Support at the local & micro levels

Grass Roots = Grass Routes–

• Benchmarking never gave us the ipods, walkmans or even the mobile phones. All came from some one's ability to employ uncommon sense – Thinking, that challenges the received wisdom, asking “what if?”

• Marketing is no longer something you do with youth but something you do with them.

• Awareness means nothing- when was the last time you bought an

Ambassador car

• Key Drivers– Can you help me BELONG

– Can you help me be SIGNIFICANT

These are the two timeless & culturally independent request youth have from youth brand.

• Good youth marketing is focused on share of customers not share of market

• GROWTH: Imagine a virgin market of new set of customers the size of EUROPE every year

• LEGACY:When marketing campaigns end and the ADVT

money runs out “WHAT IS LEFT”Are you propping up the market with

campaigns or creating a LEGACY

Campaigns: Kill your campaign and start creating something ( to youth campaigns are increasingly ineffective because as soon as they done they forget about you.)

Attention: If you want there attention Give something first.

World’s Best Taglines• We are all created equal, but after that, its upto you.

Harley Davidson. ( old)• American by birth. Rebel by choice.

Harley Davidson (new)• “NEVER FOLLOW”

Audi

• “Wassup?!” Budweiser

• Between love and madness lies obsession. Calvin Klein• Nothing comes between me and my Calvins. Calvin Klein Jeans• Finger-lickin’ good! Kentucky Fried Chicken

Cont…

• Just do it. Nike• At the heart of the image. Nikon• The ultimate driving machine. BMW• If you want to capture someone's attention,

whisper. Coty Perfume• The power of all of us. eBay• Don’t dream it. Drive it. Jaguar• Believe. Yahoo! Personals

Strategy

• Key Model- College Boy, Gang• Communication- Current themes- IPL,

Elections, FIFA, Ragging, • Key products: Knits & Denims.• Key seasons:

– June July Aug: salute ( Admission) Line– Sep Oct Nov: impression ( open up) Line– Dec Jan Feb: bash ( Party time) Line– Mar Apr May: cramming ( exam) line

Highlighters

• Organize Fresher Day• Sponsor College festivals• Scholarships• Mr. and Miss College.• Biking competition• Save glacier campaign- college students going to

Tibet, etc.• E-community- e.g.like Jago re or application on

Facebook

Online Activity- Place to hangaround of new generation

• Banner on gaming sites- indiagames.com etc• Articles- Website

– Current News.– Career Options– Latest trends,– Latest gadgets,– What happening around- great palces to be seen ( new

pub, disco), College Festivals- give banner space to colleges to highlight there events

– How to maintain – bikes, ipods, etc– Counseling- There fears, guidance etc

Descriptive

• Demographic: Age, Gender, Education, income• Psychographic: Intrest, opinion, values,

lifestyle.• Consumption: Usage rate, satisfaction, loyalty,• Psychological influence: personality, self

image, perception, involvement,• Social Influence: Culture, social class, family

Location

• Metro,• Urban, rural

• Brand Personality:– Young, energy, exciting

– Low involvement products

Thks