We have had Thums Up, Titan, Karizma
NO. India has seen the creation of some great brands for the youth over the past few decades. Those of us who were in our teens in the late 70s and early 80s could hardly think of being ‘cool’ without a Thums Up in hand. The list is long and exciting: Lakme and Elle 18, launched by the Tatas for the teenybopper crowd; Titan Fast Track; Hero Honda’s Karizma and Bajaj Pulsar in two-wheelers, Limca, launched by the Parle Group and subsequently acquired by Coca Cola. Kingfisher from the UB Group stable has of course, acquired iconic proportions among youth within, and beyond, India. Another brand which is in the making is Café Coffee Day, signifying a great gathering place for youth. And why not? India is a young country with over 60% of the population being below 30 years of age. It is critical for companies to talk to the young. They are after all, very early adopters and must have their own brands. Brands like Thumps Up, Limca and Lakme — all of which were born in the 1970s as a result of visionary thinking of their founders — were created specifically to reflect the ‘Can-do’ attitude of young Indians. Each of them provided a wellrounded experience and transcended geographical borders in their appeal. The fact that some of them have been acquired by MNCs to bolster their portfolios is testimony to their enduring nature. The two-wheeler segment is arena that abounds with examples — be it TVS with its Scooty, Hero Honda with Karizma or Bajaj with Pulsar. All of them have created distinct positions in the youth’s mind. What each of them play up are styling and maneuverability. Catering to young college-going students — for whom this was often their first bike — they are also fuel efficient with easy financing options, keeping in mind limited budgets of their Target Audience. Karizma and Pulsar are for youngsters wanting to make a lifestyle statement — sleek and stylish with huge ‘flaunt’ value. Finally, there is no dearth of youth brands in the telecom sector, a sector that itself is relatively young. It is the country’s young who are the first adopters of telephony. Airtel keeps introducing for its young audiences offerings like its MTV Card and Magic. To sum up, the commonality in all youth brands is that they have delved into the mindset of the youth, gained distinct insights and tailor-made their offerings around them. This was then supplemented by great advertising, reaching out to the youth through youth channels. In addition, they were backed by 360 degree activation around youth agglomerations – college fests, multiplexes, concerts, and in recent times, reaching out using the new media like the internet. I therefore, rest my case that India and Indians have been very successful at creating youth brands.
The writer is director marketing, Nokia India
Maggi, Heinz, Puma are surely not local brands
Shailesh Chaturvedi , YES. The “Don’t ever use what Dad is using,” theme has always been at the heart of aspiration of the youth segment. In my college days in the late 80’s, we wore Proline Tshirts, Flying Machine Jeans (FU’s jeans were cooler still), Woodland rugged shoes and looked into Titan watches while waiting for girlfriends. Most of these Indian brands have, unfortunately, not kept pace with the times and have become papa’s brands while Nike/Tommy/Diesel continue to retain parts of their young appeal. Let’s cut to another age. My six-year-old son’s favourite brands are Maggi Noodles, Heinz ketchup, Puma shoes. There are hardly any Indian brands in his preference set (other than Haldiram Bhujia and Kaju Katli). In a decade from now, he will enter the youth segment with hardly any Indian brands in his preference set. When one analyses the trends of the last two decades, one realises that India has not been able to create or sustain youth brands. In my industry (apparel and lifestyle products), jeans and sneakers are two very important categories for the youth. Unfortunately, there are hardly any Indian brands in both these key categories. While Nike/Adidas/Reebok remain leading shoe brands with youth, Levi’s/Pepe/Giordano may be strong brands with youth in ‘popular priced jeans’ segment, while Diesel, CK or Tommy Jeans are the important jeans brands in the ‘aspirational’ jeans segment. There are no important Indian brands to talk about here. Reasons for inability of local brands to connect with youth segment, especially in India, may include the following:
The issue of sustainability:
Youth segment demands constant innovation. Many Indian brands like Proline, Titan, Woodlands, Flying Machine, Liberty shoes started with energy and unique ideas but most of them could not sustain the tempo and the youth brigade migrated to the latest brand on the horizon with the cooler attitude.
The fear of loss of existing core consumers:
As the existing core users of a brand start to age (‘Papa-isation’), their tastes start to change gradually. At the same time, the youth of the time may demand a complete new makeover.
The common language:
Tech-savvy youth endorse a common language in this information age. They follow the same role models, watch the same TV programmes and play with the same games on their wireless game consoles.
Older youth Icons in India:
In most polls on youth icons, one sees the names like Amitabh, SRK, and Sachin. They have already grown old. These idols favour more mature brands.
The writer is CEO, Tommy Hilfiger Apparel, India. These are the writer’s personal views and do not reflect the views of his organisation.
THE HEAT is on, April is knocking on the doors. And marketers — from budget airlines and travel agents to cola biggies and AC makers — are drooling. Summer of 2007 promises to be packed with big action and big new launches... and the buzzword is the “young consumer.” “Companies will also be focused on kids, as they would be enjoying vacations and are the perfect target audience,” feels Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. From Les Elfes, a company that’s organising two-week adventure camps in locales such as Switzerland and Australia for kids at Rs 1.5 lakh per participant, to Coca Cola’s ‘Red Lounge’ - a destination for the youth to hangout, surf the net, chat and watch TV — the kids will be woo’d in a big way this summer. And if it’s good to be young, it’s even better to be cool - specially in the sizzling summer. So from Lacoste’s French Riviera collection in innovative light fabrics, to funky, floral Tees and tank tops from Adidas, the cool quotient will be high in the branded fashion apparel section this summer. “All things cool and breezy will be the flavour of the season,” says Mr Bijoor. This is also set to be the summer of a big splash from the organised retail segment. “Summer 2007 will see new products being launched and jostling for space in the big retail outlets. In fact, we will see the launch of at least 15 international brands. This summer is also expected to see two to three times growth in mall traffic over last summer, partly because of new malls coming up in all the metros,” feels Prasenjit Roy, CEO In-Store Consulting Services, a marketing company that specialises in tracking shopper behaviour in the retail space. Unni Krishnan, country manager, Brand Finance, India, too agrees that this summer is going to see arrival of retail and a number of luxury brands. “We’ll see a lot more new launches especially in organised retailing,” predicts brand consultant Jagdeep Kapoor, chairman and managing director Samsika. But it’s not just new products at the malls, summer has brought with it new combo offers for Indian outbound tourists too, who are are growing in numbers. Air fares may be going up to shave off a part of your summer holidays budget but despite that hot destinations include Sri Lanka with South East Asia or Maldives and Mauritius with South Africa and Turkey.
