Wednesday 4 April 2012

Marketing: India has SOME sense of humor

A lot has been said about India and her peculiarities. Marketers from all over the world, when dealing with India, are advised to unlearn whatever they have learnt and learn it again with due consideration to the 'idiosyncrasies' of Indians. 

Be it Audi that has decided on separate horns for India (the horns they make globally can't survive the constant honking Indians subject their horns to) or Kellogg's that realized that corn flakes as breakfast alone can't succeed in India, various companies have experienced devising brand new strategies for the Indian market.

The famous India-Bharat divide is commonplace in all corporate strategies. Arundhati Roy summarised this divide beautifully when she said, "India lives simultaneously across 400 years." So, while the 'New' India aspires to fly every morning, the Rural Bharat is content listening to prayers, ensconced blithely in their beds. The progression, though, is that the Rural India too is listening to prayers on their mobile phones.

Telecom researches show that people in Punjab (A relatively prosperous state in North India), dial numbers to have access to Gurbani, put the phone on speaker mode and listen to the prayers for hours together. Now consider this fact with a backdrop that the call charges for this kind of a facility range between Rs 3 to Rs 8 depending on the service providers and time of the year.

This is about telecom. Let us consider a snack now: Nestle Maggi. Maggi, in its earlier days, struggled to set its foot in India as mothers were not content serving the kids with something that could be cooked in JUST two minutes (such short timing was seen as depriving the food of the love that a mother puts in the food she cooks). Nestle had to work out various strategies before Indian tongues could attune to this "now India's favourite" snack.

Horlicks wouldn't have imagined that the cattle population can have an impact on their sales. In some parts of the country, Horlicks (the famous health drink) is used to fatten up the cattle. Our kindness on animals doesn't end here. We also massage the animals with Iodex to relieve them of the muscular pain after a hard day. Godrej Hair dye is used, in some parts of the country, to color buffaloes so that they can be auctioned at a higher price.

Now Television (Ah! we love it). TV arrived in Delhi (the capital of India) in 1959. Till 1992, India had just two channels. Today there are more than 500 channels available for the audience to watch. And as you read, some new ones are being added at almost a weekly basis. Our love for television goes to the extent that today in India we have more television sets than the number of toilets.

Mobile phones, similarly, outnumber the total bank accounts in the country. The SIM cards outnumber the mobile phones. In fact, a lot of people in the lower stratum own multiple SIMs from different service providers to optimize their usage and maximize the benefits. E.g. if one service provider offers per second billing, the people would use it to inform their dear ones on their reaching the destination. "Pohanch gaya" (I have reached), they will say and disconnect. If some service provider gives good options on high talktimes, people would use it to chat and romance with their beloveds.

Washing machines are not used for washing clothes only. In Punjab, washing machines are used to make lassi (drink made by mixing curd with water and sugar/salt) in bulk. In South, talcum powders are not used to counter perspiration only. It is used as a whitener and is applied on face so increase one's marketing value in the marriage market.

These are just some of the eccentricities that we Indians are proud of. This can become an article which refuses to end for a simple reason: We, in India, love doing things differently - fashionably or otherwise.

Please contribute to this article. Whenever you come across oddities of our dear country and her people, please proudly write it in the comments. I shall ensure that I update the article with your inputs.

If you liked reading this, something's waiting for you at www.scoopydiary.com

References:

Bijapurkar, Rama, We are like that only, Penguin Portfolio, 2007: pg 23
Gupta, Sumit, The Challenge for an Indian MBA: Bridging the gap between Philip Kotler and countryside India, www.brandchannel.com






Sunday 1 April 2012

Movie Review: Paan Singh Tomar

Imagine yourself being a mentor to somebody (let us name him X). And being one of the most respected people in the life of X. Imagine X confessing to you that he can happily give his life for you. Imagine the kind of pride you will feel to have a disciple like X. 


Cut to that one day, when whatever you have taught X needs to be applied in life. The stage is big, stakes high. You have all the hopes and confidence that X would use each of the nuances you have taught him and would win you pride. That he would get you the victory you have so aspired for. Suddenly, you realize X is not giving his 100% and you are disgusted. With right, and with authority you tell him, "You Bastard! If you lose today I am going to bury you in the venue only. C'mon, win it for me!" X is shaken, he suddenly wakes out of his lethargy and starts pushing hard. He gets you the victory you so desired. You are celebrating. You rush to give him one tight hug. But he looks dejected. You inquire on what is wrong. He comes touches your feet, kisses your hands and tells you, 'Sir, I respect you a lot but please don't call me a bastard again. I shall kill you." SHOCK!


This is the kind of staggering narrative, Tigmanshu Dhulia has used in Paan Singh Tomar. If you are emotional, chances are that you would come out of the hall with goose bumps all over your body. That is the power of PST. 


Despite the fact that the Hindi used in the movie is not the one we are used to in our daily lives, the story line ensures that the audience is stuck to their seats for the entire duration of the film. 'Kaho Haan' as a leitmotif is charming and makes you laugh in between the tense scenes. Irfann (please note the extra 'n' and he no longer writes Khan to promote secularism) is superlative. Mahie Gill is good and does justice to her role. So do all the other characters in the film. Three cheers to the make-up team of the movie who have made the movie look so real. 


The editing is exemplary and so is the cinematography. The 'Beehads' have been captured in a way that would give competition to Mr Bachchan's 'Kuch din toh Guzzariye Gujarat mein' campaign. 


Overall, PST is an outstanding piece of cinema which strikes all the chords possible in a human body. A movie which reaffirms our belief that movies win or lose because of the script and not because of the stars. Ten Stars! or May be a Hundred...

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