This year, it’s about you

A more aspirational, informed and confident consumer is making demands in the marketplace that brands are scrambling to satisfy. Persuasion, not sales pitches are the order of the day,Consumers As we transit from the century’s first decade to its second,  the Indian consumer is firmly in the spotlight. Everything else in the marketplace is governed by his or her behavior and how to best monetize that. Increasingly, it is the consumer who’s calling the shots.

The Indian consumer of 2010, coming into 2011, is far more confident as a citizen of a country everyone’s looking at for its immense growth potential. As most marketers and their propositions look beyond the metros and tier 1 cities to smaller towns and rural India for future growth, the one thing that’s beginning to cut across all consumer classes is “aspiration” — to be more, to have more, and the confidence that this is possible now, quickly.

Access to better information about what the consumer can buy, thanks to the growth in internet access, now being expanded manifold with the proliferation of internet-enabled smart phones, and the government determined to speed up the broadband penetration, is creating consumers who already know more about what they want to buy than ever before. Their demands are backed by a lot of information.

At the first level, this has already begun to change how brands talk to consumers — no more hard sell in their communication. Advice or seduction are more like it.

As consumer aspirations rise, the marketplace is responding with all possible propositions and combinations of propositions. So even as major brands launch lifestyle products at the top end of the product spectrum, they often also come up with similar propositions at lower price points. So flat screen TVs come at different price points . Smart phones in the sub-Rs 10,000 price band are a reality. Practically all car brands are set to launch more than 30 car models priced at less than Rs 10 lakh.

Be it travel, lifestyle, leisure, apparel, FMCGs, consumer durables, the middle order consumers are valuable today. As marketers expand their offerings to small towns and rural markets, the way they address their consumers will need to become far more connected at the ground level.

A Technopak-Cushman Wakefield consumer report, ‘Opportunity India’, stated: “It is evident that the Indian consumer is no longer satisfied with stopping at what was considered ‘sufficient’ even a decade ago. And this is just the beginning of the changing face of the Indian consumer. With social networking, online shopping, e-gaming and rise of the virtual world, there are bound to be newer aspects coming up in future that will keep redefining the consumer.”

According to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index released in late 2010, in the third quarter of 2010, Indian consumers had expressed a stable level of confidence, after expressing a steady increase in the first two quarters.

Ninety one per cent of Indians are optimistic about their job prospects in the next twelve months, the report said. This translates into optimism on the financial front, with 83% Indians being optimistic about their state of personal finances in the next 12 months, which is the highest percentage globally. Job and personal finance optimism translate to higher spending. Fifty-nine per cent of Indians were optimistic that it is a good time to buy the things they want and need over the next 12 months.

“Indians appear to have loosened their purse strings compared to previous quarters. While some of this propensity to purchase can be attributed to the advent of the festive season, a combination of factors will lead to greater spending and more enthusiastic buying behavior as marketers tap into the confidence that Indian consumer seems to be exuding,” said Justin Sargent, MD – consumer, The Nielsen Company.

After meeting their essential living expenses, 65% Indians put their discretionary income into savings, then into stock shares and mutual funds, followed by the purchase of new technology, new clothes, holidays/vacations, home improvements/decorating, payment of debts/credit card bills/loans, and out-of-home entertainment.

Getting in 2011, the Indian consumer expects to buy more, better. It’s up to brands to find the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations.